NTSF:SD:SUV::

NTSF:SD:SUV::
Also known as National Terrorism Strike Force: San Diego: Sport Utility Vehicle
Genre
Created by Paul Scheer
Directed by
Starring
Theme music composer Jack Dolgen
Composers
  • Dan Marocco
  • Matt Novack
Country of origin United States
Original language English
No. of seasons 3
No. of episodes 39
Production
Executive producers
Cinematography Marco Fargnoli
Running time 11 minutes, with the exception of "U-KO'ed" which is 22 minutes
Production companies
Original release
Network Adult Swim
Release July 22, 2011 –
December 13, 2013

NTSF:SD:SUV:: (also known as National Terrorism Strike Force: San Diego: Sport Utility Vehicle::) is an American black comedy television series created by Paul Scheer for Adult Swim. It parodies the police procedural and action film genres. The series starred Scheer, June Diane Raphael, Brandon Johnson, Kate Mulgrew, Rebecca Romijn, Martin Starr, Karen Gillan, Rob Riggle, and Peter Serafinowicz. NTSF:SD:SUV:: aired three seasons from July 22, 2011 to December 13, 2013. A number of special episodes were included within the broadcast of the series. In a 2014 interview, Scheer stated that the show is on an indefinite hiatus, with no immediate plans for a return.

Cast

Actor Role Notes
Paul Scheer Trent Hauser
June Diane Raphael Piper Ferguson
Brandon Johnson Alphonse Bearwalker
Kate Mulgrew Kove
Rebecca Romijn Jessie Nichols Seasons 1–2
Martin Starr Sam Stern
Karen Gillan Daisy Season 3
Rob Riggle The President of the Navy
Peter Serafinowicz the voice of S.A.M.

Production

Created by comedian Paul Scheer, NTSF:SD:SUV:: (National Terrorism Strike Force: San Diego: Sport Utility Vehicle::) was first featured in a set of mock promotional television advertisements shot as a backdoor pilot and aired during season one broadcasts of Childrens Hospital on Adult Swim. The mock promos starred Scheer as agent Trent Hauser, along with June Diane Raphael, Brandon Johnson, and Rob Riggle. From the mock promos, the program was ordered to series with a 12-episode season, adding Kate Mulgrew, Rebecca Romijn, and Martin Starr to the cast. NTSF:SD:SUV:: premiered on July 21, 2011. The series has aired three seasons, with the third concluding in 2013. In a 2014 interview, Scheer stated that the show is on an indefinite hiatus, with no immediate plans for a return.

Episodes

Season Episodes Originally aired
First aired Last aired
1 12 July 22, 2011 October 7, 2011
2 15 August 10, 2012 June 13, 2013
3 12 July 26, 2013 December 13, 2013

Season 1 (2011)

No.
overall		 No. in
season		 Title Directed by Written by Original air date Prod.
code		 U.S. viewers
(millions)
1 1 "One Cabeza, Two Cabeza, Three Cabeza...DEAD!" Eric Appel Paul Scheer July 22, 2011 104 N/A

A new alcoholic energy drink is killing University of Southern San Diego students. NTSF must team up with the Food and Drug Administration, despite their mutual mistrust, to follow a lead.

Guest stars: J. K. Simmons, Casey Wilson
2 2 "The Birthday Party That Was Neither" Eric Appel Owen Burke July 29, 2011 112 N/A

Each member of NTSF gets a mysterious call from a person who claims they have secret information about them. Unbeknownst to the other members, they each must bring a million dollars to a warehouse, leaving Kove alone at NTSF HQ. When the caller is finally revealed, the team gets a blast from the past.

Guest stars: John Cho, Ed Helms, Kerri Kenney-Silver
3 3 "Exes and Oh-No's!" Eric Appel Paul Scheer August 5, 2011 102 1.366

Trent discovers one of his ex-wives has undergone a sex change and is trying to steal a San Diego national treasure. Now he must navigate Kove's jealousy and stop his ex before he falls in love with her/him again. Plus, no one has read Piper's book for book club and the meeting is tonight.

