Reno 911!
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Reno 911! is an American comedy television series on Comedy Central. It debuted in 2003.
Contents
Premise
Reno 911! is in some respects a parody of the long-running television show COPS and to a lesser extent Rescue 911. The show features the fictional members of a Washoe County, Nevada sheriff's department (based in Reno), who are videotaped during the course of their duties, sometimes addressing the camera directly as though being interviewed. 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 at the 2004 GLAAD Media Awards.Only the basic narrative elements of the show are scripted, with the dialogue improvised. This enhances the illusion of reality.
On March 21, 2004, Comedy Central ran a special of the show entitled Reno 911!: Off Duty.
The fourth season started on July 9, 2006.
The show is filmed almost entirely in Southern California, not Reno.
Cast
- Robert Ben Garant as Deputy Travis Junior, a trailer trash redneck who likes beer, firearms, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and perhaps most of all, his moustache. He trains police dogs for the department and is almost never seen without his trademark sunglasses and bulletproof vest, which is always outside of his shirt, often seen as a tactical error by real police officers. He also has very bad vision. Junior often performs the functions the other officers are unwilling to do. He also has a running gag in which he pulls over a driver, and as he approaches the vehicle, he gets knocked out or is otherwise rendered incapacitated by the car door opening or something falling off the car.
- Kerri Kenney-Silver as Deputy Trudy Wiegel, an emotionally unstable, heavily medicated hypochondriac, with multiple psychological disorders. She is a generally odd, slow-witted officer with low self esteem and a special love for cats (she owns over eight; one named "Tigger" is dead and stuffed). She also enjoys crafts, and is infatuated with Lieutenant Jim Dangle. She generally distracts the other officers with her flakiness. She frequently visits her mother's grave to have one-sided conversations with her, even planning picnics in which she brings two lunches. She began dating a man named Craig Pullin, only to discover he was the Truckee River Killer after discovering several disembodied body parts in his fridge. After turning him in, she continued their relationship even after he was sentenced to death. At one point she tried to help him escape by leaving a key in the cake she gave him, but he was unable to understand the various verbal clues she was giving him. On the day he was sentenced to die, the two got married. She also seems to have a hatred for Koreans, as hinted during the 2nd season when she took a machine gun and shot at a Korean's house. She has shown other racist tendencies as well, such as when the black cops showed discomfort in using the term "colored person", she asked "What if I said, 'Which nigger took the last donut?'" At the beginning of the 4th season, after six months of personal leave, she returned pregnant. She later explained that her child was not Craig Pullin's baby--she went to a sperm bank and had herself artifically inseminated. At the mention of the sperm bank the camera panned to every guy in the room and each of them gave a little info on the sperm bank, leading the viewer to wonder which, if any, of them is her child's "father".
- Thomas Lennon as Lieutenant Jim Dangle, a cop who holds the highest rank and is always seen wearing his trademark short shorts. Dangle is also the subject of a running gag in which his police bicycle is stolen or vandalized after walking away from it for only a minute. It is hinted that Travis Junior is responsible for at least some of these bicycle incidents. It has also been hinted that Dangle is a homosexual, due to his crush on Jones, the special relationships he makes with male suspects and witnesses, and several nude and cross-dressing incidents in the 1st season. At one point he got married to the heiress of a vacuum cleaner fortune, because she was morbidly obsese and he believed she would die soon. She later got gastric-bypass surgery and the two divorced.
- Wendi McLendon-Covey as Deputy Clementine "Clemmy" Johnson, a promiscuous, blonde female officer. She always wears her uniform unbuttoned to expose her cleavage. Also she is known as an ex-magician's assistant, Wiccan, pothead, and Steely Dan groupie.
- Niecy Nash as Deputy Raineesha Williams, a loud and boisterous cop who regularly maces men. She broke up with Jones before the show premiered, but still occasionally answers his booty calls. She once joined the Nation of Islam in order to get the month of Ramadan off. She often yells, "Hahh?" after making a blunt statement for effect. Raineesha is a single mother who may or may not know the parentage of her children.
- Mary Birdsong as new (3rd season) Deputy Cheresa Kimball, an efficient rookie cop that no one seems to know anything about, although they suspect that she is a lesbian. Her profile on the official site[link] states that she joined the force because: "My past is filled with sin and small time crimes and misdemeanors. Enforcing the law is my way of righting all my wrongs, cleaning up my karma. Also, they give good benefits."
