Overview
Reno 911! is an American comedy television series created by Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenney-Silver for Comedy Central. It is a mockumentary-style parody of law enforcement documentary shows, specifically Cops, with comic actors playing the police officers. Lennon, Garant and Kenney-Silver all starred in and are billed as creators of the series.
The series initially aired from 2003 to 2009 on Comedy Central. A revival premiered on May 4, 2020, on streaming platform Quibi, which was renewed for an additional season (the show's eighth) on September 3, 2020. Quibi later announced in October 2020 that it would be shutting down while the eighth season was in production. According to star Niecy Nash, the eighth season would debut on another platform, which was later revealed to be The Roku Channel. The eighth season, entitled Defunded, premiered on February 25, 2022, on The Roku Channel.
Premise
The show is a direct parody of the reality show Cops, which follows actual police officers through their daily duties, such as chasing criminals, and intervening in domestic disputes. Reno 911! features members of the fictitious, massively inept "Reno Sheriff's Department"—allegedly distinct from the actual Reno Police Department and Washoe County Sheriff's Office, both of which are claimed to be absent from the series (although Comedy Central has repeatedly referenced the series as being about the "men and women of the Washoe County Sheriff's Department"). In the course of their duties patrolling both the city of Reno and the rest of Washoe County, Nevada, the deputies sometimes address the camera directly (as though being interviewed for a documentary). The show deals heavily in politically incorrect and racy humor, including many jokes about race, sexual orientation, substance abuse, rape, pedophilia, and mental disorders. Another main comedic aspect of the show is the outlandishly severe incompetence of the deputies—often resulting in their being outsmarted by the criminals they are attempting to control.
Unlike Cops, which the show parodies, Reno 911! Sheriff's deputies are constantly cursing, causing much of their dialogue to be censored for broadcast. The actors often perform their own stunts. A constantly changing cast of weirdos, prostitutes, homeless people, survivalists, political figures, celebrities, etc.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).