Guest star: Rich Fulcher
4 4 "The Risky Business of Being Alone in Your Home" Eric Appel Rob Huebel August 12, 2011 111 N/A

Trent is suspended from NTSF and his old nemesis, wheelchair bound Agent Van Damm, replaces him. While Trent is home alone he must fend off terrorists intent on killing him while his defenses are down. Meanwhile, Van Damm becomes the golden boy of NTSF. But something isn't right about this new guy.

Guest stars: Jon Daly, Martin Kove, Johanna Parker, Adam Scott
5 5 "Dolphinnegan's Wake" Ryan McFaul Curtis Gwinn August 19, 2011 108 N/A

A dolphin serial killer is on the loose and the NTSF don't have any leads until Trent visits the deadliest dolphin serial killer in captivity to get a lead on this new killer... before Sam and Jessie are its next victims.

Guest stars: John Gemberling, Tony Hale, Mark Hamill (voice), Danielle Schneider
6 6 "Tijuana, We've Got a Problem" Ryan McFaul Paul Scheer August 26, 2011 101 1.291

A stripper-astronaut steals the space shuttle plans and sells them to Mexico. Now NTSF must go into Mexico and stop the evil President Felipe Calderon before they beat the U.S.A. in the space race.

Guest stars: Lorenzo Lamas, Gabrielle Union
7 7 "Full Hauser" Ryan McFaul B.J. Porter and Corinne Marshall September 2, 2011 109 N/A

In a parody of Casino Royale, Trent has a chance to catch an international terrorist because the cruise ship the terrorist is traveling on will briefly move through San Diego's territorial waters. Trent goes rogue and pretends he's taking the NTSF team on vacation in a ruse to bust this evil man in international waters. But there's a kink when Piper brings her fiancee on the cruise without informing him of her secret identity.

Guest stars: Moon Bloodgood, Jeff Goldblum, Curtis Gwinn, Riley Steele
8 8 "Up Periscope, Down with San Diego" Eric Appel Jonathan Stern September 9, 2011 107 1.040

Jessie and Sam are kidnapped by a Japanese sub that's been lost at sea for 70 years that lost its way to Pearl Harbor. Now the NTSF must find them and stop their long-delayed attack on San Diego.

Guest stars: Dana Lee, Jerry O'Connell
9 9 "Cause for ConCERN" Ryan McFaul Jonathan Stern September 16, 2011 105 1.372

Trent enters a CERN particle accelerator and winds up in an alternate universe where NTSF are the terrorists.

Guest stars: Curtis Gwinn, Katie Walder
10 10 "Piper Doesn't Live Here Anymore" Ryan McFaul Paul Scheer September 23, 2011 103 N/A

Piper's brainwashed alter ego, Isabelle Gareth, a highly trained assassin, is activated after receiving a "special" birthday gift. Now she's hunting down all her NTSF teammates. Meanwhile, in the outside world, Jessie's finally given the appreciation she deserves by a model photographer, but does he have ulterior motives?

Guest stars: Seth Morris, Wilmer Valderrama
11 11 "Twistin' the Night Away" Ryan McFaul Curtis Gwinn September 30, 2011 110 1.158

Trent tracks the source of strange occurrences, including a hostage situation with SUVs and Sam's partnership with a creepy new team member.

Guest stars: Jackie Clarke, Robert Picardo, Matt Walsh
12 12 "I Left My Heart in Someone's Cooler" Eric Appel Adam Pally and Gil Ozeri October 7, 2011 106 N/A

A time bomb is put in place of the President of the Navy's heart and Trent must find the heart and switch it out before the bomb explodes.

