Reno 911!....Beginnings:
"Reno 911!" co-stars-writers-executive producers Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon, and Kerri Kenney-Silver first met in college, where they created a comedy troupe they called The State. According to Garant, who also directs Reno 911!: Miami, it was not an obvious match. "Kerri was very Westport, Tom wore suits, cowboy boots and an eye patch – and I was scared of both of them. Somehow, we all ended up in a comedy troupe, and for some reason we all took it really seriously."

In the mid-1990s, the trio created a popular sketch comedy series, named for their troupe, on MTV. Following that came the Comedy Central series "Viva Variety," which ran for three seasons.

After wrapping up work on "Viva Variety," development began on what would become "Reno 911!" Initially, Lennon and Garant had envisioned the series as another sketch comedy. But the first part of the process in bringing a series to air – a network table reading – didn't go well. "We were canceled at the table read," Lennon recalls. "I'm not sure that's happened before."

Picking up the pieces, Garant, Lennon and Kenney-Silver came up with another idea: a parody of the popular reality series "Cops." "'Cops' was a huge hit for the network, so we thought it would be a fun thing to parody," says Kenney-Silver. The result was a hilarious take on the traditional cop drama, with soap opera-like twists and turns.

Garant, Lennon and Kenney-Silver decided to set the show in Reno, which Lennon describes as a "small town with a big-city vibe."

"It's the place where dreams fade and hope diminishes," he continues. "It has a sense of grayness and a sense of desperation. It's Vegas' ugly step-child." But Kenney-Silver insists that the locale was chosen for more practical considerations. "The word 'Reno' is nice and short and it looks good on a hat. And it's easy to read for people who can't read well."

It was an inspired idea, and Lennon, Garant and Silver went to work, shooting and editing the pilot in only a few weeks. It then sat on the shelf for two years.

Finally, in 2003, Comedy Central picked up the series, which will soon begin production on its fifth season – and which, of course, has now been turned into a full-length motion picture produced by not one, but two major studios.

Reno 911! Becomes A Movie
Reno 911!: Miami, with its confluence of dueling cities and weird punctuation, may be the stupidest title in movie history. Not surprisingly, it wasn't the product of market research, filmmaker/corporate brainstorming – or any kind of creative thinking. Robert Ben Garant explains: "I'm not positive, but I think I came up with the title. I thought it was the dumbest title I've ever heard. In fact, we all thought it was so dumb, that we had to get it up on a billboard.

"One day," Lennon recalls, "Ben said, 'We should call the movie 'Reno 911!: Miami,' and we [the rest of the cast] said, 'Ha, ha, funny.' And that's the most we ever talked about it."

"We almost used 'Reno 911!: Las Vegas', but that was overthinking it a bit," Garant adds.

A critical piece of punctuation – an exclamation point – has followed the word "Reno" in the title since the show's inception, and Garant, Lennon and Kenney-Silver made sure it took its rightful place in the expanded film moniker. "That punctuation also really looks good on a hat," Garant points out, reinforcing the filmmakers' obsession with head coverings.

Looking beyond the title's stupidity factor, the choice of Miami as the film's principal location serves an important creative purpose. In Miami, the Reno officers are completely out of their element. This "fish-out-of-water" theme ramps up the comic opportunities while providing a narrative through-line not present in the series. "In Reno, they're kind of cool; they're rock stars," says Kenney-Silver. "But in Miami, they look really small; they're totally out of place."

"The Reno officers are overwhelmed by Miami's wholesomeness," adds Carlos Alazraqui, who portrays Officer James Garcia. "They're surrounded by healthy-looking people, an ocean, clean air – none of which are found in Reno."

The new locale certainly sets Reno 911!: Miami apart from the series, as does the movie's scale, production values, and un-pixilated nudity. ("We have a lot of naked boobs in the film," says Garant. "A lot of boobs.")

"The film is 'Reno:911!' on steroids!" exclaims Alazraqui. "It has more beautiful women, more physical stuff, nicer uniforms, bigger guest stars, better trailers, and more discos.

But the filmmakers insist that the "bigger/better/more!" (note the exclamation point) aspects of the production are secondary to their intention of sticking close to what audiences love about the show. Says Kenney-Silver: "We wanted the movie to be just like the series because we figured people love these characters as they are. We didn't want to do a 'movie version' of them."

Equally important, says Lennon, is the fact that a familiarity with the series isn't necessary to enjoy the movie. "Anything that needs to be established about these characters can be figured out within a minute into the film. I mean, look at my character, Lt. Dangle: He wears a ridiculous uniform, he has highlights in his hair, and he's armed. We go from there."

No cast member was more surprised to see the series become a major motion picture, than was Niecy Nash, who portrays Officer Raineesha Williams. "The show was popular, but in an underground kind of way," she says. "We were having a great time doing the series; it didn't feel like work. And then came the idea of a studio feature based on the show. My reaction was, 'What????'

Nash, like all the actors, came to relish the opportunity of bringing "Reno: 911!" to the big-screen. And she, like the others, had created her character from scratch at the series' onset. "Raineesha Williams is an amalgamation of many women I've known," she explains. "You know – the ones who wear too much makeup, and who have extra attitude on the side. She's no-nonsense, in your face, a little bit spicy, and supremely well-coiffed. And in the movie, you get to see a lot more of Williams, courtesy of a 'booty' prosthetic." (More later on that very "special effect.")

Wendi McLendon-Covey, who plays Deputy Clementine Johnson, a former showgirl, magician's assistant, girl-about-town and party-lady, calls the Reno gang "the worst hall monitors or crossing-guards in the world." Moreover, her character is, in Miami, even more out-there with her unique brand of sexiness. But there's more to Clemmie than a big pair…of guns. "In a way, Clemmie is like everybody's weird aunt, who just breezes into town and breezes back out," says McLendon-Covey.

Another over-sexed member of the Reno law-enforcement team is Deputy S. Jones, played by Cedric Yarbrough. "Jones is there for one thing – and one thing only – and it rhymes with 'spoon-tang," says the poetic-waxing actor.

Mary Birdsong, who portrays Deputy Cherisa Kimball, is the newest member of the "Reno 911!" troupe, having joined the cast for the series' third season. She says her work on the show provided, among other things, great groundwork for the movie. "I've been rehearsing for this film for two seasons," she notes. "That's a rare opportunity for preparation." And how did she find the character? "I found Kimball in a ditch with five dollars in her pocket and a lot of dreams," she explains.

Visit Starpulse'sReno 911! page for a gallery of photos, biography, recent and archived news, and much more!
Visit Starpulse'sReno 911!: Miami page for a gallery of photos, biography, recent and archived news, and much more!