ReelzChannel recruits “The Z Team” for its debut effort into reality TV

By Stacey Harrison


If you’ve ever watched an action movie or TV show and wondered how the hero would do in a real-life situation, an upcoming ReelzChannel series might just have your answer. The Z Team, the network’s first foray into reality TV, assembles a group of, shall we say, below-the-radar action stars and puts them into supposedly real-life situations.

The Z Team — which you have to think is a comment on the squad’s low-rent status — is led by Lorenzo Lamas, who claims in a press release to have assembled this “group of characters” that also consists of Tommy “Tiny” Lister (No Holds Barred), Rudy Reyes (Apocalypse Man) and former WWE hottie Torrie Wilson. The group will apparently take on drug dealers, the mob and dirty politicians. Perhaps they can all grab a beer with Steven Seagal and Butterbean at the end of a long day and ruminate on the strange new directions their careers have taken.

“We wanted to make a show that would take the action and drama of Die Hard and The Expendables and combine it with the reality of COPS,” says executive producer John Stevens.

Because we’ve all wanted that, right?

I’ll admit to being a bit troubled by the presence of Reyes, a bona fide tough guy who served several tours of duty in the Middle East, and played himself beautifully in HBO’s Generation Kill. Seriously, America, is this how we repay our veterans? I better not see him taking orders from a guy who was once criticized for being too skeezy on a show called Are You Hot?

My favorite quote comes from Lamas, who says, “Ever since Renegade, my fans and I have been waiting for the right opportunity to take on the next challenge in the world of law enforcement. The Z Team is it.” Yeah, I know I’ve often grown misty-eyed thinking of all those loyal Renegade fans waiting diligently since 1997, when the syndicated show went off the air, for Lamas to challenge himself further in law enforcement. If nothing else, we can be happy for them.

The Z Team is scheduled to air next summer.

1 Comment

  1. I’ll admit to being a bit troubled by the presence of Reyes, a bona fide tough guy who served several tours of duty in the Middle East, and played himself beautifully in HBO’s Generation Kill.— The dude is alright. Besides a man has got to make himself a living and besides by showing Rudy you are doing a service to vets. He is being given his chance to act, for it may work out for him.

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