There is not a dearth of comedic series for us to choose from these days. Netflix has ushered in a new era of shows that combine comedy with other genres and easy streaming from anywhere. These shows break the trend of slapstick comedy and laughter soundtracks that were the mainstay of the ’90s and the ’00s. Steve Carell’s latest show – Space Force, is one such new entry to the comedy realm that pushes the limits of a typical comedy. This new age has ensured that fans of the genre, like me, always have a plethora of options to choose from. One such modern-age-comedy series is Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The show has gained a loyal fan-base over its 7 seasons of broadcasting. In fact, when it was cancelled after the 5th season by Fox, there was an overwhelming show of support by the fan-base on social media, such was the effect the show had on its fans. Quite logically NBC picked it up the very next day and they have not looked back ever since.
I’ll admit, I was a huge critic of the show early on. How could a cop show be categorized as a comedy? I grew up watching Hawaii Five-o, CSI Miami and Criminal Minds. Each of them was more gritty than the other. The “softest” cop show that I had watched until then was Castle. I was a big fan of the light entertainment genre due to my love for The Big Bang Theory, Arrested Development, How I Met Your Mother and Community. I was so in love with this category that I would even binge on shows that were painfully average(at best!) like Melissa and Joey and Hot in Cleveland. The former 4 shows were all watched by me during my final years in school and through college, so they quite obviously moulded my affinity towards the genre. But with Brooklyn Nine-Nine, I felt this was yet another swing-and-a-miss by Comedy Central when they had started airing the show.
Even watching a few episodes here and there, when nothing else was on, could not sway my judgement. There was one thing that drew me to the show ever-so-slightly however and that was Andy Samberg(and partially Terry Crews). I was already familiar with his teenage-clown kind of comedy from his time on Saturday Night Live, so I finally decided that if the protagonist of the show was to be an SNL veteran, then I should give it a shot. What I missed out on noticing before blacklisting the show was that Michael Schur was one of the creators. The man who was also behind Parks and Recreation as well as the all-time great – The Office US. Once I learnt about that, I decided to watch the show and do it the right way, i.e. binge each season in one sitting.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine has proven to be a subtle masterpiece. It takes an acquired taste, for sure, but it has a truly addictive nature to it. Friends whom I have introduced the show to have immediately binged season after season once they got a whiff of it. The show has the jackass-light-hearted comedy that keeps viewers smiling, with the office quirks and Andy Samberg’s immature character. But the show stands for much more than quirky cold opens. Journalists and bloggers call out shows and movies each day for either a lack of diversity or for forcing diversity. This however, comes naturally to Brooklyn Nine-Nine with its main cast evenly spread out without forcibly trying to shove minorities down your throat. To put it into perspective, Captain Holt is a gay-black captain of the NYPD, Terry Jeffords is an African-American sergeant, Rosa Diaz is a Mexican-American detective who dresses up like every female character from a steampunk novel and is later revealed as bisexual, Amy Santiago is a cuban-origin nerdy character who plays by the book, Gina Linetti is an Italian-American assistant to Captain Holt. Charles Boyle, Michael Hitchcock and Scully are white Americans and finally Jake Peralta is a Jewish-American detective that leads the line for the cast. This evenly spread representation of different groups and the easy-to-follow interactions of the show don’t push the agenda by force but instead makes it look effortless.
The humour of the show comes quite naturally as the writers use office shenanigans, immature behaviour and innuendo to deliver the laughs even though the show is based on a police precinct which is generally one of the most tense environments a person could be in. The show tackles issues like institutionalised racism that is prevalent in the police body of the USA; one such example is an episode where Terry is profiled by a white uniformed officer while wandering around his neighbourhood. The show also subtly talks about the difficulties faced by trans people. An example of this is an exchange between Jake and a prison warden where they go from comedic banter to a sidebar where they gently just push in a few dialogues acknowledging the brutality of prison life for a trans person.
With the story of Captain Holt, the series sheds light on the blatant racism that was prevalent in the NYPD through the ’70s and ’80s. This is done via mutliple flashbacks to Holt’s time as a detective where he was repeatedly marginalised by his fellow officers. The homophobic aura that was ever-present in the ’70s was also visited in an epsiode where Holt’s husband and Peralta discuss about the discrimination Holt was subjected to for being a gay man in an era where people were not welcoming to the LGBTQ community. Another big moment for the show was when it visited the overwhelming pressure that comes with explaining your sexuality to your parents. In that episode, Rosa comes out to her rigid parents as bisexual. They end up resisting at first and giving her a hard time, but the writers don’t give the episode a fairy tale ending and instead leave it on the note where her father agrees to slowly understand her perspective even though this notion was strange to him. To many bisexual and gay people out there, this is one of the most stressful moments in their lives and acceptance for who they are is all they crave for from the people they love.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine uses the theme of office camaraderie to help each character share the spotlight equally and venture on missions in different pairs so as to easily keep the audience riveted by the changing chemistry between pairs. This also helps the flag-bearers of each group to get a fair share of the limelight to narrate their story. The show is easy to watch, with some lovable recurring characters like Doug Judy aka The Pontiac Bandit. The show also shatters the stereotype of the muscle man in the police squad who is the no-nonsense tough nut. Instead, they took Expendables 2 actor Terry Crews and put him into a role where he goofs around, talks about his children all the time and acts as a fun-loving yet strict father figure to the squad. On the contrary, the tough nut here is Rosa Diaz who carries way too many knives and has overtly-sadistic solutions to regular problems.
Charles Boyle is the epitome of a loyal friend who stands by Jake in every decision he makes, work or otherwise, and Jake reciprocates the same. The repetitive Die Hard references made by Jake, helps the viewers to think of him as a real-life fanboy of a movie and leads to a better connection with the audience. Andy Samberg while doing an interview on a talk show has even gone on to plead Bruce Willis of Die Hard to make a guest appearance on the show. Most of us are hardcore fans of a singer or actor or sportsperson, so we can all understand where Jake’s obsession comes from.
The series has been covered and referenced in multiple forums such as transgender support, LGBTQ support and Black Lives Matter forums. This just goes to affirm the more-than-a-show effect it has on viewers. The show has multiple quips and references to many serious issues of our day but the way the message is delivered helps keep the show light and breezy for the viewers. Brooklyn Nine-Nine has surely worked its way into my heart after being detested by me for months after its premier, so if you haven’t watched it, you are surely missing out on a treat. Seasons 1 through 6 are available on Netflix with season 7 yet to be added to the streaming platform, so you can started bingeing the first 6 at least right away. This new age cop show will surely go on to win many more hearts over the next few years and its about time you opened yours to it.
There are much more instances of course where Brooklyn Nine-Nine deviated from the “normal”. Comment on this post with the one that was your favoruite.
We Need To Talk 