Detective Jenny (Johnsonverse)

Detective Jenny is an American series of comic books created by Tammy Jo Johnson that has run since March 1, 1992.

The series follows the adventures of teenagers in the employ of the UN to uncover criminal activities and arrest and/or kill the people responsible for them, such as drug smugglers, arms traffickers, human slavers, and terrorists.

The comics were critically acclaimed, and directly led to a franchise, most famously including a television series that ran on WBC's Saturday Night block from June 4, 1994 to December 29, 2001, and again since June 10, 2017, also including merchandise, films, games, soundtracks, a clothing line, and theme park attractions, as well as the equally successful spin-off series Lea & Fran (2008-present) and The Kids of Hills Beach (2012-present, comics; 2016-present, animated series).

Comics
In December 1991, Tammy Jo Johnson, known for being a doodler, drew up five characters while at a Howard Johnson's during a visit at Times Square after seeing five teenagers hanging out. Johnson named the five characters from names she thought up herself (an urban legend postulates that Jenny Smith was named after the character, as she was born during the series' first run). At that point, she immediately began making a monthly series of comic books based on the five characters. She named the series Detective Jenny, about the five girls employed by the UN to uncover various criminal activities, under the newly-revived Johnson Comics banner (the original Johnson Comics wouldn't come back under Johnson control until the Disney acquisition in 2013), marking the first issues for the label since Phil Stacker had sold the original and all of its characters and series to Marvel during his mental breakdown in October of that year.

Television series
The series was an instant hit, and Johnson started producing the television series in early 1993. The pilot, finished in December 1993, was shown to Tammy Jo's husband, then-Johnson CEO Sheldon Johnson, Jr., who immediately greenlit it for the 1994 season and helped Tammy Jo develop the series. Ronnie, who was named after Tammy Jo's aunt Ronnie Chalke, was added for the series. The pilot episode is an origin story of Team Jenny, telling the story of how they met, and the circumstances of Project Hercules. Said pilot eventually aired in 1995. In addition, Tammy Jo always intended for Jenny and Makayla to be romantically attracted to each other, an idea that was finally put to use in the twelfth movie as Johnson waited for attitudes toward same-sex couples to change; this was disclosed only to Hill, Sheldon, Craig, the writers, the storyboard artists, and the cast.

In 1999, Mary Kay Bergman, the original voice of Jenny, committed suicide. There was much speculation on various fan forums, including prominent fan forum Team DJ (which was founded in 1996 by user Carl Davidson, known in the forum as jenmackfan), about her replacement, and some even speculated that Jenny herself would be retired out of respect. A press release for the then-upcoming seventh season issued on December 1, 1999, however, confirmed Bergman's replacement; before her death, Bergman left a suicide note requesting that her friend, Tara Strong (known at the time as Tara Charendoff), who had voiced various background characters throughout the show's run, take over as the voice of Jenny (the note also said "Take care of Mack for me", referring to Alanna Ubach and the name Jenny uses almost exclusively to address Makayla, just as the latter almost exclusively addresses Jenny as "Jen"). The seventh season began airing in 2000, with Strong, credited alongside Bergman in the episodes she did, voicing Jenny in several scenes recorded after Bergman's death, as she had committed suicide during the voice acting sessions, though the latter was still billed in the opening; she also filled in for Bergman for a number of lines in the 2000 video game Detective Jenny: Y2K. The eighth season, which first aired in 2001, had Strong's name replace Bergman's in the intro.

Tammy Jo was the showrunner from 1993 to 2001. When the series was revived in 2017, her son Tim took over. Craig Johnson was director of the series and movies until 2015, at which point Timothy Hill (director of EarthBound and fellow WBC series Monster World, among many other productions for Johnson Studios and Johnson Television) took over.

Cancellation
The series was reluctantly canceled in 2001 due to a combination of factors, including being overshadowed in ratings by Monster World and Tammy Jo having to dedicate more time to homeschooling her children. A ninth season was in active development for a 2002 release, which would have been supervised by Hill, but then the September 11th attacks occurred, and Johnson shut down production out of fear that the series' ultra-violent nature would be in incredibly poor taste. Three episodes for the original ninth season, however, had already been completed ("Vegas Sabotage!", "The Threat Arises", and "Mafia Masterpiece"), and aired as primetime specials throughout 2002, before the series went into semi-hibernation, kept alive by the ongoing comics and merchandise, as well as video games on even-numbered years and theatrical films on odd-numbered years.

Revival
At San Diego Comic-Con in 2016, Tim Johnson closed out his panel as he always does: with a surprise announcement. Said announcement was a trailer announcing that the television series would be revived for a ninth season to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the franchise. The entire auditorium burst into cheers, and the series' revival was the top-trending item across social media.

The revived season introduced new outfits for Team Jenny, replacing the ones that had been in use since the September 1992 issue and the 2003 movie. Tim explained that this was also done in commemoration of the franchise's 25th anniversary. The new outfits were personally designed by Tammy Jo. Much of the same voice cast reprise their roles in the new series, and the opening sequence was reanimated.

Premise
The series follows six (nine starting with the fourth film and twelve starting with the tenth season) 13 to 16-year-old girls, all with extremely troubled backgrounds, working for a special task unit of the United Nations. They were selected because they were the subjects of Project Hercules (Jenny and Makayla were the first subjects in 1979, followed by Terry in 1984, Kristen and Louise in 1986, Ronnie in 1993, Christy, Emily, and Sandra in 2003, and Krystall, Molly, and Daisy in 2017). The project was a success, and all the subjects, while they can still be killed, are effectively immortal, in addition to being physically stronger and having faster reaction times than normal humans (this was done so the series could follow real-life events without having to age the cast, as well as satirize the concept of "comic book time"). Known as "Team Jenny," they are tasked with infiltrating, uncovering, and in many cases, destroying illegal operations.

The series has been described as "deceptive." On the outside, it seems like a generic girls' show, but the series is very dark and mature, serving to deconstruct the child hero concept. The heroines often find themselves in dangerous situations and carry firearms that they do not hesitate to use to kill. They have no qualms about killing, and will not take chances with their enemies. Also, innocent civilians, even children, are often caught in the crossfire. As a result, they were viewed as outcasts in school (even though they don't receive educations, they still tend to be stationed at various high schools around the United States in areas under assumed names) because of their line of work, and don't have any friends aside from each other. They have also been left with mental and emotional scars as the series progressed. Since no therapist will see them, these scars only worsened to the point that Terry once ripped out and ate the heart of a drug lord and chucked an active grenade in his mouth in a Season 8 episode, Makayla and Kristen stab a smuggler with a sword, take out his eyes with a corkscrew, and leave him to die in a Season 5 episode, and Louise burns a terrorist alive and feeds his body parts to her dogs in a Season 6 episode.

As its reputation grew, the series came to be known for mindless violence involving over-the-top kills and models being blown up every other second; despite this, the series is also chock-full of intelligent social commentary. The series also involves such themes as drugs, smuggling, slavery, human trafficking, and terrorism, among other vices. Villains are depicted as depraved individuals, or good people forced into a life of crime. It is for this reason that several one-off villains were redeemed but usually died in the process. The series also has a recurring antagonist in the form of a terrorist organization known as Black Scorpion. Led by a man known only as "Onizuka" (named for Ellison Onizuka, an astronaut who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster), they commit terrorist acts around the world, with the ultimate goal of Japan gaining independence from the United States. However, this goal later changed after the first film, to the more noble goal of a global utopia where war is an alien concept, while utilizing the same brutal tactics.

Other recurring antagonists include the Takanashi-gumi (a Yakuza gang from the Japanese isles), the Vincenetti Crime Family (an Italian-American mob family from Brooklyn), al-Salam (a radical Islamic terrorist organization from Iraq), the Celtic Liberation Front (a terrorist group seeking the independence of Scotland and Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom), the New Black Panthers (a revived version of the old Black Panthers), and the Camino Cartel (a Mexican drug cartel whose leader is also Makayla's father; the cartel played a key role in Team Jenny's founding, as well as Jenny and Makayla's relationship).

Opening and closing sequences
The intro is a send-up to classic spy movie opening sequences, showing the character's silhouette in their respective colors with their voice actor's name next to it in the same color, while the theme, an original composition by Cal Johnson, plays. The credits sequence uses clips from the previous season (except for season one, which used clips from the first six episodes, and the ninth season, which used clips from the various specials, movies, and video games released during that time period), set to another original Cal Johnson composition.

United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization tasked to promote international co-operation and to create and maintain international order. A replacement for the ineffective League of Nations, the organization was established on October 24, 1945 after World War II to prevent another such conflict.

