The Brooklyn Nets have been an overwhelming disappointment, but the Brooklyn’s other new show from this fall has been anything but disappointing. The new Fox sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine is television’s best new show of the 2013-14 season if you exclude Netflix (HBO claims not to be TV, but Netflix took it a step further). Created by Daniel J. Goor (Parks and Recreation, The Daily Show, Late Night with Conan O’Brien) and Michael Schur (The Office, Parks and Recreation), Brooklyn Nine-Nine boasts a cast that is headlined by Saturday Night Live alum Andy Samberg, Homicide: Life on the Street alum Andre Braugher, Old Spice commercial star Terry Crews (who also had a prominent role in the bizarre and brilliant fourth season of Arrested Development), and stand up comedian Chelsea Peretti. Now you can add “Golden Globe winning series” to any description of the show. This week, Brooklyn Nine-Nine won a Golden Globe for Best Comedy Series, and Andy Samberg won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy Series, beating out Don Cheadle, Jason Bateman, Jim Parsons, and Michael J. Fox (Best Actress was won by Samberg’s very deserving former SNL co-star Amy Poehler for her work on Michael Schur’s other show, Parks and Rec).
This show, if Fox gives it a chance, can be for cop shows what Scrubs was for medical dramas. It plays on a lot of the cliches of the genre, and also shows us characters who work in high pressure situations, with Scrubs it was doctors and nurses, with Brooklyn Nine-Nine it’s police officers, who are also easy to relate to and struggle through the day-to-day routine like the rest of us. Samberg’s character, Jake Peralta, is a brash young detective who is great at solving crimes, but really immature. Braugher plays an openly gay police officer, Captain Ray Holt, who has finally gotten his first command opportunity after facing years of discrimination. Braugher’s deadpan performance is an excellent compliment to his more animated subordinates.
I find myself laughing uncontrollably several times in every episode. That speaks to good writing and a charismatic cast. There will be a new episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine after the Super Bowl on Fox in a few weeks, so there will still be a silver lining if the game is disappointing. With each episode the show keeps getting better, and I think the best of Brooklyn Nine-Nine is still yet to come.
Dave's Words 