Reno 911!
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Reno 911! is a comedy television show on Comedy Central. It debuted in 2003.
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About
Reno 911! is in some respects a parody of the long-running television show COPS. The show features the members of a fictional Reno, Nevada police squad, which are videotaped by a camera operator during the course of their jobs, and sometimes address the camera directly as though being interviewed. The joke, of course, is that they are terrible cops who cheat, lie, play pranks, plant evidence, and engage in other sorts of mischief and display a general sense of extreme incompetence at their jobs. The force also has problems with racism, unrequited attractions, promiscuity, passive-aggressive feuds, drug use, and other dysfunctional troubles that supply a lot of the show's humor. It was nominated as Outstanding Comedy Series for the 2004 GLAAD Media Awards.
The show is not written with specific lines for the actors to say; rather, they are given general guidelines and improvise the details. This enhances the illusion of "reality."
On March 21 of 2004, Comedy Central ran a special of the show, Reno 911: Off Duty.
The series is currently in its third season.
Cast
- Cedric Yarbrough as Deputy S. Jones, a semi-competent ladies man. He also works as a stripper and is usually paired with Deputy James Oswaldo Garcia.
- Niecy Nash as Deputy Raineesha Williams, a loud cop who likes to push women and (especially) men around. She broke up with Officer Jones before the show premiered. She may or may not have children
- Robert Ben Garant as Deputy Travis Junior, a redneck who wears his bulletproof vest everywhere and trains dogs.
- Thomas Lennon as Lieutenant Jim Dangle, gay station supervisor. Dangle is the subject of a running gag in which his police bicycle is stolen after walking away from it for only a minute. He is often seen wearing his trademark embarrassingly short shorts. Was married to an obese woman before the show premiered. Is infatuated with Deputy S. Jones in a love quadrangle with Clemmy and Raineesha, and actually once had sex with him when he came over to help him move to a different part of his apartment complex.
- Carlos Alazraqui as Deputy James Oswaldo Garcia, a racist, sexist, ruthless Mexican who has kissed Deputy Raineesha Williams on occasion.
- Wendi McLendon-Covey as Deputy Clementine "Clemmy" Johnson, a promiscuous female officer. Also known as an ex-magician's assistant, Wiccan, pothead, and Steely Dan groupie. Has occasional flings with Deputy S. Jones.
- Kerri Kenney as Deputy Trudy Wiegel, an emotionally unstable, racist, slow-witted officer with low self esteem and a special love for cats (over eight, and one dead and stuffed) and crafts. She is infatuated with Lieutenant Jim Dangle, and frequently visits her mother's grave and talks to her.
In addition, the cast members frequently play the roles of criminals, complete with blurred faces. Kenney, Lennon, and Garant also write and produce the series.
Producers and creators
- Danny DeVito - Executive Producer
- Michael Shamberg - Executive Producer
- Stacey Sher - Executive Producer
- John Landgraf - Executive Producer
- Peter Principato - Executive Producer
- Paul Young - Executive Producer
- Ben Garant - Creator
- Kerri Kenney - Creator
- Thomas Lennon - Creator
Other characters
- Terry, the gay prostitute often seen around the jail.
- Craig, the shy serial killer and boyfriend of Trudy.
- TeeTee, the large black woman whose face is always blurred out. Every time she appears, she is screaming nonsensically about a mistaken belief, such as that she has won the lottery.
- Eric, the lunatic.
- The French mime.
- Andrew, who is the guy that the police periodically visit at his house because of complaints from neighbors
- Mike Powers, the guy responsible for putting the entire Reno Sheriff Department behind bars at the end of Season 2
- Powers comes after the cops after in Episode 2 of Season 3, after they are released from prison.
- Captain Duane Hernandez and Lieutenant Suzy Kim
- Hernandez and Kim are criminals who posed as homeland security inspectors in order to get their hands on the Reno Sheriff Department's money and evidence in the episodes "Terrorist Training: Part 1" and "Terrorist Training: Part 2." Oscar Nunez and Cathy Shim play the duo. Trudy falls for Hernandez in the plot arch.
- Steed
- Clemmy's criminal ex-husband.
- Unnamed redneck played by Robert Ben Garant with his pants usually down and his penis in a piece of fruit or a birdhouse.
- The puppeteer who usually appears in a booth that has a flap hiding the fact that his "magical snake" is exposed and his pants are down.
Cast history
- Many of the cast members are recognizable from The State, a sketch comedy series which aired on MTV.
- Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenney were the stars of a short-lived series on Comedy Central called Viva Variety. Their co-star, Michael Ian Black, has also appeared in several episodes of Reno. Ben Garant was the creator and head writer of this show, which was a spin-off from a sketch on The State.
- Wendi McLendon-Covey is a current member of The Groundlings theatre company, located in Los Angeles.
External links
- Official site (http://www.comedycentral.com/shows/reno_911/)
- IMDb site (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0370194/)