Development

In Lennon's words, Reno 911! came about, "like the best of ideas, through total desperation."^[9] Following the end of Viva Variety, The State alumni worked on a series of pilots for the Fox Broadcasting Company, one of which, after a year's worth of dedicated writing, was terminated the day before shooting. It was scheduled to begin in the fall of 2000.^[9][10] With a month left before the pilot was expected to be due (and half of the budget still unused), the team asked if they could produce another pilot with the remaining resources, and the Fox executives agreed. Working quickly to take advantage of this, the initial Reno 911! pilot was conceived and shot in five days.^[9] Cedric Yarbrough, who had been hired for the cast of the canceled pilot, said that the cast was advised to "come up with [their] own characters" and return for filming.^[10]

As originally written, the sheriff's department material would have served as link material between traditional comedy sketches; the canceled project was being considered for the Fox Saturday lineup, and the team thought at the time that the Cops format was a natural framework for sketch comedy. However, during the shooting—and especially the editing—they realized the police element was more interesting than the sketches, and the finished pilot was, according to Garant, "remarkably similar" to the series that eventually aired.^[9] Nevertheless, Fox turned down the completed pilot. According to Lennon, their decision not to pick the show up was influenced by a scene, preserved in the eventual Comedy Central pilot, involving Lt. Dangle passionately kissing a man. It was another two years before Comedy Central greenlit the project.^[10]

Filming

Establishing shots were filmed on location in Reno, with everything else in Los Angeles and Carson, California, with some parts in Oregon.

Starting from the fifth season onward, certain segments are also shot in the small town of Piru, California. The exterior and interior shots of the Reno Sheriff's Department station were filmed on location at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department substation in Carson. Many of the main scenes of the show were shot over the course of many hours, such as the briefing room scenes. According to the third season DVD commentary, all morning briefing scenes for a season may be filmed on one 10-hour day with different basic plot elements to be used in different episodes. Actors would contribute their dialogue as they were inspired to do so.

Original run

Reno 911! continued for two additional seasons with a special, entitled Off Duty, on March 21, 2004.

The first half of the fourth season, comprising 7 episodes, began on July 9, 2006. In February 2007, a theatrical film, Reno 911!: Miami, was released in North America, featuring the complete series cast. It was a moderate box office success, grossing $22 million worldwide. The second half of season 4, another 7 episodes, drew 1.3 million viewers during the week of March 26 to April 1, 2007.

On October 9, 2006, Comedy Central confirmed 13 new episodes to make up a fifth season, though the season actually contained 16 episodes. Production started in January and wrapped in April. Season 5 premiered on January 16, 2008.

On March 27, 2007, Superstation WGN acquired the first four seasons for a two-year run. The syndicated Reno 911! is a part of their late night comedy block. Reruns are syndicated to broadcast stations. Lennon and Garant later appeared in-character on a comedy compilation CD, Comedy Death-Ray, released on September 11, 2007, singing a song about why not to use drugs.

On November 10, 2008, Comedy Central confirmed 10 new episodes to make up a sixth and final season. Principal photography was done between November and December 2008. Carmen Electra was a guest star on an episode filmed December 5, 2008 at Grant High School in Los Angeles. Season Six premiered on April 1, 2009, on Comedy Central. Season 6 consisted of fifteen episodes. Cast members Alazraqui, McLendon-Covey and Birdsong did not return for the final season and their characters' absences were explained as fatalities from an explosion in the fifth season finale. Additionally, actors Ian Roberts and Joe Lo Truglio were added to the principal cast as Sergeant Jack Declan and Deputy Frank Salvatore Rizzo, respectively.

On August 13, 2009, Lennon announced through Twitter that the show had ended its six-year run.^[11] In response to the cancellation, Reno residents and officials petitioned to save the show.^[12]

Revival

In October 2011, a story broke that the producers were in negotiations with the streaming service Netflix for a revival.^[13] The primary reason producers wanted to revive the show was because only 88 episodes were produced, and they and syndicating networks would have liked for the show to hit the 100 episodes.^[14] However, at the time, Comedy Central, who still held sole rights, had not been involved in any negotiations. As well, Lennon and Garant were attached to other projects.

It was announced on December 6, 2019, that the series would be revived in 2020 on streaming platform Quibi.^[15] The revival featured the return of the original series creators Lennon, Garant and Kenney-Silver. In a statement, 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."

Filming of the seventh season started in early 2020, where the production crew was spotted in Piru, California on February 23, 2020. On April 10, 2020, it was announced that the revival was set to premiere on May 4, 2020.^[16] On September 3, 2020, the show was renewed for an eighth season.^[2] On October 23, 2020, it was announced that Quibi would be shutting down. The eighth season, titled Reno 911! Defunded, made its debut on The Roku Channel on February 25, 2022. On September 7, 2023, it was reported that the series was removed from the service.^[17]

Main crew members

• 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