Back in November 2015, TBS announced that they were to release the whole season of “Angie Tribeca” in a 25-hour binge-watching marathon, dubbed binge-athon, on Jan. 17. It consisted of the first ten episodes of the series, repeated five times over two days. There were no commercials during the show and in-between episodes they had the cast live at the TBS studios, answering phone calls and performing different activities.
In order to enjoy the “Angie Tribeca” you must have an appreciation for bad puns and cheesy sight gags, because that’s what you’re going to get. Character and story development take a back seat to the deadpan wordplay and celebrity cameos, but if you’re into all of this, then “Angie Tribeca” is the show for you.
From the masterminds Steve and Nancy Carell, “Angie Tribeca” is a spoof of crime shows like “CSI” and “Law & Order.” Rashida Jones stars as the main character, Angie Tribeca, a lone-wolf detective who plays by her own rules. Within the first five minutes of the first episode, we pretty much get the gist of the show, we see Tribeca hurling toward her punching bag, then punching a lamp, then her refrigerator and then every other piece of furniture in her apartment.
Also in the first episode, we meet Tribeca’s new partner Jay Geils, played by Hayes McArthur. At first, Tribeca is cautious to take on another partner — particularly because she has had 236 partners already — but her loudmouth boss, Lieutenant Atkins, played by Jere Burns, insists she give Geils a chance.
Like every other crime show, each episode offers a different case, all with the same story beats and detective work. Viewers who watch multiple episodes will be able to pick up on the shows reoccurring gags: a rookie cop who vomits at every crime scene and a new physical disability for lab specialists Dr. Edelweiss, played by Alfred Molina.
“Angie Tribeca” is full of celebrity cameos, some notable ones are Keegan-Michael Key as an underground ferret dealer (yes, there is an entire episode on illegal ferret ownership) and John Michael Higgins as twin-brother art curators. There is a bunch more, but those are better left as surprises.
Of course, the main draw to the show is the witty sense of humor, which ranges from “Airplane!” to “Scary Movie 5.” The show has no shortage of jokes and props, but the balance between laughs and knee slapping puns is pretty even.  When watching, you must pay attention because I assure you, you will miss a subtle joke that could be the best part of the whole episode. Some of the best moments were when they had the convict drive them to station while Tribeca and Geils rested in the backseat. Another one was when forensic scientist Monica Scholl, played by Andree Vermeulen, was pushing a supposed-to-be dead body back into the wall in the morgue, and he starts waving and saying goodnight. Another hilarious element to the show is that detective DJ Tanner’s, played by Deon Cole, partner is a dog that is treated like a human being. Sometimes the dog, named David Hoffman, can be seen driving the cop car or even interrogating a suspect.
Ultimately, “Angie Tribeca” is a hilarious series, and the way it was premiered is unprecedented. But, I do believe that it takes about one or three episodes to really get into the series, which could be why TBS decided to premiere the episodes back to back. However, fans of “Monty Python” style of comedy will likely get a kick out of the show’s nonsensical humor — even more so if they’re familiar with crime shows. During one of the in-between segments, it was revealed that there will be a second season, and they have already started filming. The release date has not yet been announced.