Team Jenny
The main protagonists of the series, Team Jenny is the UN's best team of detectives. The show's title is a misnomer, as the team more often acts as spies, saboteurs, assassins, and even commandos (originally, in the first six issues, the comics had the team simply investigate criminal activities so that the FBI would bust the culprits, acting as actual detectives, before Tammy Jo decided that the team acting in combat would be more exciting, though the Detective Jenny name was kept). They are often used for infiltration, sabotage, rescue, and even outright combat. Despite their young ages, ranging from 13-16, they are hypercompetent at their jobs, rarely getting so much as a scratch. However, since they have had to experience a wide range of horrifying sights, their mental and emotional states are very, very fragile, and they are liable to flip out unexpectedly at any time. The team's headquarters is located in Hills Beach, Louisiana, in a house owned by Jenny and Makayla. The house itself is a beach house, designed to look abandoned, next to an abandoned pier on the coastline; it also features several secret hatches allowing the members to slide down the chutes to various areas in the team headquarters.


 * Jenny G. Denver (English: Mary Kay Bergman 1993-1999, Tara Strong 2000-present; Japanese: Kikuko Inoue) - The main protagonist of the series, Jenny, is the titular character. She is the leader of Team Jenny. Her parents were leaders of the Denver Crime Family until 1979 when they were sentenced to death for the murder of hundreds of people, including Jenny's little sister Beatrice, at which point Jenny was taken away, and the family quickly fell to raids by the FBI and the National Guard. Jenny is usually the most level-headed member of the team and serves as a calming influence to the others. Most of the time, Jenny is relatively subdued, only showing emotion either when on her own, or with Makayla, who is the only person she trusts to know her true self. However, she finally started opening up to the rest of the team in the final episode of the original run. Even so, Jenny is not immune to flipping out, once ripping off a Libyan drug smuggler's arm and then shoving it up his anus in the Season 7 episode Yay Kaboom. She is a well-rounded agent, able to do anything while excelling at nothing, making her the most reliable agent employed by the UN. However, she isn't perfect, suffering from a severe case of acrophobia that causes her to freeze up. Jenny is the oldest member of the team at age 16. Full name: Jennifer Gertrude Denver; Makayla addresses her almost exclusively as "Jen". Date of birth: June 10, 1963.


 * Makayla Gómez (English: Alanna Ubach; Japanese: Taeko Kawata) - The deuteragonist. Makayla is Jenny's second-in-command, childhood friend, and confidant (there were also many hints throughout the series that Jenny and Makayla may have been romantically attracted to each other; the twelfth movie confirms this), and often her main anchor to sanity. She is also the wealthiest member; her deceased uncle Alejandro Gómez, an immigrant from Mexico, made his fortune by mining oil through his company, the Gómez Oil Company, which he started in 1960 as a front for the Camino Cartel (so-called because it was based in the town of San Camino). As such, Makayla can get access to a therapist who will see her (most therapists refuse to see the team out of fear of being targeted by their enemies). As a result, she is the most well-adjusted member, but still has episodes of depravity. Makayla's specialty is infiltration, which she achieves using a variety of gadgets and gizmos such as a grappling gun, a laser cutter, and a watch that renders her invisible. She also has a fusion-powered jetpack to access hard-to-reach places and has enough thrust to allow Makayla to carry Jenny, which proves useful for missions where it's just the two of them; it's also the only thing that can calm Jenny during her acrophobia episodes. Makayla is the second-oldest member of the team, also being 16-years old, but is a few months younger than Jenny. Full name: Makayla Ximena Gómez; Jenny addresses her almost exclusively as "Mack". Date of birth: September 25, 1963.
 * Terry Clampett-Jones (English: Tress MacNeille 1993-2002, occasionally 2006-present, Hynden Walch 2003-present; Japanese: Fujiko Takimoto) - Team Jenny's weapons expert. Terry is a 14-year-old girl who grew up on a farm in California's Central Valley, and whose parents were killed by cattle rustlers; she killed the rustlers with their weapons, then used their remains as fertilizer. She was then put in an orphanage run by a shifty man named Jim Albertson, who turned out to be notorious serial killer Ted Bundy; she called the cops immediately after stepping through the door and was taken in by the UN for Project Hercules in 1984. Terry can use a wide variety of weapons, from knives to rocket launchers and everything in between, though she favors dual-wielding a pair of sawn-off shotguns into battle. She tries to put on a "tough-girl act", but fails miserably due to her mental trauma; she is also very fond of Ronnie. Full name: Teresa Marlene Clampett-Jones. Date of birth: February 17, 1970.
 * Kristen Smith (English: Cree Summer 1993-2002, Kyla Pratt 2003-present; Japanese: Miina Tominaga) - Kristen is one of the team's two pilots. Despite only being 15-years old, she can pilot any aircraft or helicopter with ease. She is also one of the more mentally-stable members of the team, although she still has episodes of depravity. In addition, Kristen is talented at repairing old machines and vehicles, and owns multiple vintage vehicles such as a Ford Model T, a P-51 Mustang, a Sopwith Camel, a WWII-era Army Jeep, even an M48 Patton tank. She is best friends with fellow pilot Louise, and is often the only one who can keep her in check (it's often said her other job besides piloting is holding Louise and Terry's proverbial leashes, lest they go out on the town and murder every jaywalker, online griefer, and Fox News viewer on sight). Her parents were the leaders of the New Black Panthers until members of the FBI killed them in 1986. Full name: Kristen Luciana Smith; Louise tends to address her as "Kris". Date of birth: January 1, 1971.
 * Louise Savage (English: Kristen Schaal; Japanese: Hekiru Shiina) - The team's other pilot, 14-year old Louise has seven cute but deadly attack dogs (who were the first animals to undergo the Project Hercules process) and is much like her best friend Kristen: able to pilot any aircraft or helicopter with ease, though Louise has the bonus of being able to drive land vehicles and watercraft. Of everyone on the team, she is the one who is most likely to be singled out as genuinely insane. She once burned a terrorist alive and then fed his remains to her dogs in the Season 6 episode Desert Rats and also rammed an arms trafficker, ate off his toes and fingers, cut off his tongue, gouged out his eyes, ripped out his spleen, tore off his intestines, burned his corpse, dipped his skin in acid and lye, and threw the body into a saw, cutting it in half and all the remains being preserved as food for her dogs, in the eleventh film. Not only that, but roughly 75% of her dialogue also consists of chewing several tons of scenery per minute, her more lucid moments coming during slower scenes. All things considered, she lives up to her surname. Her parents both abused her, causing Louise to become a psychopath, killing her parents with a corkscrew and eating them in 1986, before being found by the UN and recruited into Team Jenny with Kristen. She heavily inspired the character of Trevor Philips in Grand Theft Auto V. Full name: Louise Valentina Savage; Kristen tends to address her as "Lou". Date of birth: April 18, 1972.


 * Ronnie Hinton (English: Paige O'Hara 1993-2002, Jessica DiCicco 2003-present; Japanese: Maria Kawamura) - The (until 2017) youngest and (until 2003) the newest member of the team, 13-year old Ronnie doesn't have nearly as much mental or emotional damage as the other members, though she developed some psychosis by the end of the first season. She joined the team in the series' pilot and was quickly taken under Terry's wing. Ronnie's specialty lies in electronics, able to hack computers with impunity and disassemble and reassemble chipsets in minutes while leaving no evidence behind. She also carries EMP charges designed and built by herself, and can quickly reprogram robots to her side. She also sees putting active grenades in peoples' pockets as the first solution to a problem. Her parents (who were allied with the Camino Cartel) and her older brother Ben were killed in a drive-by shooting in 1993 by members of the Vincenetti Crime Family; she was the only survivor, and was recruited into Team Jenny after she was caught hacking into a government server to hide her parentage. Full name: Rosanne Alexis Hinton; Terry tends to refer to her as "Ron" or "Rons". Date of birth: July 28, 1980.


 * Jeff Herbert (English: David Tennant; Japanese: Kenyu Horiuchi) - One of the team's superiors, replacing the deceased Joe Quill. He's a veteran of the Vietnam War, and like his predecessor, could emphasize with the girls, and his job is to brief the team on their target(s) and objectives. Jeff also has more charisma between him and Dennis. He made his debut in the tenth season as a UN agent, before being promoted to Team Jenny upon Joe's death. Full name: Jeffrey Lyndon Herbert. Date of birth: October 1, 1950.


