By: Bill Cushing – Nov. 2023
My recommendation this month is a show that you most likely have never heard of. That’s probably because it airs on TruTV, a channel you also most likely have never heard of. But if you are looking for a quick binge watch that will make you laugh, then ‘Tacoma FD’ is the show you should be watching.
Now with 4 seasons under its belt, ‘Tacoma FD’ is the outrageous comedy developed by two members of the Broken Lizard Troupe: Kevin Heffernan and Steve Lemme. The Broken Lizard comedy troupe is responsible for the ‘Super Troopers’ films.
The show follows the daily lives and antics of Chief Terry McConky (Heffernan), Captain Eddie Penisi (Lemme) and the daytime crew at a firehouse in one of America’s wettest cities. Being in one of the rainiest cities in America, leaves lots of time for its resident firefighting team to goof around, pull pranks, ramble on about nothing in particular for extended stretches, and indulge in completely juvenile humor.
With the two co-creators taking the roles of the fire station’s two higher-ups, there are a bunch of other hilarious characters to round out the cast. First up is Granville “Granny” Smith (Marcus Anderson), who’s possibly Tacoma FD’s most logical and pragmatic character, never quite letting laughs override responsibilities.
On the flip side is the completely illogical and radically impulsive Ike Crystal (Gabriel Hogan.) Ike rocks the show’s best physique, which ties into his other job as a male stripper, but he also has a heart of gold. Ike is quite fond of Andy (Eugene Cordero.) Andy takes the most razzing and ribbing, and he’s an admittedly worthy target, while he’s there.
Andy’s character left the show following season 3 and was replaced in Season 4 with the probie Andres Mickleberry (Christopher Avila). Rounding out the crew is Chief McConky’s daughter Lucy (Hassie Harrison) and although she provides a counterbalance to the male frat boy humor in the show, she can joke right along with the rest of the crew, and provides some really funny moments.
While this show centers on firefighters, it certainly doesn’t show any disrespect to the profession. “It’s 90 percent about the firefighters’ downtime,” Lemme said.
“These guys are great at their jobs; we don’t want Tacoma firefighters to think we’re poking fun at their level of skill.”
In fact, Heffernan got a lot of ideas about funny things firefighters do from his brother-in-law, a firefighter in Connecticut, and now a consultant on the show. For example, in one episode, the characters use the Jaws of Life to play Jenga with big pieces of wood.
There are also plenty of plain old gags. In one episode, Heffernan’s Chief Terry McConky, sits down to discuss serious city business with a Tacoma City Councilwoman. Then she notices a mug sitting on his desk that says, “No. 1 Farter.”
Think of the humor of such movies as ‘Animal House,’ or ‘Caddyshack’ and change the location to a firehouse and you’ll get the idea of what ‘Tacoma FD’ is all about. With bad news around every corner these days, sometimes it’s good to just put something fun and mindless on TV and just laugh. This show will do that for you.
‘Tacoma FD’ airs on TruTV and can be streamed on Max.
If you have any questions about TV, you can email me at BillsTVTalk@gmail.com. I will answer all of your questions and will feature some of the questions I receive in a future Mailbag column.
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