Detective Jenny (Johnsonverse)

Detective Jenny is an American animated series that ran on WBC's Saturday Night block from June 4, 1994 to December 29, 2001, and again since September 2, 2017. Based on a series of comic books created by Tammy Jo Johnson, the series follows the adventures of six (nine starting with the fourth film and ten starting with the tenth season) teen detectives in the employ of the UN to uncover criminal activities and kill the people responsible for them, such as drug smugglers, arms traffickers, human slavers, and terrorists. The series was critically acclaimed, and directly led to a franchise including merchandise, films, games, soundtracks, and a clothing line, as well as the equally successful spinoff series The Kids of Hills Beach (2016-present).

Development
In early 1992, Tammy Jo, known for being a doodler, drew up five characters while at a Howard Johnson's during a visit at Times Square. Johnson named the five characters' given names after relatives of the Johnson Family (Jenny was named after Johnathan Johnson's wife Jenny Anne Daniels; an urban legend postulates that Jenny Smith was named after the character, as she was born during the series' first run, Makayla was named after Daniel Johnson's aunt Makayla O'Neill, Kristen was named after Sheldon Johnson's mother Kristen Parker, Terry was named after Tammy Jo's cousin Terry Jones, and Louise was named after Sheldon's sister Louise Johnson). 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 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 to Marvel during his mental breakdown in October 1991. 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 loved it 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 shows her being taken in by the UN for Project Hercules after being the only survivor in a drive-by shooting by the Vincenetti Crime Family. 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 lesbian couples to change.

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 Monster World, among many other productions) took over.

It is often stated that the series was canceled in the wake of 9/11 due to its ultra-violent nature. Still, in truth, it was a combination of declining ratings in the face of Monster World and Tammy Jo having to dedicate herself more to homeschooling Tim and Chloe due to Sheldon's sharp criticisms of the public school system.

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). 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 seem to 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 stabbed a smuggler with a sword, took out his eyes with a corkscrew, and left him to die in a Season 5 episode, and Louise burned a terrorist alive and fed 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; in truth, though, the series has quite a bit 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 Camino Cartel (a Mexican drug cartel continually trying to sway Makayla to their side), the Vincenetti Crime Family (a mob family from Italy), Salam Alshaeb (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), and the New Black Panthers (a revived version of the old Black Panthers).

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 animation is split evenly between Japanese Isles-based studios Toei Animation and Tokyo Movie Shinsa (TMS), though several first season episodes were animated by Korea-based AKOM; the latter was dropped due to the poor-quality animation in its episodes. 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.

The intro is a send-up to classic James Bond credits sequences, while a theme by a longtime Johnson Philharmonic Orchestra composer Cal Johnson plays. The credits sequence uses clips from the previous season (except for season one, which had clips from the pilot and the first six episodes), set to another original composition; both the opening and end credit music were used in the 2004 video game Evil Genius.

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, 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, before Tammy Jo decided that the team acting more as commandos would have a better chance at selling copies). They are often used for infiltration, sabotage, rescue, 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.


 * Jenny G. Denver (Mary Kay Bergman 1993-2000, Tara Strong 2001-present) - 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 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 honestly expressing herself if she's alone, or if Makayla is the only person in the room. 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. 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 (Alanna Ubach) - 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. 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 Jones (Tress MacNeille 1993-2002, occasionally 2006-present; Hynden Walch 2003-present) - 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 is best friends with Ronnie. Full name: Teresa Marlene Jones. Date of birth: February 17, 1970.
 * Kristen Smith (Cree Summer 1993-2002; Kyla Pratt 2003-present) - 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-insane members of the team, and is often the one to commit the most gruesome acts against villains, whether it's throwing someone into a volcano or throwing someone to get mauled by lions. She is best friends with fellow pilot Louise. Her parents were the leaders of the New Black Panthers until members of the FBI killed them in 1986. Full name: Kristen Luciana Smith. Date of birth: January 1, 1971.


 * Louise Savage (Kristen Schaal) - The team's other pilot, 14-year old Louise has seven cute but deadly attack dogs 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. Because of this, 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. Full name: Louise Valentina Savage. Date of birth: April 18, 1972.


 * Ronnie Hinton (Paige O'Hara 1993-2002; Jessica DiCicco 2003-present) - 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. Full name: Rosanne Alexis Hinton. Date of birth: July 28, 1980.


 * Jeff Herbert (David Tennant 2019-present) - 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 twelfth movie. Full name: Jeffrey Lyndon Herbert. Date of birth: October 1, 1950.