Guest stars: Courtney Ford, Adam Pally, Julian Sands

Season 2 (2012-2013)

No.
overall		 No. in
season		 Title Directed by Written by Original air date Prod.
code		 U.S. viewers
(millions)
13 1 "16 Hop Street" Curtis Gwinn Curtis Gwinn August 10, 2012 205 1.257
Trent and Piper pose undercover as high school students, after a mysterious abductor kidnaps all the popular kids. Guest stars: Max Carver, Jon Daly, Nate Hartley, Zack Pearlman, Alex Russell, Paul Rust, Charlie Saxton, Steven Yeun
14 2 "The Real Bicycle Thief" Eric Appel Paul Scheer August 17, 2012 201 1.264
Trent hunts for restaurant terrorists and goes undercover in the Swedish virtual-reality pedicab-racing circuit. Guest stars: Paul Greene, Jake Johnson, Brie Larson, Alan Tudyk, Damon Wayans, Jr.
15 3 "Sabbath-tage" Ryan McFaul Paul Scheer, Curtis Gwinn, and Jonathan Stern August 24, 2012 208 1.273
Sam takes on a terrorist who attacks the city on a Saturday. Guest stars: Diedrich Bader (voice), Adam Ray, Ike Barinholtz, Alison Brie, Jessica Chaffin, Kerri Kenney
16 4 "Lights, Camera, Assassination" Eric Appel Paul Scheer August 31, 2012 204 1.186
A teen idol shadows Trent and Alphonse during the hunt for a killer who targets Hollywood directors; Kove develops a podcast. Guest stars: Max Greenfield, Caity Lotz, Jason Ritter
17 5 "Time Angels" Eric Appel Paul Scheer, Curtis Gwinn, and Jonathan Stern September 7, 2012 206 N/A
Anti-terrorism time travelers join the team to prevent crimes. Guest stars: John de Lancie, Colton Dunn, Sandy Helberg, Kali Hawk, Stacy Keibler, Natasha Leggero, Nicky Whelan
18 6 "Whack-A-Mole" Eric Appel Dan Gregor and Doug Mand September 14, 2012 211 1.294
The team is blamed for the death of Gary the Killer Whale. Guest stars: Ed Helms, Ellie Kemper
19 7 "Robot Town" Ryan McFaul Jonathan Stern September 21, 2012 202 1.197
Trent visits Robot Town to clear Sam of murder charges. Guest stars: Rob Corddry, Bob Odenkirk, Phil Reeves
20 8 "Comic-Con-Flict" Ryan McFaul Paul Scheer and Curtis Gwinn September 28, 2012 209 1.040
Comic fans pose a threat to authors at a San Diego convention. Guest stars: Dave "Gruber" Allen, Paul Feig, Bill Hader, Jason Mantzoukas, Tami Sagher
21 9 "The Return of Dragon Shumway" Eric Appel Curtis Gwinn October 5, 2012 203 1.049
Piper's fiancee has a difficult time letting go of his ninja past. Guest stars: Curtis Gwinn, Jeff Hiller, Rob Huebel
22 10 "Family Dies" Eric Appel Paul Scheer, Curtis Gwinn, and Jonathan Stern October 19, 2012 207 1.279
Trent must kill his father, but things aren't as easy as they sound. Guest star: Michael Gross
23 11 "Prairie Dog Companion" Ryan McFaul Joe Mande October 26, 2012 212 1.322
When San Diego's technology goes on the fritz, not even Siri can navigate out of this modern day hell. Guest stars: Aziz Ansari, Phil Hendrie, Hal Linden
24 12 "Wasilla Hills Cop" Paul Scheer Curtis Gwinn, Paul Scheer, and Jonathan Stern November 2, 2012 210 1.194
Alphonse goes home to Alaska to investigate his partner's death and repair a rift with his father. Guest stars: Kevin Grevioux, Jay Johnston, Ray Liotta, Erin Pineda, Aubrey Plaza, Steven Williams
25 13 "The NTSF: SD: SUV: HISS Infomercial" Alex Fernie Fernie, Nick Wiger November 9, 2012
26 14 "Christmas Activity" Curtis Gwinn Gwinn, Paul Scheer, Jonathan Stern, December 6, 2012
27 15 "Inertia" Alex Fernie Fernie, Nick Wiger June 13, 2013

Season 3 (2013)

