Blotter

Actually Jeff, Blotter was made first, finished and in the can the year before Reno 911 debuted. If anything, Reno was as imitation of Blotter.

Blotter was not created as a series per se, but was commissioned by TBS as a bunch of short vignettes that might be used to fill time during rain delays in Braves games. Unfortunately the adult humour in the show was found to be objectionable by the families that had tuned in to watch baseball, so Blotter got relegated to filling in time slots after late-night movies.

Although clearly made on a limited budget, Blotter had many good characters and plot lines (many appropriated later by the Comedy Central series).

The biggest weakness of the show was in leaning a little too hard on the redneck humour. A little of that goes a long way.

Some of the best moments were the improvised bits like when one of the officers tries to train a police dog or another examines the strange contents of the police station vending machine.

TBS sees Reno 911. TBS tries to duplicate Reno 911. TBS fails miserably and airs this garbage show at 1am for a few nights during the summer of 2006. That is the story of Blotter, a show so awful that I believed that I had fallen asleep while watching TV and imagined it. It was only later when a friend of mine asked if I had ever heard about the show that I realized it was all too true. The problem is that the show really was a carbon copy of Reno 911, but with a completely generic cast. Blotter failed to realize that a cop taking down a clown isn't funny in itself, its how the participants act and react. Reno 911 has a great cast of character actors who know how to play off of every situation and find the funny. Blotter was clearly amateur actors who were unaware of how difficult it is to successfully pull off dry humor.

I'd warn everyone to avoid this show like the plague, but in the highly unlikely chance you ever see it air again, make a point to watch it. The awfulness of this show will deepen your appreciation for the few good TV comedies out there.

I caught this during a bout of insomnia YEARS ago, way before Reno 911. It was on in the wee hours of the morning and after I caught one, I tried in vain to find any information on the show. Even the website is "under construction". Forever I think. Reno 911 DID come WAY after Blotter and I find it pales in comparison. It lacks the realness that Blotter has, or the authentic atmosphere that gives the comedy a sharper, smarter edge. I find it more clever and funny than Reno 911, and wish that it was a normal length show during prime time. Reno tries too hard to be real, and doesn't try enough to have good writing. Blotter plays it straight and has a certain spontaneity and smartness. I find it a riot, while I find Reno relying on sight gags, and vulgarity. I wish they would gather all the Blotters and offer them up on DVD.

I dispatch for law enforcement and we would have officers come up to our building every morning to watch this show. After ten to twelve hours of people yelling at us we would sit back and enjoy this excellent farce. We watched this, thought it was excellent in it's stupidity and at 4 in themorning it was something we looked forward to. The episode with the LT going to arrest the elderly lady for shop lifting and her house is littered with air fresheners and her son walks back and forth behind her with suspiciously limb shaped packages just made us laugh. The episode with the drag queen Charlie Brown teaching the only female officer how to put on make-up and walk in high heels was a hoot and who can forget the "ugly baby Dale" sketch. You may have found it boring but at the time it came out (before Reno 911 by the way) it was fun to watch. WE LOVE GORDIEVILLE. Besides the fact it gave our officers some great ideas for practical jokes on each other later.

The only comment/review for Blotter is actually misinformed. I worked on the show and here is how it came down. I was approached to be in the pilot early in 2001 by the producers, the show was shot on spec and then sat on a shelf for a year or two while being shopped around. It predates Reno 911 by a few years, comedy central was about to pick us up when they went into talks with the Reno team, the same team that brought us Viva Variety and The State. Blotter was eventually picked up by TBS and the majority of episodes were actually shot in 2002. I make no claim to excellence but it was fun to work on and is still being aired as of May 25, 2007. I do think that it is at least as good as 60%of the crap on the tube. High praise, I know.