2016 police parody, 10 episodes. Detective Angie Tribeca solves crimes
in the RHCU, the Really Heinous Crimes Unit.
This is quick-fire comedy in the style of Airplane! or Police
Squad: although the actors largely play it straight, plot is
subordinated to creating opportunities for sight gags or funny lines.
(Nobody looks twice when the police dog, "Detective David Hoffman", is
driving the car or ordering coffee.) Quite a few of the jokes fall
flat, but there'll be another one along in a second or two.
Where Police Squad spoofed 1960s-1970s cop shows and Sledge Hammer
the 1980s version, Angie Tribeca ought to be a spoof for the
2000s-era world of CSI and its kin. But it's not, quite; although
there's an obligatory "analysing the evidence" scene each episode, the
rest is mostly just Police Squad with different faces. (Deon Cole is
the one of the cast who really stands out.)
These ten episodes were released all at once for the benefit of
binge-watchers, but I wouldn't have been able to enjoy it that way;
spread out among other programmes it doesn't get the chance to wear
thin.
There's very little that's subtle here (and some of the middle
episodes forget to keep up the comic pace, and don't find anything to
replace it with), but this is a pleasant break from the grimness that
infests many cop shows these days. A second season is being broadcast
at the moment.
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