- Cedric Yarbrough as Deputy S. "Jonesy" Jones, a black, semi-competent ladies man. He is usually paired with Deputy Garcia. He was raised in Mound, Minnesota, a suburb of the Twin Cities. It is implied that he is Raineesha's ex-boyfriend, and he is in an on-again, off-again relationship with Clementine. He is also a talented singer and dancer, and works part-time as a stripper (in a police uniform). Jones commonly uses the expression, "You're a regular Jay Leno," as a response to a perpetrator making a joke. Other than the initial "S," Jones's first name is never given. During the 4th season premiere, it is implied that he is the father of Deputy Williams' children.
- Carlos Alazraqui as Deputy James Oswaldo Garcia, a racist, sexist, miserable second-generation (at least) Mexican-American. The other Deputies often poke fun at his private off-duty life, involving lonely masturbation, no sex life and reruns of Hill Street Blues. He is usually partnered with Deputy Jones, and they have an oddly healthy working relationship, despite Jones being black and Garcia a racist.
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
- Robert Ben Garant - Creator
- Kerri Kenney-Silver - Creator
- Thomas Lennon - Creator
- Michael Patrick Jann - Director
Other characters
- Andrew. A homeowner that the police periodically visit due to complaints from his neighbors.
- Bachelorette Party women. A group of raucous young women who conduct numerous wild bachelorette parties and repeatedly attempt to lure in male cops to strip for them. On one occasion Deputy Garcia responds to a call and berates them, only to discover Junior and Dangle in the room wearing nothing but their underwear, boots and gun holsters. On another occasion, Deputy Williams arrives, much to the party-goers' disappointment, and then traumatizes the bride-to-be by drawing attention to her own ample waist and posterior and promising that such bodily changes await the party's guest of honor once she becomes a wife and mother.
- Craig Pullin a.k.a. "The Truckee River Killer" (played by Kyle Dunnigan). A convicted serial killer on Death Row who is also boyfriend and eventual husband to Dep. Trudy Weigel. While both he and Weigel appear to be shy, conservative people, as a couple, their extremely unsuccessful sex life includes (seemingly almost by necessity) sexual role-playing and sexual fetishism.
- "Delicious Milkshake Man" (played by Nat Faxon). In Season 2, while attempting to evade a severe beating at the hands of Reno Deputies, he accidentally runs into the path of an 18-wheeler. His death leads to the incarceration of all the Reno Sheriff's Department Deputies.
- Duane Hernandez (Cpt.) and Suzy Kim (Lt.) (played by Oscar Nunez and Cathy Shim). Hernandez and Kim are criminals who pose as United States Department of Homeland Security agents in order to get their hands on the Reno Sheriff's Department's money and evidence in the two-part episode "Terrorist Training". Weigel falls for Hernandez in the plot arc.
- Fantasy (role-playing) game geek (played by Patton Oswalt). Often badly hurts his opponents while playing fantasy games. Then, when the police respond, he claims that his opponent's real injuries are a result of fantasy attacks during game play with things like "magic missles" (Dungeons & Dragons) or "Goblin Sappers" (Warcraft) - and not actual physical violence on his part.
- "Fast Eddie" McLintock (voiced by Jeff Foxworthy). A (fictional) famed drug runner who has been involved in multiple high-speed car chases with the Reno Sheriff's Department. Famous in the region for always outrunning the law, the Reno Deputies desire to apprehend him seems to be more about having their pictures taken with him than in actually charging him with a crime.
- Firefighters of the Reno Fire Department. Unlike the Reno Sheriff's Department, the members of the Reno Fire Department are competent, popular and well-respected - leading to tremendous feelings of bitterness and inadequacy in the cops (as well as secret admiration). While the cops feel they are fueding with the firefighters, the firefighters (who are confident in their own abilities) seem to have no such feelings in return.
- French mime (played by Robert Ben Garant). Is reported for harassing customers outside a convenience store. To the delight of Deputy Jones, the mime performs a silent parody of Deputy Garcia. He is then assulted by an enraged Garcia.
