Angie Tribeca

The preposterous humor hits the right notes and offers something different then most traditional sitcom fare. If you’re looking for something fresh and and laugh out loud funny, Angie Tribeca is for you.

There are a lot of well-worn cop commonalities in entertainment, but five hours of episodes, with wall-to-wall jokes targeting cliches big and small, makes one wonder if the series will have to change course soon, either in Season 2 or later down the line (assuming it gets picked up by TBS). It's certainly not an issue in Season 1, and the depth of knowledge on display actually leads to believing in the series' endurance.

Angie Tribeca, starring Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation) in the title role, is hysterical at times, amusing in others and never far from a sight gag or throwaway line.

It's not perfect, but it made me laugh a lot and smile even more.

Tribeca is the kind of easy, lightweight fun that never gets old. [8/15 Jan 2016, p.96]

This sitcom’s battering ram of madcap inanity can run aground when a particular episode doesn’t have an especially memorable storyline, and perhaps Angie Tribeca caters too much to an audience in thrall to the old “Airplane!” style of so-broad-it-hurts humor. From the 1980s’ “Sledge Hammer!” to the more recent “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” smart-aleck cop comedies are nothing new. But in its minute-to-minute pleasures, Angie Tribeca is one big goofy grin of a sitcom. Season 2 can’t come quickly enough.

Jones’ heroic commitment helps Angie Tribeca maintain its balance. She’s playing Mariska Hargitay on SVU, but in a world where the crimes are low stakes and easily tied to puns. It’s a performance that never breaks.

It’s not easy to make such inspired nonsense fly so effortlessly, and I give credit to the Carells for creating a buoyant atmosphere where the pace of clowning, word play, and visual punch lines never quits. Jones, so endearing on “Parks and Recreation,” jumps into the gonzo material without a hitch, showing more comic versatility than ever. And she is surrounded by a strong cast of regulars.

The hits-to-miss ratio is weighted in Angie Tribeca’s favor, thanks in large part to the cast’s go-for-broke energy and a roster of guests--including Bill Murray, Keegan-Michael Key, and Kerri Kenney-Silver--tuned into the show’s looney wavelength.

It's itself, and it's an abundantly silly, if very lightweight, show.... But so much of watching Angie felt like watching the most popular show from another country, one where the only jokes come from puns and sight gags, and spilling something is considered high humor.

It's a shame that the marathon viewing of Angie Tribeca exposes the show's weaknesses. Does goofiness hold up in a 25-hour block? Or does the shtick wear too thin? Angie Tribeca's shtick was never particularly thick to begin with.