Paradise PD

Netflix 2018 Animated R-rated

Created by Waco O’Guin and Roger Black

Voiced by Sarah Chalke, David Herman, Tom Kenny, Kyle Kinane and Cedric Yarbrough

At first glance, Paradise PD seems simple-minded and raunchy. And make no mistake; it is simple-minded and very raunchy. The characters are familiar tropes, ones you may have encountered in Reno 911, Barney Miller or Axe Cop.

You have the inept and dim police chief, the over-the-top Amazon cop, the hopelessly unqualified nepotism hire, the anile old boy who’s still active because the town can’t afford to pay his pension, the hopelessly screwed up veteran of Chicago’s turf wars who carries a piccolo instead of a gun, and of course a talking dog, just like Family Guy’s Brian only strung out on every drug you can imagine and very happy about that.

In case you miss the Simpsons, even though they’re still on every Sunday night, there are not one but two Cletuses, and a rival town next door that is better in every way.

In the first episode we learn how the Chief lost his testicles in lurid detail. His then seven-year-old son shot them off while playing with the family’s pet gun. His mother subsequently got a divorce and now is the Chief’s boss, the town mayor. It’s not a comfortable work relationship.

However, what saves it is that it is very, very funny. There were a good half dozen laugh-out-loud moments in the first episode alone, and it maintains the ability to elicit guffaws.

You’ll probably want to send the kids out of the room before watching this particular cartoon. Better still, crate ‘em up and mail them to Tazmania. Little sucks had it coming anyway. And don’t play it at work; language aside, the gleeful embrace of inappropriate and hostile work environments would be an HR nightmare. But that’s part of its charm.

On Netflix now.