- Frisbee (played by Zach Galifianakis). A "white trash" resident of Reno who lives with his family in an abandoned school bus. Owns a .30 cal Browning 1919 machine gun which he uses to shoot at soda cans, oranges, and UFOs. Deputy Garcia once used the gun and accidentially destroyed his squad car. His children are named Chandler, Ross, and Joey after three characters from the popular television sitcom Friends.
- Gigg LeCarp (played by Los Angeles radio DJ Brian Phelps). A petty criminal-turned televangelist who, while hosting a show from the Reno County jail, locks the officers in the same cell where Garcia had previously beaten him with a nightstick.
- Jackie (played by Kerri Kenney-Silver). A drug-addicted prostitute with herpes whose face is always obscured.
- Joe. The never-seen cameraman who documents the Reno Sheriff's Department's activities.
- Kenny Rogers (as himself). A famous American country music singer.
- Ku Klux Klan (Reno Chapter of). A group of bigots who ostensibly try to end bigotry and racism by burning lowercase t's ("for tolerance") and opening a lemonade stand with a sign reading "FREE LEMONADE FOR NIGGERS".
- Maria Storm (played by Lisa Lo Cicero). A local TV reporter who has extensively covered the Reno Sheriff's Department. She is frequently hit upon by her male interviewees.
- Mike Powers (played by Mather Zickel). The former district attorney responsible for putting the entire Reno Sheriff's Department staff behind bars at the end of Season 2. He is later revealed to be a murderer who decapitates prostitutes. In Season 3, Episode 2, Powers tries to kill the then former Reno cops after their release from prison. By the end of the episode, he is arrested but seems to have resolved his issues with the former officers (he even assists Wiegel and Kimball to retrieve some computer files in a subsequent episode).
- Puppeteer at children's events (played by Jack Plotnick). A sexual pervert/exhibitionist who uses a puppeteer's booth with an extra flap which, when down, reveals the fact that his pants are down and his "magical snake" (penis) is exposed.
- "Reading Ron" (played by comedian Brian Unger). A children's TV host with a checkered past who attempts to profile the Reno Sheriff's Department on his television show. However, because of the deputies' total incompetence, he relapses into a cocaine habit and his career is destroyed.
- Steed. Deputy Johnson's criminal ex-husband.
- TeeTee (played by Niecy Nash). A bra-less, hysterical black woman whose face is always obscured. She constantly screams nonsensically about things that did not happen, such as her winning of the lottery. When Garcia and Jones encounter her, she often steals one of their nightsticks because the stick reminds her of her father - "really thin and really black".
- Terry, the gay prostitute (played by comedian Nick Swardson). Often seen around the jail and other local establishments. He consistently denies any illegal activity and often tries to misdirect the officers with outlandish tales of bizarre crimes. His excuses, like his clothes, are always flimsy. He is typically seen wearing roller skates.
- Unnamed Chinese boy (played by Kit DeZolt). A poor Chinese boy who drives a rickshaw.
- Unnamed middle-aged insane woman (played by Wendi McLendon-Covey). Seen dragging a water heater through the streets while not wearing any pants. She refuses to get into a squad car until after the deputies load the water heater in the back seat. When she finally does attempt to enter the car, the officers drive off with the water heater.
- Unnamed redneck (played by Robert Ben Garant). Usually seen with his pants down and his penis in an inappropriate object (pumpkin, birdhouse).
- Walter Chechekevitch (Sheriff) (played by Tracey Walter). The Deputies' aloof and absentee boss.
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-Silver 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. Robert Ben Garant was the creator and head writer of this show, which was a spin-off of a sketch on The State.
- Wendi McLendon-Covey is a current member of The Groundlings theatre company, located in Los Angeles.
- Carlos Alazraqui is the voice of many cartoon characters, such as Mr. Weed from Family Guy (from 1999 to 2001), Lazlo from Camp Lazlo, Rocko from Rocko's Modern Life, Winslow and Lube from Catdog, Monroe the enchanted dog from The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, and Denzel Crocker from The Fairly OddParents. He also voiced the Taco Bell chihuahua.
Reno 911!: Miami
Principal photography for the film was completed in March 2006. The movie was shot in Miami (Florida) and Southern California.A rough edit of the film has been shown to test audiences in Southern California.
Reno 911!: Miami is scheduled for release in January 2007.
External links
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