Henderson council approves television cop show

Sonya Padgett

Wednesday, July 21, 1999 | 10:37 a.m.

A six-month lease that will allow Warner Bros. Television to produce an action show based on the main characters of four Lethal Weapon movies was approved Tuesday by the Henderson City Council.

"The Strip" will start production in August, using a building on 1.66 acres in the Wagon Wheel Industrial Park as its home base, city spokeswoman Vicki Taylor said. Episodes will be filmed throughout the city.

A television show like this will give Henderson's economy a boost in the form of new jobs and publicity, Taylor said. The studio will pay the city $11,784 a month for the duration of the contract, with the money going into the city's general fund.

The studio will have to pay for additional services not offered to other residents, such as fire protection for filming involving flammables or ambulances, Taylor said.

"If they need anything standing by, they have to pay for it," Taylor said. "Anything that might intrude on public safety ... we will handle it the way we do a special event" by requiring a fee to issue a permit, she said.

The lease can be extended up to 12 additional months at the studio's request, Taylor said.

The show is about two Las Vegas policemen who are approached by a casino mogul to be his private investigators, Nevada Film Office spokesman Edward Harran said. The main characters are loosely based on the two lead characters of the Lethal Weapon movies.

The pilot, starring Sean Patrick Flannery, was filmed in Las Vegas earlier this year, Harran said. He didn't know if Flannery would also be in the series.

Nevada's revenue from film and television productions have increased significantly since last year, Harran said.

From July 1, 1998, to June 30, 1999, 500 productions -- including commercials, films and music videos -- generated more than $79 million in revenues for Nevada, Harran said. A total of $51 million in revenue was generated the previous year.