 * Dennis Leonard (English: Ben Stein; Japanese: Koichi Sato) - The team's other superior. True to other characters Stein has played in film and television, Dennis has the charisma of a wet blanket, always being deadpan and humorless. However, it has been shown on many occasions that he does indeed have emotions, such as when he was noticeably angry after 9/11 in the October 2001 issue. Dennis' job is to give the team their equipment. Full name: Dennis Charles Leonard. Date of birth: December 1, 1944.

Starting with the fourth film, three new members joined:
 * Christy Vincenetti (English: Grey Griffin, credited as Grey DeLisle 2003-2012; Japanese: Tomoko Kawakami 2003-2011, Emiri Katō 2011-present) - Christy is a 14-year-old Italian-American genius who, like Angus MacGyver, can make efficient weapons out of ordinary household objects. Like Ronnie, Sandra, and Emily, Christy doesn't have the same state of mental health as other members. Her father Albert was the Don of the Vincenetti Crime Family before his untimely death in 2017, and a UN member in disguise as a Vincenetti made man took Christy away for Project Hercules after she came forth as a whistleblower. Prior to being properly introduced, Christy made multiple silent cameos during the series' first run; Tammy Jo stated in an interview that it was her intention from the beginning for Christy to one day join Team Jenny, and to that end, included her in multiple episodes so viewers could watch her grow up before having a formal introduction; production notes and storyboards referred to simply as "Albert's daughter", as Tammy Jo didn't conceive the name Christy until the fourth film entered production in 2001. Full name: Cristina Shannen Vincenetti. Date of birth: March 23, 1989.
 * Emily Kennedy (English: Rachel MacFarlane; Japanese: Chieko Higuchi) - Emily, a 15-year-old martial-arts expert from Detroit, can take out enemies with kung-fu or karate, and is also a natural fighter. Despite her predisposition to melee fighting, she can and will use firearms in a pinch. Terrorists killed her parents during a visit to Afghanistan. Full name: Emily Beatrice Kennedy. Date of birth: May 3, 1988.
 * Sandra Thomas (English: Lacey Chabert; Japanese: Masumi Asano) - 15-year-old Sandra is the team's demolitions expert, able to rig any kind of explosive from cherry bombs to thermonuclear devices (provided she can get her hands on enriched uranium). Despite this, she often leaves the act of detonating explosives to Ronnie. Her favorite pastime is booby-trapping her enemies' things; for example, in the eighth film, Sandra used a slaver's wallet and added a cutter so that the slaver's fingers would be chopped off. When she was a baby, she lived in England, and her parents were killed in an explosion set off by a terrorist group (later revealed to be the Celtic Liberation Front). Her aunt and uncle moved her to an American orphanage, which in reality was a Black Scorpion front, with its soldiers brainwashing the children to their ideals (explaining Sandra’s American accent); the FBI and Sandra eventually caught it was taken in by the UN for Project Hercules and her brainwashing undone. Full name: Sandra Carolyn Thomas; Christy tends to refer to her as "Sandy". Date of birth: August 19, 1988.

In 2017, three more members joined:
 * Krystall Chen (English: Kyla Rae Kowalewski; Japanese: Sora Amamiya) - 14-year-old, Chinese-American Krystall Chen is the newest member of the team. She is the team’s commando and can make surprise attacks on even the most dangerous criminals. Her parents were chronic pedophiles who hated her and continually made her suffer whenever she didn’t do what they expected her to do; they were arrested and sentenced to 25 years in prison for child abuse and pedophilia. Full name: Krystall Lee Chen. Date of birth: October 20, 2003.
 * Molly Richter (English: Spencer Lacey Ganus; Japanese: Minori Chihara) - 15-year-old Molly is the team’s saboteur; she can disguise as anybody to trick unwitting criminals (she's so good, Jenny honestly believed Makayla had betrayed her and revealed she was never her friend, but a mole for the Camino Cartel, only to later find that it was actually Molly using the new Holo-Disguiser Daisy had made, and that Makayla had infiltrated the Cartel's stronghold through more conventional, forceful means; Molly later found her own way out of the base, leaving Jenny and Makayla to take care of the Cartel via their brand of mindless mayhem). She was the daughter of a Neo-Nazi leader, Dolph Richter, until she killed him in 2017. Full name: Molly Florence Richter. Date of birth: February 3, 2002.
 * Daisy Nicholas (English: Sara Paxton; Japanese: Sarah Emi Bridcutt) - 13-year-old Daisy is the youngest member of the team (being younger than Ronnie by six months); she isn’t as mentally unstable as the other members, though she’s been known to have episodes. She was almost killed by her parents, stuffing her and taking the car to the crusher before a bystander heard her screaming and called the cops, at which point Daisy was taken in by the UN and inducted into Project Hercules and Team Jenny. Daisy is the team’s researcher and specializes in creating makeshift weapons like Molotov cocktails. Full name: Daisy Summer Nicholas. Date of birth: January 26, 2004.

Deceased members

 * Joe Quill (English: Shane Rimmer 1994-2019; Japanese: Chikao Ōtsuka 1994-2015; Kotaro Nakamura 2015-2019) - One of the team's superiors. Between himself and Dennis, Joe was more charismatic and could empathize with the girls. Having served in World War II, his job was to brief the team on their target(s), and their objectives. Joe didn’t do much fieldwork anymore, but when he did, even Onizuka himself feared him. Joe was killed off in the twelfth season premiere due to the death of his voice actor, Shane Rimmer. Full name: Joseph Shane Quill. Date of birth: July 29, 1899.

Other UN members

 * Emi Kobayashi (English: Kristen Li; Japanese: Aya Hirano) - A wheelchair-bound secret mole for the UN who gathers intel from radical groups while posing as a child soldier; originally, she actually was one for Black Scorpion before being brainwashed by the UN. Date of birth: June 12, 2002.

Black Scorpion
The most-recurring antagonists in the series, Black Scorpion, is a global terrorist organization. Originally just another Japanese separatist movement, Black Scorpion eventually began aiming for world domination, with the ultimate goal of creating a utopia free of war. They still use the same tactics since there's no other way to unify the world under one banner.
 * Onizuka (English: Mako Iwamatsu 1993-2007, Greg Baldwin 2008-present; Japanese: Norio Wakamoto) - The main antagonist of the series. While his real name is Riko Sousuke, he took on the name Onizuka and founded Black Scorpion immediately after seeing his father get killed by an American soldier in front of him in 1942. He served 45 years in prison (1946 to 1991) for running a massive Ponzi scheme that he used to fund Black Scorpion since its beginning. Onizuka is a charismatic figure who is intelligent. Date of birth: February 29, 1923.
 * Kuromiya Itō (English: Sab Shimono; Japanese: Isao Sasaki) - Onizuka's second-in-command. He is extremely loyal to Onizuka. Date of birth: October 30, 1959.

Vincenetti Crime Family
The Vincenetti Crime Family is the most powerful Mafia family in the US, based in Brooklyn. Their known fronts include Stefano's cheese brand called Formaggio Per la Mamma, as well as a chain of bistros across the country called Sicilian Homestyle Bistro. They're known to value loyalty above all else, and all its members are sharply dressed. Also, they have connections with New York Mayor Jason K. Small, allowing them to get away with most of their activities. Their goons mainly use Thompson machine guns, woefully outdated by modern standards; its founder Albert “Lips” Vincenetti defended this choice, stating that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Albert's daughter, Christy, blew the whistle on the entire organization in 2003, and instead of going into witness protection, was recruited into Team Jenny.
 * Stefano Vincenetti (English: Michael Bell; Japanese: Hiroki Tōchi) - The Don of the family, Stefano is a paranoid mob boss who will do anything to get more power. He cares for his niece Christy, and is trying to get her back into the family so she can succeed him as the family Don; Christy, on her part, has vowed to make his death slow and painful, and to that end, has gone to Louise for advice on several occasions. Full name: Stefano Kristoff Vincenetti. Date of birth: July 8, 1940.
 * Alessandro "Alex" Colombo (English: Tony Sirico; Japanese: Haruhiko Yamanouchi) - The family Caporegime. Alex is just as much of a loyal friend to Stefano as he was to Albert, but has a short fuse and wastes no time in killing people just for annoying him. Full name: Alessandro Vittorio Colombo. Date of birth: December 9, 1968.
 * Francesca Vincenetti (English: Aida Turturro; Japanese: Aya Hisakawa) - Stefano's wife and Christy's mother. She was forced to marry Stefano under threat of death and pretends to be happy with her relationship to keep him happy. Full name: Francesca Elisa Vincenetti (née Esposito). Date of birth: September 29, 1967.
 * Martha Vincenetti (English: Brenda Vaccaro; Japanese: Yuko Saito) - Albert’s widow. She is a bitter woman who only showed her sweeter side to other members of the family, even more so after her husband's death. Full name: Martha Leigh Vincenetti (née Romano). Date of birth: April 21, 1968.
 * Maria Colombo (English: Amanda Leighton; Japanese: Mai Aizawa) - Alex’s estranged daughter, introduced in 2016. She is mentally unstable and has a short fuse, to the point of snapping the neck of a bully when she was 10. She is one of the few people Louise is genuinely scared of. Full name: Maria Sara Colombo. Date of birth: October 19, 1992.
 * Edna Vincenetti (English: Natalie Palamides; Japanese: Ryoko Shiraishi) - Christy’s cousin. She secretly hates the mafia life. Full name: Edna Anne Vincenetti. Date of birth: September 9, 1995.