 * Dennis Leonard (Ben Stein) - The team's other superior. True to other characters Stein has played, 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. 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 (Grey Griffin; credited as Grey DeLisle 2003-2012) - 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 was the Don of the Vincenetti Crime Family before he was killed in 2003 by an assassin who betrayed the family, and her father killed her mother in 1997. Full name: Cristina Shannen Vincenetti. Date of birth: March 23, 1989.
 * Emily Kennedy (Rachel MacFarlane) - 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 (Lacey Chabert) - 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. Date of birth: August 19, 1988.

In 2017, three more members joined:
 * Krystall Chen (Kyla Rae Kowalewski) - 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 (Spencer Lacey Ganus) - 15-year-old Molly is the team’s sniper; she can shoot targets at great distances. She was the daughter of a Neo-Nazi leader until the said leader was killed in 2017. Full name: Molly Florence Richter. Date of birth: February 3, 2002.
 * Daisy Nicholas (Sara Paxton) - 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. 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 (Shane Rimmer 1994-2019) - One of the team's superiors. Between himself and Dennis, Joe was more charismatic and could empathize with the girls. 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 at the beginning of the twelfth movie due to the death of his voice actor, Shane Rimmer. Full name: Joseph Shane Quill. Date of birth: July 29, 1929.

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 (Mako Iwamatsu 1993-2007; Greg Baldwin 2008-present) - The main antagonist of the series. Originally known as Riko Sousuke, he founded Black Scorpion immediately after seeing his father get killed by the atomic bomb dropped by the American government in front of him. Onizuka is a charismatic figure who is intelligent. Date of birth: February 29, 1923.
 * Kuromiya Itō (Sab Shimono) - Onizuka's second-in-command. He is extremely loyal to Onizuka. Date of birth: October 30, 1959.

Camino Cartel
The Camino Cartel is a drug cartel based in San Camino, Mexico. They sell all kinds of drugs from cocaine to meth and have been known to use a major taco chain (Toni’s Taco Shop) as a front for their criminal activities. Other known fronts include the Gómez Oil Company (their first known front), and an ice cream truck fleet called "Mr. Yippee".
 * Antonio "Toni" Gómez (Danny Trejo) - The leader of the Cartel. He is also Makayla’s older brother and wants her to join the Cartel so she could succeed their father Tuco as the leader. Toni is calm and stoic, unlike some of his other rivals. Full name: Antonio Emmanuel Gómez. Date of birth: June 25, 1956.
 * Victoria Gómez (Carrie Fisher) - Tuco's widow. She is the co-leader of the Cartel, working alongside her son Toni, and is CEO of the Gómez Oil Company. She is ditzy and expects people to make her happy. Full name: Victoria Maria Montalbán. Date of birth: October 9, 1936.

Deceased members

 * Tuco "Motormouth" Gómez (Eli Wallach 1993-2015) - Makayla and Toni's father who was the leader of the Camino Cartel from 1930 until his 2015 death. He cared for his only daughter and wanted her to take over the Cartel when the time came. In addition, Tuco was a huge talker, earning him the nickname "Motormouth". He was killed off in the tenth movie at the age of 110 due to the death of his voice actor, Eli Wallach, the previous year; the scene of him and Toni at the hospital had Tuco voiced by Angus Hepburn. He was named after Tuco Ramírez (also played by Wallach) from the film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Full name: Tuco Luigi Gómez. Date of birth: January 31, 1905.
 * Alejandro Gómez - 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 (where he was voiced by the late Max Von Sydow until his 2020 death), 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). Full name: Alejandro Emilio Gómez. Date of birth: August 29, 1920.

Vincenetti Crime Family
The Vincenetti Crime Family is the most powerful Mafia family in the US. 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.
 * Stefano Vincenetti (Michael Bell) - The Don of the family, Stefano is a paranoid mob boss who will kill anybody to get more power. He cares for his daughter Christy, who happens to be his only child, and is trying to get her back into the family so she could succeed him as the family Don one day. Full name: Stefano Kristoff Vincenetti. Date of birth: July 8, 1940.
 * Alessandro "Alex" Colombo (Tony Sirico) - 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 Esposito-Vincenetti (Aida Turturro) - 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 Esposito. Date of birth: September 29, 1967.
 * Martha Romano-Vincenetti (Brenda Vaccaro) - 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 Romano. Date of birth: April 21, 1968.

