Tube Notes

By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service

Tonight's Must-See

"Reno 911" debut, 7:30 p.m., Comedy Central. Ever since they met at New York University, Thomas Lennon, Kerri Kenney and Robert Ben Garant have made wonderfully off-center humor. For cable, they created "The State" and "Viva Variety." Now comes this sharp, funny series.

On one level this is a "Cops" take-off with lots of odd perpetrators. There are plenty of sight gags, from an exploding fireworks truck to a Klansman whose sheets catch fire.

Beyond that, however, is the droll byplay among the cops. Lennon plays Jim Dangle, who wears short shorts with his uniform shirt. Garant is Travis Junior, quick on the trigger. Kenney is Trudy Wiegel, devoid of social skills. There are many others, using improvised dialogue. Their discussions — on anything from political correctness to

Trudy's claim that she found a Pez in her navel — are sometimes wonderful.

Of Note

"Fame" finale, 7 p.m., NBC. So far, this show has offered some remarkable singing and dancing talent. Tonight, it picks a winner.

"Pepsi Smash," 8 p.m., WB. Here's the second of four summer concerts. Headlining is Beyonce Knowles of Destiny's Child fame, whose solo single "Crazy in Love" dominates radio airplay.

"Law & Order," 8 and 9 p.m., NBC. The first rerun is a change of pace as the cops follow several cases simultaneously. In one, a woman has run over her cheating husband. In a second, the victim had an unclear relationship with two brothers. In the third, a pregnant woman has been kidnapped. That's followed by a more traditional episode: A woman has been killed and two men, one of them a football star, are missing.