Deceased members

 * Albert "Lips" Vincenetti (English: Frank Vincent; Japanese: Kousei Yagi) - Stefano’s older brother who was the Don of the Vincenetti Crime Family from 1990 until his 2018 death. He was Christy’s father and also wanted to sway her back into the fold due to Christy being his only child. Albert was known to hang out at the Sicilian Homestyle Bistro in Brooklyn, earning him the "Lips" nickname. Albert was also a corrupt Mafia boss who would go so far as to torture children for information on his rivals. He was killed off in the eleventh season premiere due to the death of his voice actor, Frank Vincent; Albert was killed when Sandra and Christy put a bomb in the front engine of his limo after he walked away from the Sicilian Homestyle Bistro, killing both him and his driver. Full name: Albert Franklin Vincenetti. Date of birth: February 18, 1933.
 * Tuco Vincenetti (English: Eli Wallach; Japanese: Ken Yamaguchi) - Albert's brother who was
 * Roberto "Chunky Bob" Vincenetti (English: Robert Loggia; Japanese: Bin Shimada) - Stefano, Albert, and Tuco's father. He was the Don of the Vincenetti Crime Family from 1960 until his 1990 retirement. He was killed off in the January 2016 issue due to the death of his voice actor, Robert Loggia. Full name: Roberto Enrico Vincenetti. Date of birth: January 25, 1920.

Takanashi-gumi
The Takanashi-gumi (高梨組) is the most powerful Yakuza gang in the Japanese isles. They also have activities in the mainland US, South China, and Korea. Onizuka finds them too violent for his standards, and there have been several occasions where Black Scorpion and Team Jenny collaborated to stop them.
 * Hiro Takanashi (English: Les J.N. Mau; Japanese: Tessho Genda) - The oyabun of the Takanashi-gumi.

Celtic Liberation Front
The Celtic Liberation Front is a separatist movement in the British Isles. The first antagonists to appear in the series, they seek the independence of Scotland from the United Kingdom, and the return of Northern Ireland to its rightful owner. To accomplish this goal, they carry out numerous terrorist attacks.


 * Tavish MacDonald (English: Billy Connolly; Japanese: Akio Ōtsuka) - The leader of the Celtic Liberation Front, Tavish is a charismatic man who styles himself as a Scottish Highlander. He could care less about what happens to the Irish under his command, but the safety and well-being of his fellow Scots are his biggest priority, and when things go south, he does his best to get them out before Team Jenny kills them. Full name: Tavish Aiden MacDonald.

al-Salam
A Middle Eastern terrorist organization. They claim to be unaffiliated with al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and use counterfeit weapons imported from Khyber Pass. They were introduced in the fourth movie as the main antagonists. The name "al-Salam" is Arabic for "The Peace", a rather ironic name.


 * Omar Abboud (English: Isaiah Mustafa; Japanese: Antonio Inoki) - The leader of al-Salam. He is best described as an ambitious man who strives to be like Osama bin Laden, his hero. He is an Arabic immigrant who was deported from the United States in 1965 after running a large-scale pyramid scheme in tandem with the Vincenetti Crime Family (they cut ties with Abboud after he was exposed and several made men were sent to prison for fifty or more years, including Stefano, though he was paroled after ten years).

Poison of Mercy
The Poison of Mercy (憐憫之毒) is a triad organization from South China. First appearing in 1996, this group is one of the largest triad organizations in South China. It has operations in New York.
 * Li Ju Yang (English: Sho Kosugi; Japanese: Kinryū Arimoto 1996-2019, Kotaro Nakamura 2019-present) is the leader of the Poison of Mercy. He is affable to his associates.

Korean Mob
The Korean Mob is a Kkangpae organization from Korea. It debuted in 2017.
 * Moon Sang-hoon (English: Randall Park; Japanese: Taiki Matsuno) is the leader of the Korean Mob.

Bambino Crime Family
The Bambino Crime Family is a mob family from Chicago.

Camino Cartel
The Camino Cartel was a drug cartel based in San Camino, Mexico. They sold all kinds of drugs from cocaine to meth and had been known to use a major taco chain (Toni’s Taco Shop) as a front for their criminal activities. Other known fronts included the Gómez Oil Company (their first known front), and an ice cream truck fleet called "Mr. Yippee". The entire organization was brought down in the twelfth movie by Jenny and Makayla after the destruction of all of its fronts and the death of every leader in the organization.


 * Antonio "Toni" Gómez (English: Danny Trejo; Japanese: Tsutomu Yamazaki) - The leader of the Cartel. He was also Makayla’s older brother and wanted her to join the Cartel so she could succeed their father Ramon as the leader. Toni was calm and stoic, unlike some of his other rivals. He met his end in the twelfth movie when the truck he and the survivors of the base were in exploded when Jenny threw a vintage Formula One car into the trailer and set off the volatile chemicals inside (it's a long story, but in short, watch the climax of Toy Story to get an idea of how she did it). Full name: Antonio Emmanuel Gómez. Date of birth: June 25, 1956.
 * Victoria Gómez (English: Carrie Fisher; Japanese: Masako Nozawa) - Ramon's widow. She was the co-leader of the Cartel, working alongside Toni, and was CEO of the Gómez Oil Company. She was ditzy and expected people to make her happy. In addition, her marriage with Ramon was very rocky, to the point where Victoria eventually hired an assassin to shoot Ramon in the stomach with a sniper rifle in the tenth movie, resulting in his death. Like Toni, Victoria also met her end in the twelfth movie during the truck's explosion. Full name: Victoria Maria Montalbán. Date of birth: October 9, 1936.
 * Ramon "Motormouth" Gómez (English: Ricardo Montalban; Japanese: Masahiko Tsugawa) - Makayla and Toni's father who was the leader of the Camino Cartel from 1930 until his 2009 death. He cared for his only daughter and wanted her to take over the Cartel when the time came. In addition, Ramon was a huge talker, earning him the nickname "Motormouth". He was killed off in the seventh movie at the age of 104; the scene of him and Toni at the hospital was reportedly recorded with ADR hours prior to Montalban's death, though this has never been confirmed. Full name: Ramon Luigi Gómez. Date of birth: January 31, 1905.
 * Alejandro Gómez (English: Max Von Sydow; Japanese: Osamu Saka) - Makayla's uncle who founded the Gómez Oil Company in 1960 as a front for the Cartel. He was never seen in the TV series outside of flashbacks, as he was killed during the first issue of the comic series (which is set in 1979, when Jenny and Makayla became the first subjects of Project Hercules). He stopped appearing in flashbacks following the death of Max Von Sydow in 2020. Full name: Alejandro Emilio Gómez. Date of birth: August 29, 1920. Death: June 25, 1979.

Vehicles
A holdover from when the series was originally going to be produced by Gerry Anderson is the presence of various high-tech vehicles that the team uses.
 * Neptune's Trident - Built as the USS Barbel (SS-580), after it was decommissioned by the US Navy, Makayla bought the sub for cheap, as it otherwise would have languished due to the presence of painted-over asbestos insulation. The sub is equipped with the most up-to-date technology (and undergoes periodic overhauls as technology evolves). The Neptune's Trident is equipped with torpedo and Tomahawk missile launchers, advanced sonar, a greenhouse to provide breathable air without having to surface or snorkel, a cold fusion reactor for power, and a virtual periscope that can see above the water without physically raising the actual periscope. The team was able to make the most of the cramped space aboard the sub, as it is smaller than the nuclear subs being fielded by the major naval powers.

