RENO 911! Returns for a New Season on Quibi

If this past decade has taught us anything, it’s that if you wait long enough, your favorite television series will probably come back. No matter how long its been since it went off the air. Case in point — the Comedy Central classic RENO 911! has just been announced as returning for a new, seventh season on the streaming service Quibi. This revival season comes to us courtesy of Quibi, along with Comedy Central Productions. Looks like it’s time to bust out those beige short-shorts!

Promotional image of the cast of the original Comedy Central version of RENO 911!

Comedy Central

The cult classic comedy series was created by and stars Robert Ben Garant, Kerri Kenney-Silver and Thomas Lennon, all of whom are coming back to both write and star in the show once again. The original iteration of the series ran for six seasons on Comedy Central, from 2003-2009. The show instantly became a fan favorite on the network, and it eventually spawned the spin-off 2007 film RENO 911: Miami. In 2011, back in  the early days of Netflix original programming, RENO 911! was nearly revived for that streaming service. But for several reasons, it never actually happened. But good things come to those who wait.

According to the official description, “RENO 911! lets viewers ride shotgun with the courageous men and women of the Reno Sheriff’s Department as they lay down the law and put their lives on the line. The RENO 911! camera doesn’t blink – and when the bullets start flying, the Reno Sheriff’s Department will be right behind you.”

RENO 911! Took the mockumentary format, mixed it with the Fox series Cops, and resulted in a comedy classic.

Comedy Central

For the uninitiated who never saw the series during its original run, the show was basically an unscripted series in the same vein as Christopher Guest’s mockumentary films like Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show. Like those classic comedies, the cast given a general outline of a premise, and then improvised the rest. So imagine mashing up those films with the Fox TV series Cops, and you’ve got yourself RENO 911!

In a statement, series star Thomas Lennon said “RENO 911! holds a special place in our hearts, and it will be a delight to get the original cast back together for ‘re-boot goofin.’ Hopefully Nick Swardson can still roller skate. Quibi’s short format seems custom made for our show”. Comedy Central’s Sarah Babineau and Jonas Larsen added that “fans demanded this for a long time and Comedy Central Productions and Quibi are thrilled to help answer that kind of 911 call.”

Given the nature of the new streaming service Quibi, these episodes of RENO 911! will be considerably shorter than before. The Quibi streaming service will launch in April 2020. Unlike other streaming services, Quibi will be only short-form content, and will be a mobile-only viewing experience. What “mobile only” means is still a bit of a mystery however, as is the actual length of the short form content. What qualifies as short? So far, all indications are that we are talking between 5 and 1o minute videos, but we have no confirmation if any of those will go over or under that.  I guess we will have to wait till next spring to find out.

Quibi officially launches on April 6, 2020.

Images: Comedy Central

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