Reno 911! (2003–2009)

An irreverent look at what goes on behind-the-scenes in the city of Reno's police department.

Creators:

Robert Ben Garant, Kerri Kenney, Thomas Lennon

Stars:

Cedric Yarbrough, Niecy Nash, Robert Ben Garant

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Cedric Yarbrough	...	Deputy S. Jones (88 episodes, 2003-2009)
Niecy Nash	...	Deputy Raineesha Williams (88 episodes, 2003-2009)
Robert Ben Garant	...	Deputy Travis Junior (88 episodes, 2003-2009)
Thomas Lennon	...	Lieutenant Jim Dangle (88 episodes, 2003-2009)
Kerri Kenney	...	Deputy Trudy Wiegel (88 episodes, 2003-2009)
Carlos Alazraqui	...	Deputy James Garcia (73 episodes, 2003-2008)
Wendi McLendon-Covey	...	Deputy Clementine Johnson (73 episodes, 2003-2008)
Mary Birdsong	...	Deputy Cherisha Kimball (42 episodes, 2004-2008)

Storyline

The lives of seven incompetent Reno sheriff's deputies are detailed in this "Cops" style parody. Among the colorful characters are Lt. Jim Dangle, the short shorts-wearing, flamboyantly gay supervisor; Deputy James Garcia, who makes police brutality an art form; Deputy Trudy Wiegel, the manic depressive, socially awkward officer; Deputy Clementine Johnson, the skanky former magician's assistant; Deputy Travis Junior, the redneck who is never seen without his kevlar vest and sunglasses; Deputy S. Jones, the semi-competent ladies' man; and Deputy Raineesha Williams, the bootylicious black cop with an attitude.

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Plot Keywords:

deputy | police station | dominatrix | gay interest | pixilated nudity | 

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Taglines:

Good cops. Bad cops. These cops.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

Comedy Central

Country:

USA

Language:

German Japanese Mandarin Spanish English

Release Date:

23 July 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ugly Americans

Filming Locations:

Carson, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$325,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jersey Films, Principato-Young Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

22 min 22 min (88 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Amy Brassette was a cast member in the original unaired pilot for Fox. When Comedy Central picked it up in 2003, Brassette was unable to reprise her role because she was appearing in the Fox series Cedric the Entertainer Presents. She guest appeared in the ninth episode.

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Goofs

Trudy Wiegel's name occasionally changes from 'Wiegel' to 'Weigel.'

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Quotes

Deputy Trudy Wiegel: My mom started collecting Beanie Babies about four years after she died.

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Crazy Credits

Selected episodes of the series have fake "next week" episodes which shows whats going to be on next weeks episode, but it's not really on the next episode.

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Connections

Referenced in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Duplicity/Knowing/I Love You, Man (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Reno 911! theme"
Craig Wedren
Original Music by Stepehen Phillips and Tim P.

User Reviews

Glad Comedy Central believes in this

A feeling of pride wells in me when I think of this show. I recall when this show premiered in the Summer of 2003. I've watched a lot of Comedy Central over the years,and I've sen a lot of shows come and go on that channel,some good,some not-so-good. Outside of Chappelle Show(which imploded under CC's unreasonable production demands after just threes successful seasons),Win Ben Stein's Money(which was quietly shelved)and The Man Show(which disassembled itself after five seasons),the network has retained few shows it has rolled out since 1996,the year the Daily Show was launched. But this show has survived,and the quality of the product bears it out.

A film crew follows the round-the-clock gongs on of seven Reno,Nevada Sheriff's deputies: Lt.Dangle(Thomas Lennon),Deputies Jones(Cedric Yarborough),GArcia(Carlos Alozraqui,spelling?),Johnson(Wendi McLendon-Covey),Junior(Ben Garant),Weigel(Kerri Kinney-Silver) and YAtes(?)(Mary Birdsong),a la the FOX TV institutional hit "Cops". Of course,nearly all of these deps have little good sense about them,and all seem to have increasing difficulty conducting their jobs as enforcers of the law with each episode. Naturally,one hopes that the REAL Reno police is not nearly this incompetent.

The improv talents of each actor is SUPERB,and the camera-work and seamless "documentation" of the events unfolding make this comedy that one has to stay acutely attuned to. For me,that is the sign of a strong comedy that's willing to allow gags and plot lines to hang back and let the viewer come TO it,rather than vice-versa. And as per my previous favorable critiques of comedies,one of the more favorable qualities of it is this show's lack of a laugh track,which would be absolute poison to it(even more so than some more "conventional" sitcoms),anyway.

With this show most recently going to the big screen--and the jury's out on if I want to see Reno 911!:Miami--I feel pretty good about this show's status on CC(perhaps wrongly so). Still,with four seasons in the books,I'm glad CC invested in this hilarious,smart show.