SECTION WORK-IN-PROGRESS

Animation
Animation for the series is divided between Toei Animation and TMS Entertainment. Both studios animate 13 episodes per season each, which amounts to an even 50-50 split on animation work. The difference between the two studios is easy to spot: the Toei episodes have deeper shading, sharper linework, and faster-paced action, while the TMS episodes have more fluid movement, rounder linework, and more dynamic action sequences. The opening sequence is animated by both studios.

During the first season, several episodes were animated by Korean studio AKOM, who handled six episodes (while Toei and TMS' work was split between ten episodes each). The animation in these episodes was incredibly poor (an issue that also saw it dropped from The Transformers and Batman: The Animated Series), with colors that were too bright, and way too many errors to count, chief among them using outdated character models for Team Jenny, which had been used in the March to August 1992 issues, instead of the designs introduced in September 1992. As a result of the sloppy work AKOM produced, not only were they dropped from the series starting with the second season, their existing episodes were also reworked, with many of the planned on-foot action sequences replaced with vehicular sequences so new live-action model sequences could be shot. Existing animation from Toei and TMS episodes with new lip flaps replaced many of the AKOM-made scenes (these new shots tended to clash due to the noticeably darker colors; the remaining AKOM-produced shots were digitally recolored for future releases); these episodes were completely reanimated in the 2004 "Tenth Anniversary" box set, which is now used for reruns, home video, and streaming. To this day, many of the original cels from the AKOM shots are lost, though a few have resurfaced in recent years following audits of AKOM's archive.

For the movies, Toei tends to take the odd-numbered movies, while TMS does the even-numbered movies. They also trade off on the video game FMV cutscenes, with TMS doing the odd-numbered games, and Toei the even-numbered games. Not all of the movies have been animated by them, though. The sixth movie was animated by legendary animator Richard Williams and his studio, which brought with it incredibly fluid animation and a sequence that otherwise would have been done with models being completely animated. The eighth movie was animated by Don Bluth, another legendary animator. The tenth movie, meanwhile, was animated by Walt Disney Animation Studios (but is not counted as part of the Disney Animated Canon since Johnson Studios distributed the film). While Disney used TMS' character models, they animated the film using traditional cels, and not even using the Xerox method, the CAPS system, or ToonBoom Harmony, also using the multiplane camera to create a sense of depth not typically seen in other Detective Jenny productions. It was confirmed that the thirteenth movie, set for a 2021 release, is being animated by Bakshi Productions. The pilot episode was animated by Toei.

It was the first series to use Johnson's famed hybrid approach, mixing animation with live-action elements such as miniatures and live pyrotechnics. Early in production, Johnson Television was in talks with Gerry Anderson to make a Supermarionation series out of the concept. Had this gone through, it would have been Anderson's first series to use Supermarionation since The Secret Service. However, negotiations fell through when Anderson wanted to use the Supermacromation technique used in Terrahawks. Another early concept was making the series live-action, with Ben Stein cast before the switch to animation, and Fairuza Balk considered for the role of Jenny before animation tests showed the comics' art style transitioned nicely to screen. The series was also the first WBC series to be created in widescreen, to coincide with Johnson-owned PrimeStar's switch to widescreen earlier that year.

For its first season, the series animation was done using cel animation, before going digital in the second season, one of the first animated series to do so. Cel animation continued being used for FMV cutscenes in the video games until 2004, and in the movies until 2007 (not counting the movies animated by Richard Williams, Don Bluth, and Disney). For the live-action model scenes, 35mm film was used through the end of the original series' run, and in the video games and movies until 2008, being the last Johnson production to switch to digital cameras.

Before the animation is made, reference shots are made in live-action for the more complex action sequences. This is done to aid animators in getting the correct framing for the scene, and the staging and posing for each individual character. These references are shot on full-scale sets that approximate where the sequence takes place (for example, for the first episode, an approximation of the top of the fuselage of the Fireflash was built). The actors in the references are unnamed studio extras wearing whatever they came in with that day, mainly because finding actresses who have an appearance and/or physique close to the protagonists proved impossible. To date, only one of these sequences has been officially released, that being the one from the first episode where Jenny, Makayla, Terry, and Louise board the Fireflash to wrest control of it from the Celtic Liberation Front and safely land it, from the time they magnetize their boots to avoid being blown off by the airstream, to the time Louise seizes control and Jenny and Makayla take the flight engineer positions.

Each episode takes a year to produce, and plots are affected by the deaths of certain voice actors.

Voice acting
Most of the voice actors record in the same room and are encouraged to improvise (this style was a bit frustrating for Mary Kay Bergman and Cree Summer in early recording sessions, but Kristen Schaal, then an unknown, stated she loved this style). Tammy Jo Johnson explained in a 2000 interview that this would lead to the realistic back-and-forth between characters; this led to many outtakes, some of which made it into a documentary on the series in 2017; before this, several were leaked on YouTube.

The only exceptions are when an actor lives in a different region or country, such as David Tennant, the voice of Jeff, who lives in the United Kingdom; his lines, along with those of several other actors, are recorded via phone patch. Episodes produced during the COVID-19 pandemic had all the voice actors record separately via Zoom.

Soundtrack
The series' original soundtrack was composed by Cal Johnson and performed by the Johnson Philharmonic Orchestra. Stock music by Johnny Douglas and Barry Gray is also used.

Cal Johnson music
These are a few of the original compositions by Cal Johnson made for the series. These cues were used in the 2004 video game Evil Genius, with Johnson's permission.


 * Opening Theme
 * End Credits
 * Emergency Fighter Scramble
 * A Brief Respite
 * En Route
 * Ambush!
 * Evil Plot in Motion
 * Ambient Music

Johnny Douglas music
These are compositions by Johnny Douglas originally made for The Transformers and GI Joe: A Real American Hero. The iconic Transformers theme is still heard in many of these. Johnson is able to use these tracks by virtue of owning Hasbro, which they had acquired in 1992.


 * Fight in the Mines
 * Black Scorpion Theme
 * Louise Goes Crazy
 * Dennis Equips the Team
 * Jenny and Makayla Alone (a)
 * Jenny and Makayla Alone (b)
 * Jenny and Makayla Alone (c)
 * Terry Brings out the Big Guns
 * Investigation
 * Evil Plot Uncovered
 * Get Into Position
 * Disaster
 * Dealings with the Vincinettis
 * Preparations for Battle (a)
 * Preparations for Battle (b)
 * Wounded Warrior
 * Ronnie At Work
 * Blacked-Out Rage (a)
 * Blacked-Out Rage (b)
 * Blacked-Out Rage (c)
 * Blacked-Out Rage (d)
 * Poison of Mercy Theme
 * Dangerous Driving
 * Running the Blockade
 * Black Scorpion Plot
 * Emergency Repairs
 * Close-Quarters Combat (a)
 * Close-Quarters Combat (b)
 * Close-Quarters Combat (c)
 * Jenny and Makayla in Combat (a)
 * Jenny and Makayla in Combat (b)
 * Jenny and Makayla in Combat (c)
 * Jenny and Makayla in Combat (d)
 * Explosions (a)
 * Feigning Surrender
 * Moving The Line Up
 * Daisy's Lab
 * Black Scorpion Retreats
 * Under Siege
 * Invisibility
 * Fear of Heights
 * Patrol
 * Aerial Dogfight
 * Hit 'Em!
 * Guard Duty
 * Makayla the Infiltrator
 * New Black Panthers Theme
 * Last Stand
 * Formulating a Plan
 * Charge!
 * Heavy Fighting (a)
 * Heavy Fighting (b)
 * Heavy Fighting (c)
 * Heavy Fighting (d)
 * Heavy Fighting (e)
 * Guns Speak Louder Than Words
 * Precarious Situation
 * HALO Drop
 * A Nice Break
 * Big Reveal
 * Black Scorpion vs. Takanashi-gumi
 * Triggerhappy Louise
 * Broken Cover
 * Master of Stealth
 * Megatank
 * Neptune's Trident
 * At What Cost?
 * Divebomb
 * Fire
 * Ancient History
 * Black Scorpion Attacks
 * Tricky Maneuvering
 * Terry Saves Ronnie
 * Out-Of-Control Plane
 * Skills of a Hacker
 * Reinforcements
 * Circus of the Mind
 * Onizuka's Aspirations
 * Ronnie's Deadly Hacking
 * Streets of New York
 * New Black Panthers HQ
 * Discreet Rescue
 * Regroup
 * Temple
 * Best Friends
 * Assemble

Barry Gray music
These are compositions by Barry Gray originally made for various Gerry Anderson shows such as Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Stingray, Joe 90, and Space: 1999. Their respective leitmotifs are frequently heard, as well, with a well-known drinking game involving taking a shot every time theme music from another show is heard.