Deceased members

 * Albert "Lips" Vincenetti (Frank Vincent 1993-2017) - Stefano’s older brother who was the Don of the Vincenetti Crime Family from its inception in 1960 until his 2017 death. He was Christy’s father and also wanted to sway her back into the fold. Albert is 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 tenth season finale due to the death of his voice actor, Frank Vincent. Full name: Albert Franklin Vincenetti. Date of birth: February 18, 1922.

Animation
Animation for the series is divided between Toei Animation and Tokyo Movie Shinsa (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.

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, with colors that were too bright, and way too many errors to count. As a result of the sloppy work AKOM produced, not only were they dropped from the series starting with the second season, their 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 original shots were digitally recolored for home video releases). To this day, many of the original cels from the deleted 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, which brought with it incredibly-fluid animation and a sequence that otherwise would have been done with models being completely animated. 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 (marking the first time a Detective Jenny production used cels since the show’s fifth season in 1998) 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.

Voice acting
Unlike many shows, 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.

Vehicles
A holdover from when the series was originally 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 the US Navy decommissioned it, 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

Episodes
Each season consists of 26 episodes, each being 45 minutes in length.

Pilot (1993)
The pilot, which aired in 1995, is an origin story of Team Jenny, telling how they met, and the circumstances of Project Hercules.

Season 1 (1994)
The first season premiered on September 3, 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.
 * 1) Ronnie's First Mission (written by Tammy Jo Johnson) - 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."
 * 2) Pirates of Somalia - 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.
 * 3) All-In - A major human trafficking ring is uncovered in Florida, and the entire team is dispatched to flush the perps out by any means necessary.
 * 4) Monorail to Disaster - A new intercity monorail system in the United States is targeted by rogue politicians representing the automobile lobby, and Louise is the only one who can stop a runaway train. This episode was adapted from the Thunderbirds episode "Brink of Disaster."
 * 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."
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * 8) Enter: Red Scorpion - Two men in a telecom tower in Colorado are imperiled when an aircraft sabotaged by Red 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."
 * 9) Coke and Loathing - Jenny and Makayla are tasked with destroying boats belonging to the Camino Cartel, which tries to sway Makayla to their side, as her father Tuco leads the Cartel.

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.

Season 7 (2000)

 * 1) Yay Kaboom

Season 8 (2001)
This was the first Detective Jenny production in which Tara Strong voices Jenny; her voice was a bit lower here compared to later seasons.

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).

Detective Jenny: The Twelfth Movie (2019)
Joe was killed by Black Scorpion in the climax when he sacrificed himself for Team Jenny.

Season 12 (2020)

 * 1) Corona Capers - The team must find out the source of the Coronavirus outbreak, eventually tracing it to a bioterrorist named Lamar Peters, who idolized the New Black Panthers.

Soundtrack
Cal Johnson and the Johnson Philharmonic Orchestra composed the soundtrack. After Johnson died in 2010, his son Cal Johnson, Jr. took over. The music score is influenced by John Williams, Alan Silvestri, and Jerry Goldsmith, along with Ennio Morricone.

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

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, Sega Genesis, Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy; 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 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. 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 II (DOS, Windows, Macintosh, Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Nintendo 64, PlayStation; 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 Jenny, Makayla, and Terry were playable.

Detective Jenny III (Windows, Macintosh, Mandatum, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64, PlayStation, Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn; 1998)
The first game in the series not to be released on 16-bit consoles, this game involves the kidnapping of all the critical government by Black Scorpion in an attempt to overthrow the government, 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 IV (Windows, Macintosh, Mandatum, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Sega Dreamcast; 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); the game was dedicated to her memory.

Detective Jenny V (Windows, Macintosh, Mandatum, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Sega Dreamcast, Xbox; 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. Also, 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 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). It's also 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 VI (Windows, Macintosh, Mandatum, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo DS, Xbox, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Sega Dreamcast; 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 VII (Windows, Macintosh, Mandatum, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo DS, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Sega Dreamcast; 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, and was the last licensed game released for the system.

Detective Jenny XI (Windows, Macintosh, Mandatum, Steam, Nintendo 3DS, Wii, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, Wii U; 2014)
This was the last Detective Jenny game released on the PlayStation 2 and the PlayStation Portable.

Detective Jenny XIV (Windows, Macintosh, Mandatum, Steam, Nintendo 3DS, Wii, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Stadia; 2020)
It is scheduled to be the first time Krystall, Molly and Daisy are 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, 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, the series remained popular and 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 character Makayla was the basis for the appearance 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.