The film centers on two LAPD cops, Det. Mitch Preston (Robert De Niro) and Officer Trey Sellars (Eddie Murphy), who are paired for a reality police show and run into real trouble with a crime lord. Mitch breaks a news camera after a failed confrontation with a drug lord, who escapes by using a custom-built gun. Maxxis Television, the network that employed the cameraman, decides to sue the police department for $10 million, but will drop the lawsuit if Mitch agrees to star in a reality cop television show, which Trey later calls ''Showtime!''.