 * Fireflash Landing
 * Trouble in Paris
 * Celtic Liberation Front Theme/Planting the Bomb/Fireflash Takeoff
 * Now You See Me, Now You're Dead
 * Sidewinder
 * Road of Death
 * Path of Destruction
 * Good Ol' Detective Work
 * Among the Rubble
 * Collateral Damage
 * Seconds to Impact
 * Black Scorpion's Rocket
 * The OI' West
 * The Pyramids
 * Quiet Break-In
 * Stefano's Embarrassment
 * Canals of Venice
 * The Chase
 * Heavy Fighting (f)
 * Space Shuttle Endeavor Assembly & Rollout
 * Black Scorpion Moon Base
 * Monorail to Disaster
 * Celts on the Move
 * Manhunt
 * Convoy on the Move
 * Enemy Facility

Other music
These compositions were sourced from elsewhere, and are either public domain, are cues by Edd Kalehoff, or were tracks by Akira Ifukube that began seeing use with the advent of Monster World.


 * al-Salam's Exploding Facility - Dvorak
 * Fighter Scramble - Akira Ifukube
 * Neptune's Trident Launch - Akira Ifukube
 * The Might of Team Jenny's Arsenal - Akira Ifukube
 * Military Backing - Akira Ifukube
 * The Cartel - Edd Kalehoff

1992

 * 1) March 1 - Set in 1979, this is the origin story for Jenny and Makayla.
 * 2) April 1 -

Seasons
Each season consists of 26 episodes, typically being 45 minutes in length, with the season finale being a two-part episode.

SECTION WORK-IN-PROGRESS

Pilot (1993)
The pilot, which was produced in 1993 and aired on August 5, 1995, is an origin story of Team Jenny, telling the story of how they met, and the circumstances of Project Hercules. When it aired, it was titled "The Beginning of Team Jenny".

Season 1 (1994)
The first season premiered on June 4, 1994. As a new series, the budget was much lower than it is today, forcing the production staff to rely on stock footage from Gerry Anderson productions and older Johnson films. In fact, several episodes were outright adaptations of Thunderbirds episodes. This was also the only season to use cel animation (the movies notwithstanding), with the characters digitally superimposed over live-action backgrounds when possible; all later seasons switched to digital ink and paint.


 * 1) Ronnie's First Mission (written by Tammy Jo Johnson; animation by Toei) - Ronnie Hinton is inducted into Team Jenny as the sixth member. It is here she feels she is in way over her head when she goes out on her first assignment: stopping the Celtic Liberation Front from setting off a bomb over London aboard Air Terrainean's new atomic airliner Fireflash. This episode was adapted from the Thunderbirds episode "Trapped in the Sky." Air date: June 4, 1994
 * 2) Pirates of Somalia (written by Butch Lee; animation by TMS) - When ships begin mysteriously disappearing off the coast of Somalia, Jenny and Makayla are dispatched in the high-tech submarine Neptune's Trident to investigate. Air date: June 11, 1994
 * 3) All-In (written by Michael Cassutt; animation by AKOM) - A major human trafficking ring is uncovered in Florida, and the entire team is dispatched to flush the perps out by any means necessary. Air date: June 18, 1994
 * 4) Monorail to Disaster (written by Davey James; animation by TMS) - A new intercity monorail system in the United States is targeted by rogue politicians representing the airline lobby, and Louise is the only one who can stop a runaway train. This episode was adapted from the Thunderbirds episode "Brink of Disaster." Air date: June 25, 1994
 * 5) Fog of Doom - The Ocean Pioneer Company's new fleet of tankers begin mysteriously exploding when in a mysterious fog at sea, which sees the team sent aboard one of the tankers to discover the cause. This episode was adapted from the Thunderbirds episode "Danger at Ocean Deep." Air date: July 1, 1994
 * 6) Terror in Hills Beach - The team's headquarters in Hills Beach, LA, is targeted by the Celtic Liberation Front in retaliation for the failed Fireflash plot. Air date: July 8, 1994
 * 7) An Offer You Can't Refuse - Jenny and Makayla are tasked with distracting the Vincinetti crime family while Ronnie hacks their computer network to uncover their crimes. Air date: July 15, 1994
 * 8) Enter: Black Scorpion - Two men in a telecom tower in Colorado are imperiled when an aircraft sabotaged by Black Scorpion crashes into it. While Kristen and Louise carry out a dangerous rescue operation in a windstorm, the rest of the team investigates this new adversary. This episode was adapted from the Thunderbirds episode "Edge of Impact." Air date: July 22, 1994
 * 9) Coke and Loathing (written by Michael Cassutt; animation by TMS) - Jenny and Makayla are tasked with destroying boats belonging to the Camino Cartel, which tries to sway Makayla to their side, as her father leads the Cartel. Air date: July 29, 1994

Season 2 (1995)
The second season premiered on July 15, 1995. Its budget was much higher than the first season, and animation quality improved significantly.


 * 1) The New Black Panthers - The New Black Panthers have been formed, and Jenny and Makayla are tasked with blowing up several of their fronts. Air date: June 3, 1995

Season 7 (2000)
This was the final season to feature Mary Kay Bergman as Jenny; due to her suicide the previous year, some scenes were instead recorded by Tara Strong, who was credited alongside Bergman in the end credits as Jenny in the episodes she did, though the former was still billed in the intro. The first half of the season, which aired before her marriage to Craig Strong, credited her as Tara Charendoff; episodes produced before her marriage but aired afterward retroactively rebilled her as Tara Strong.
 * 1) Yay Kaboom (written by Timothy Hill; animation by TMS) - Jenny and Makayla are sent to Libya to intercept an arms smuggling and counterfeiting ring. Air date: June 17, 2000.

Season 8 (2001)
This was the first Detective Jenny season in which Tara Strong fully voices Jenny. This was also the final season of the original run.
 * 1) New York Mayhem!

Season 11 (2019)

 * 1) Welcome to Hell (written by Tim Johnson, animation by TMS) - Team Jenny has been assigned to kill a terrorist named Abel (voiced by William Shatner).

Season 12 (2020)

 * 1) Mission to Brooklyn (written by Timothy Hill; animation by TMS) - Jenny and Makayla are sent by Joe on a risky mission to Brooklyn to discover secrets about the Vincenetti Crime Family. However, it turns out to be an ambush, and Joe sacrifices himself by allowing himself to be killed by several members of the Camino Cartel to save Jenny and Makayla. The team grieves, none moreso than Jenny, as Joe, it turns out, was her great-uncle, and the UN promotes Jeff Leonard, Joe's son-in-law, to Team Jenny. Air date:
 * 2) Eat This! (written by Chloe Johnson; animation by Toei
 * 3) Terror, Inc.

Specials
Each special runs for 90 minutes in length, the exception being Detective Jenny: Las Vegas, which ran for 22 minutes.

Detective Jenny: Miami (1999)
The first Detective Jenny special, it features Team Jenny going to Miami to take down a prominent Colombian drug cartel. They find out that actor Gabe Trejo is one of the biggest tax cheats in history, as he had a secret illegal account that was tied directly into the cartel.

Detective Jenny: Mafia Masterpiece (2002)
This was the final Detective Jenny production in which Kristen, Terry, and Ronnie were voiced by their original actresses (Cree Summer, Tress MacNeille, and Paige O’Hara, respectively) before they were recast in the fourth movie in 2003 (though MacNeille still voices Terry in crossovers if her replacement actress, Hynden Walch, is voicing another character).

Hills Beach Crisis (2019)
In a crossover with The Kids of Hills Beach and Lea & Fran, Team Jenny, along with Wade, Casey, Malia, Josey, Harry, Lea, and Fran, must all work together to stop a violent threat far bigger than every force of evil Team Jenny ever fought combined.

Detective Jenny: The Movie (1997)
The movie begins in 1995 at Cape Canaveral, where Space Shuttle Endeavour is launching a top-secret spy satellite that will be able to find every single installation possessed by Black Scorpion, so top-secret, that a detachment of Team Jenny aboard the Neptune's Trident with a radar dish is sent to filter out anyone trying to listen in on communications between the shuttle and Houston; Ronnie does so below decks, while up on deck, Jenny and Makayla watch the launch and make sure no civilian watercraft violate the range. Lift-off goes alright, until one of the engines on Endeavour suddenly goes out, and the crew executes a successful Return To Launch Site (RTLS) abort.