No.
overall		 No. in
season		 Title Directed by Written by Original air date Prod.
code		 U.S. viewers
(millions)
28 1 "Comic Con-Air" Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert Alex Fernie and Nick Wiger July 26, 2013 310 1.128
Comic-Con's worst villains get loose on an airplane. Guest stars: Summer Glau, Matt L. Jones, Joe Lo Truglio, Natasha Lyonne, Horatio Sanz, Abigail Spencer
29 2 "Hawaii Die-0" Jack Szymanski Jonathan Stern August 2, 2013 304 1.318
The President of the Navy is set to deliver the commencement address at the University of Southern San Diego graduation ceremony. Guest stars: Ed Helms, Jim Piddock
30 3 "Extra Terrorist-rial" Ryan McFaul Paul Scheer August 9, 2013 302 0.979
Trent's nephew harbors an alien that seems peaceful. Guest stars: Toby Huss, Kate Micucci (voice), Garrett Ryan, Michaela Watkins
31 4 "Burn After Killing" Jake Syzmanski Paul Scheer August 16, 2013 301 1.314
In a parody of Skyfall, Commander Kove's little black book is stolen. Guest stars: Candace Bailey, Alia Shawkat
32 5 "TGI Murder" Danny Jelinek Paul Scheer August 23, 2013 303 1.089
The team tries to protect a restaurant chain from violent competitors. Guest stars: Jonny Coyne, Drew Droege, Kathryn Hahn, Tommy "Tiny" Lister, Lance Reddick, Armen Weitzman
33 6 "The Great Train Stoppery" Paul Scheer Paul Scheer and Jonathan Stern August 30, 2013 313 1.042
Time Angels travel to the Wild West. Guest stars: Eliza Dushku, Jayma Mays, Santigold, Xander Berkeley, Colton Dunn, Mo Gaffney, Jackson Rathbone, Matt Walsh
34 7 "A Hard Drive to Swallow" Alex Fernie Alex Fernie and Nick Wiger September 6, 2013 308 0.898
The team must create the perfect viral video in order to save S.A.M. from robot hating extremists. Guest stars: Jon Lajoie, John Morrison, Nick Searcy, Betsy Sodaro, Larry Wilmore
35 8 "Unfrozen Agent Man" Ryan McFaul Curtis Gwinn September 13, 2013 305 1.337
An old agent is brought in after his nemesis, 1960's criminal mastermind Hoffstein, escapes from cryonic imprisonment. Guest stars: Matt Bush, Robert Forster, Brett Gelman, Echo Kellum
36 9 "Trading Faces" Nick Wiger Matt Bush and Martin Starr September 20, 2013 306 0.952
Sam and Trent exchange faces to thwart a terrorist organization. Guest stars: Charles Baker, Jack McBrayer, DC Pierson, Andre Royo, Kristen Schaal
37 10 "U-KO'ed" Paul Scheer Part 1: Paul Scheer and Jonathan Stern
Part 2: Alex Fernie and Nick Wiger		 September 27, 2013 311 1.403
When Alphonse is kidnapped, the team must stop an assassination plot that threatens the reunification of the Little Britain district into greater San Diego. The double-length episode was shot on location in London. Guest stars: Roger Ashton-Griffiths, Julian Barratt, Kelly Brook, Anthony Head, Jerry Minor, Steve Oram, Saskia Reeves, Colin Salmon, Mark Slaughter
38 11 "How Piper Got Her Groove Initially" Paul Scheer Erica Oyama October 4, 2013 309 1.010
In a flashback episode to 2003, University of Southern San Diego student Piper Ferguson is recruited to join an elite national terrorism strike force. Guest star: Tara Macken
39 12 "Wreck the Malls" Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert Jonathan Stern December 13, 2013 307 1.157
In the season finale, the mall is taken over by a terrorist Mall Santa, trapping Trent's children inside, and locking the rest of the team out of doing some last-minute Christmas shopping. Guest star: Thomas Lennon