As Louise and Terry debate the usefulness of the shuttle vs. Apollo, NASA finds that the engine failure was caused by an explosive device apparently meant to destroy the shuttle, but was too small. It turns out Black Scorpion planted the bomb to ensure their installations remained hidden, and Onizuka decides Earth is no longer safe for their headquarters.

Two years later, Black Scorpion announces they have built a base on the Moon, and have also built a large laser with which they will use to destroy major Western population centers unless the United States grants Japan independence. They also sabotage the Space Shuttle again (this time Atlantis) by disabling the Orbital Maneuvering System, leaving the crew stranded at Spacelab. The UN drafts up a plan to both rescue the astronauts and destroy the moonbase, involving two Apollo missions: Apollo J1 will launch a Block III spacecraft on a Saturn II to Spacelab to repair the Shuttle, with the crew consisting of Terry as commander, Kristen as pilot, and Ronnie as flight engineer. Apollo J2, meanwhile, will launch a Block IV spacecraft on a Saturn V to the Moon with a lunar module, with the crew consisting of Jenny as commander, Makayla as lunar module pilot, and Louise as command module pilot. Apollo J1 launches first, and docks to Spacelab a day late after Ronnie's vomit got into the control panel, necessitating ad-hoc repairs by cannibalizing the orbital module. Apollo J2 launches the next day, and arrives in lunar orbit three days later. Jenny and Makayla land near the valley, and are met by Black Scorpion soldiers, resulting in a firefight using lasers.

Aboard Spacelab, the crew of Apollo J1 repairs Atlantis, and allows half the crew to take their Apollo spacecraft back to Earth while the rest wait for another craft to be sent up, as the repairs to Atlantis were such that only Kristen could land it, pilot Scott Horowitz (voiced by himself) not being trained for this kind of mission. An intense reentry sees a large hole develop in the crew cabin due to a second bomb planted by Black Scorpion, sucking Ronnie out. Terry unbuckles herself and jumps out over Kristen's objections, and she successfully catches Ronnie and deploys her parachute for a splashdown landing in Disneyland's Rivers of America and impromptu recovery by the Mark Twain Riverboat, while Kristen lands Atlantis at Edwards AFB.

Back on the Moon, Jenny and Makayla make it to the valley after fighting for every inch of ground, and find the massive base. Entering at an airlock, they take advantage of the low gravity to pull of numerous dodges they otherwise couldn't on Earth, eventually reaching the command center, coming face-to-face with Onizuka for the first time. Onizuka reveals he no longer desires Japanese independence, as seeing the Earth rise every day for the past two years has made him realize how small man really is. He then shares his vision for a peaceful world, one Jenny and Makayla seem open to, until he mentions the only way he can accomplish it is via world domination. A physical fight ensues that sees the two captured and forced to witness Onizuka fire the laser on Washington, but because Onizuka didn't check to see exactly which side of the Earth was facing the moon, it instead fires on Volgograd, Russia, leaving nothing but a smoldering ruin in its place. Breaking free from their cell with absolutely no effort, as they had allowed themselves to be captured and, being anti-Russian in general, knew where the laser would hit, Jenny and Makayla plant explosives at various key points around the base, returning to the airlock they entered at, putting their suits on, and, using the jetpack built into Makayla's suit, quickly return to their lunar module. Black Scorpion, though, chases them with their own jetpack-wearing soldiers, as well as a rover carrying a smaller version of the laser that just destroyed Volgograd. They lift off just in time as the laser destroys the descent stage, and they detonate the explosives on their way up, watching as the base goes up in flames. Upon returning to Louise, they see that Onizuka escaped the base before it exploded using an ex-Soviet LK lander, and he vows revenge as Apollo J2 returns to Earth in victory.

Upon splashing down in the South Pacific, the team reunites at the house in Hill Beach, exchanging stories and readjusting to Earth's gravity. They see a news report on television stating that the other four crew from Atlantis safely returned home aboard the Russian Buran shuttle Groza, with NASA paying top dollar as a show of goodwill after Volgograd's destruction. The rest of the team knows Jenny and Makayla intentionally let Volgograd be destroyed, but decides to keep it amongst themselves. The film ends with Onizuka docking his LK to a space station owned by Black Scorpion and returning to Earth via a stolen Soyuz, where he relays his vision to his subordinates.

Production
As the first movie of the franchise, Tammy Jo wanted to go big, and to that end, decided to send the team into space. The scenes of the launches, as well as Atlantis landing at Edwards and the command and lunar modules undocking and redocking in lunar orbit, were all real footage shot by Johnson (the launch and landing scenes) and NASA (the docking and undocking scenes). The elaborate model of Black Scorpion's moon base was the same model used for Armstrong City in the ride film on Space Shuttle America at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, IL, which Johnson had produced. Most notably, the scenes on the lunar surface outside of the base were shot on the moon itself, which won the movie a Guinness World Record. These scenes were shot over the course of three Apollo missions to Armstrong Base, explaining why Jenny and Makayla's heights fluctuate during the scene; one scene where Jenny and Makayla lift the visors on their helmets involved astronauts wearing green masks so Toei could later overlay traditionally-animated faces.

The rest of the major scenes, including the RTLS abort, the launch from the moon, and all exterior scenes at Spacelab, were shot using models. Terry and Ronnie's splashdown in the Rivers of America at Disneyland involved the park being closed between October 4-7, 1996, and the splashdown itself involved the use of professional skydivers wearing Launch and Entry Suits; these same stuntmen were also filmed being helped onto the Mark Twain Riverboat by uncredited Disneyland Cast Members who were later digitally removed and replaced by animated caricatures fitting the series' artstyle.

Detective Jenny: The Fourth Movie (2003)
This film sees three new members added. Also, Kristen, Terry, and Ronnie received new voice actresses, the change being explained as them needing vocal chord replacement surgery due to degradation (a possible side-effect of the Project Hercules process).

Reception
The series was critically acclaimed. Critics and audiences consider it one of the finest Johnson series.

Controversy
There was controversy from parental groups, who felt that the idea of children fighting large-scale attacks was unethical. One Million Moms, in particular, made a petition to ban the series, which only garnered just over 500 signatures.

Toyline
The line, made by McFarlane Toys in partnership with Johnson Toys, features highly detailed figures of each character and playsets of various locales. Also, the figures are highly detailed, and use real fabric in some cases, including larger versions of the figures.

For the first two years of the line, the figures were sold unconventionally, in that none of the main characters could be bought on their own. Jenny and Makayla were sold as a two-pack that included Makayla's various gadgets, Kristen was sold with the Falcon VTOL transport, Terry and Ronnie were sold with the Neptune's Trident submarine and Louise was sold with the Megatank. Joe and Dennis were also sold as a two-pack, and the villains were sold with playsets. Figures representing generic mooks serving under the villains were sold under Johnson Toys' "Nickel Toy" line, in which each figure only cost a single nickel (no sales tax is applied to these figures) to allow one to quickly and cheaply amass an army (for example, 20 such figures can be obtained for a single dollar). By 1996, all of the main characters were released individually (though the Jenny and Makayla two-pack was still sold as a value pack).

Video games
The games all featured FMV cutscenes animated by Toei for odd-numbered games and TMS for even-numbered games. Also, they are notable for releasing on older consoles (for example, the sixth and seventh games were released on the Sega Dreamcast as Japanese state-exclusive titles). Older games have since been released on newer consoles (as part of compilations), Steam and mobile, typically as remastered versions for the latter, having even higher quality for the FMV cutscenes. All games have received critical acclaim for their graphics, cutscenes, gameplay, voice acting, and variety in stages.

====Detective Jenny: The Game (DOS, Macintosh, Linux, Amiga, Sega Genesis, Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy; released November 29, 1994)==== The first game was created as a WAD for Doom, which Johnson Games liked so much they made it an official game with permission from id Software. The first game follows Team Jenny stopping an organized crime ring. Each level involves the player playing as either Jenny, Makayla, or Terry, taking out various criminal bosses ranging from the mafia to corrupt cops in 20 levels. Also, FMV cutscenes featuring new animation and special effect sequences were made, which were considered revolutionary for the time due to their high video and audio quality; the FMV cutscenes are only seen in the DOS, Macintosh, and Amiga versions, while all other versions have comic-book style cutscenes, though digitized voice samples provided by the show's cast are used in-game, and an FMV of Jenny and Makayla running until they freeze into place for the title screen is used at the beginning of the Genesis and SNES versions. The graphics for the 8-bit and 16-bit versions were praised for staying true to the show, with the 16-bit versions in particular having animations as smooth as those in the show. All three players have a "Rage" mode, activated if they kill enough enemies (in said mode, they're invincible, and they have unlimited ammo).

==== Detective Jenny: Government Smackdown (DOS, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Nintendo 64, PlayStation; released September 1, 1996) ==== This game involves Team Jenny stopping Black Scorpion from a terrorist plot to take over the US by stopping bombs in the White House, the Capitol, the Pentagon, among others. The Genesis and PlayStation versions were Doom clones, while the N64 and Saturn versions were fully-fledged 3D first-person shooters that set the stage for Rare's GoldenEye 007 the following year. Once again, only the DOS, Windows, Macintosh, Saturn, and PlayStation versions had FMV cutscenes; the SNES, Genesis, and Game Boy versions had comic-book style cutscenes (again, the former two featured an FMV sequence of Team Jenny running until it cuts to a freeze-frame for the title screen), while the N64 version had the audio of the FMV cutscenes played over still images. Once again, only Jenny, Makayla, and Terry were playable.

====Detective Jenny: Base Breakin' (Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mandatum, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64, PlayStation, Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn; released July 19, 1998)==== This game involves Black Scorpion building bases in 22 countries to take over the world, and Team Jenny must stop this plot in 22 levels. It was the first game to include vehicular levels, and thus the first time Kristen and Louise were playable.

====Detective Jenny: Y2K (Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mandatum, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Sega Dreamcast; released November 22, 2000)==== In this game, Black Scorpion attempts to create an actual Y2K bug. Team Jenny must stop this scheme by killing key Black Scorpion hackers. This game introduces new weapons and marks the first time Ronnie was playable. It was the final Detective Jenny production with Mary Kay Bergman as the voice of Jenny, as she had committed suicide the year prior (as it happened during voice-acting sessions, the remainder of Jenny's lines were done by Bergman's replacement, Tara Strong, who was credited as Jenny alongside Bergman and recorded some of Jenny's lines in certain stages and cutscenes, along with pedestrian voices; it's also worth noting that Bergman's death devastated Alanna Ubach, and as the first scene recorded following Bergman's death was one towards the end of the game where it was believed Jenny was killed in a building explosion, Ubach gave perhaps her best performance as Makayla to date, as the pure anguish in her voice was completely genuine, as if Jenny had died with Bergman; when the game was remastered in 2012, this was the only piece of dialogue not re-recorded, as Tammy Jo thought it was perfect as it was); the game was dedicated to her memory.

====Detective Jenny: Terrorist Wipeout! (Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mandatum, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Sega Dreamcast, Xbox; released December 6, 2002)==== This game was made in direct response to the September 11 attacks and involved Team Jenny going to the Middle East to hunt down Osama Bin Laden. Upon release, the game drew widespread controversy due to its use of real terrorists and their groups (such as al-Qaeda, Taliban, and Hamas), as well as missions in which the player has to kill innocent civilians to draw terrorists out of hiding, with many critics accusing the game of being nothing more than pro-military propaganda and even a US Army recruitment tool. In recent years, though, the game is viewed as a satirical piece on the post-9/11 paranoia and the gung-ho tactics employed by the military. Most infamously, the game provoked foiled Hamas, Taliban, and al-Qaeda terrorist bombings near Johnson HQ and several key Johnson buildings. The game was also noted for being the first time Team Jenny and Black Scorpion were forced to work together, as well as the last Detective Jenny game to be released on the Sega Dreamcast in North America and Europe (the Dreamcast versions of the next two games were only released in the Japanese states).

====Detective Jenny: Pirate Pillage (Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mandatum, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo DS, Xbox, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Sega Dreamcast; released August 7, 2004)==== This game sees Team Jenny investigating a suspected pirate operation on the Eastern Seaboard, eventually finding that a group of pirates backed by Black Scorpion has been using old naval ships dating back to World War II and the Cold War have been raiding all merchant shipping in the Atlantic. This game marked Christy, Emily, and Sandra's first playable appearance.

====Detective Jenny: Cities of Justice (Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mandatum, Ubuntu, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo DS, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Sega Dreamcast; released December 1, 2006)==== The first game to use an open-world sandbox mechanic. Team Jenny is given various tasks by Joe, Dennis, or other members of the UN to foil various plots laid out by Black Scorpion, the Camino Cartel, the Vincenetti Crime Family, the Celtic Liberation Front, and the New Black Panthers, all of whom team up later in the game. The SNES version was a first-person shooter with comic book-style cutscenes, with voice samples provided by the cast, and was the last licensed game released for the system until the homebrew title New Super Mario Land was officially licensed by Nintendo and released on August 5, 2020.

====Detective Jenny: Battle in Space (Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mandatum, Ubuntu, Steam, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable; released May 19, 2008)====

====Detective Jenny: Taking Back the World (Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mandatum, Ubuntu, Steam, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable; September 12, 2010)====

====Detective Jenny Forever (Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mandatum, Ubuntu, Steam, Nintendo 3DS, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, Wii U; March 18, 2012)====

==== Detective Jenny: Alien Invasion (Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mandatum, Ubuntu, Steam, Nintendo 3DS, Wii, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, Wii U; February 16, 2014)==== This was the last Detective Jenny game released on the PlayStation 2 and the PlayStation Portable.

====Detective Jenny: Bringing Down the Scorpion (Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mandatum, Ubuntu, iOS, Android, Steam, Nintendo 3DS, Wii, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U; October 22, 2016)==== The game sees

====Detective Jenny: Destruction of Evil (Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mandatum, Ubuntu, Chromebook, iOS, Android, Steam, Nintendo 3DS, Wii, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo Switch; September 24, 2018)====

====Detective Jenny: Bloodshed (Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Mandatum, Ubuntu, Chromebook, iOS, Android, Steam, Nintendo 3DS, Wii, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch; August 30, 2020)==== This was the first time Krystall, Molly, and Daisy were playable, as well as the last Detective Jenny game for seventh-generation consoles.

Clothing line
The clothing line covers outfits for every member of Team Jenny. The costumes are full-piece and are used as Halloween costumes and cosplays.

Legacy
Upon its television premiere, Detective Jenny became a worldwide phenomenon. By the third season, the world was gripped with "Jennymania," and one couldn't go anywhere without hearing about it. The merchandising was everywhere, home video releases got vastly higher sales than other series, the video games were all the rage, the movies commanded huge box office numbers, and conventions were full of cosplayers. Even after it was overshadowed by Monster World (1998-2004; 2015-present), the series remains popular to this day.

In addition to being considered one of the greatest shows ever made, Jenny and Makayla are often considered one of the most iconic duos in pop culture, explaining why there were episodes with just the two of them during the third and fourth seasons before popular demand for more Louise episodes saw the rest of the team get more limelight starting in the fifth season (Louise ostensibly being the most popular character due to being the most violent and unhinged member of the group, as well as being very quotable, her most notable quote being "I'LL RIP OFF YOUR HEAD AND S*** DOWN YOUR THROAT!!!!", a quote that originated in Full Metal Jacket; Kristen Schaal's scenery-chewing performance also helped endear audiences to her). Louise is also the namesake for the character Louise Belcher on the Fox show Bob's Burgers (2011-present), also voiced by Schaal; she was named as an in-joke for Detective Jenny fans. Likewise, the 1992-2017 design for the character Makayla was the inspiration for that of the character Ansi Molina (also voiced by Alanna Ubach) on the Cartoon Network (formerly on Nickelodeon) show Welcome to the Wayne (2017-present); Ubach was even cast as the character, again, as an in-joke for Detective Jenny fans due to Ansi resembling a male version of Makayla, something that was referenced in Cartoon Network's Cartoon Feud crossover special with Welcome to the Wayne (due to that show being Cartoon Network's newest show at the time) and Scooby-Doo (due to the franchise's 50th anniversary) that aired on October 4, 2019. In addition, several members of the Team DJ forum have noticed that any show Tara Strong voices on, Ubach guest-stars in at least one episode, and vice-versa. For example, the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (2010-2020) episode "My Childhood Amiga" (which aired during its third season in 2013) has Twilight Sparkle meeting her childhood penpal from Mexicolt, Rosaria Brillar, who is voiced by Ubach.

The duo of Jenny and Makayla is often considered to be one of the greatest pop-culture duos, and have been compared to the likes of Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, Batman and Robin, Laverne and Shirley, Mulder and Scully, Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield, Chandler and Joey, and Sherlock Holmes and John Watson.

International dubs
The most well-known international dub of the show is the Japanese-language dub produced for broadcast in the Japanese states. This dub, which first aired on the same day as the English dub's debut, received praise for its voice cast, which was noted as "anime-style". It also hired voice actors from various agencies to dub over the characters.