Specials

Webisodes: Inertia

No. Title Directed by Written by Original release date
1 "Bomb Bus" Alex Fernie Nick Wiger August 9, 2012
The maiden voyage of a brand new San Diego bus goes awry, after a terrorist rigs it with a bomb that will detonate if the bus goes faster than zero miles per hour. Trapped on board with a motley crew of San Diegans, Trent must do everything he can to keep the bus parked.
2 "Old Man Jennings" Alex Fernie Nick Wiger August 16, 2012
A stubborn old man makes an impulsive decision about the bomb.
3 "Deputy Chief Brinkley" Alex Fernie Alex Fernie August 23, 2012
Trent gets into a battle over jurisdiction with the San Diego transit authority's tightly wound Deputy Chief.
4 "Becca" Alex Fernie Alex Fernie August 30, 2012
The bus driver's now out of commission. Searching for a hero, Trent recruits the spirited and single Becca for the most important job of all: keeping the bus parked.
5 "Tow Truck" Alex Fernie Nick Wiger September 6, 2012
An external threat endangers everyone on board: a tow truck driver wearing headphones.
6 "Mole on the Bus" Alex Fernie Nick Wiger September 13, 2012
Another threat emerges: Trent learns one of the passengers is secretly a henchman for the terrorist. And it's the one person everyone expected to least expect.
7 "Tensions Rise" Alex Fernie Nick Wiger September 20, 2012
The one man who can prevent the passengers from descending into chaos, Trent must fight to keep them from fighting, starting a gang war, or, worst of all – having a baby.
8 "Sam Stuck in Traffic" Alex Fernie Alex Fernie September 27, 2012
Sam rushes to the scene to help disarm the bus bomb, but will he make it in time when he encounters his deadliest enemy yet: rush hour?
9 "The Baby Carriage" Alex Fernie Alex Fernie October 4, 2012
Tragedy head straight towards the booby-trapped bus when a lone, unattended baby carriage rolls directly into its path. But does it contain a baby or – something else?
10 "The Bomber's Lair" Alex Fernie Nick Wiger October 18, 2012
Piper frantically tries to track down the mad man who planted the bomb. But one wrong step and she falls directly into the clutches of the bomber... and crippling self-doubt.
11 "Rise from Your Grave" Alex Fernie Nick Wiger October 25, 2012
The NTSF:SD:SUV team hatches a plan to get all of the passengers safely off the bus before it explodes. But, as the clock ticks down and secrets from Alphonse's past come to light – will they ever be the same again?
12 "Finale" Alex Fernie Nick Wiger November 1, 2012
The bus-bombing terrorist reveals his master plan to the NTSF:SD:SUV team in the only way he knows how: an evil monologue.

Special episodes

No. Title Directed by Written by Original air date Prod.
code		 U.S. viewers
(millions)
1 "The NTSF:SD:SUV:HISS Infomercial" Alex Fernie Alex Fernie and Nick Wiger November 9, 2012 214 1.095
Trent introduces a new iPhone app to help identify potential terrorists. Guest stars: Adam Pally, Lennon Parham. This special was also aired as part of Infomercials.
2 "Christmas Activity" Curtis Gwinn Curtis Gwinn, Paul Scheer, and Jonathan Stern December 7, 2012 213 1.196
While celebrating Christmas together at Kove's house, the team is attacked by the evil Alaskan Santa Claus. Guest star: Curtis Gwinn, Sonny Surowiec
3 "Inertia" Alex Fernie Nick Wiger and Alex Fernie June 13, 2013 215 1.708
A bomb on a bus is set to explode if the bus goes over zero miles an hour. A condensed edit of the 2012 web series. Guest stars: Matt Braunger, Echo Kellum

Spin-off

No. Title Directed by Written by Original air date
1 "Swords, Knives, Very Sharp Objects and Cutlery" Eric Appel Rob Huebel November 27, 2012
An advertisement for Dragon Shumway and his complete Sword Collection.

International broadcast

In Canada, NTSF:SD:SUV:: previously aired on G4's Adult Digital Distraction block, and currently airs on the Canadian version of Adult Swim.