Andy Samberg speaks on Brooklyn Nine-Nine's uncertain path forward amid BLM protests
Aux Features Brooklyn Nine-Nine
The entertainment industry’s current-day reckoning with its role in systemic racism extends beyond its most recent purge of actors (both the fired and the peacefully exiting ones) and all previous examples of anything resembling blackface. Some shows are actually having to reconsider their entire approach. As previously reported, Brooklyn Nine-Nine recently scrapped the scripts for the first four episodes of the upcoming season after daily protests against a systemically racist police state. In a recent interview with People, series star Andy Samberg noted that production is still working on how to progress from this point.
“We’re taking a step back, and the writers are all rethinking how we’re going to move forward, as well as the cast,” Samberg said. “We’re all in touch and kind of discussing how you make a comedy show about police right now, and if we can find a way of doing that that we all feel morally okay about.”
The death of George Floyd, along with ample documentation of law enforcement’s violent behavior during peaceful Black Lives Matter protests, has stoked a wider interest in a long-standing conversation about “copaganda,” or media images that work to present a more empathetic side to the police state while ignoring the systemic racism and implicit bias that plagues the culture. Though Brooklyn Nine-Nine maintains a passionate fan base, it has also been accused of engaging in this problematic phenomenon. Last month, Samberg’s co-star Stephanie Beatriz joined fellow TV cop Griffin Newman in challenging similarly employed actors to donate a portion of their salaries to the National Bail Fund Network. In addition, the cast has made a collective donation of $100,000 to the same initiative. For now, Samberg remains confident that the comedy will find a suitable way to exist within the current state of the world: “I know that we’ll figure it out, but it’s definitely a challenge, so we’ll see how it goes.”
Looking for ways to advocate for Black lives? Check out this list of resources by our sister site Lifehacker for ways to get involved.
337 Comments
Scrap the whole thing. Sell the precinct and open a new hotel called The Brooklyn Ninety-Nine. Boom. 4 more seasons. Those guys were barely cops anyway.
My money’s still on post office. It’d piss off the right, with their current hard-on for killing USPS. Because, yeah, barely cops. They just need some civil servant gig with a certain amount of intrigue and paper work.
I wasn’t trying to piss off the right or anything. I was just thinking how much I liked Are You Being Served? Again! and thought it would be nice.
Except someone might have the bright idea to bring back Ed Helms after that one episode he did as an USPS officer, and after all of 2020, we just don’t need that.
What’s wrong with Ed Helms?
What’s wrong with Ed Helms?I don’t know how it happened, but I think it is cool right now to hate him. I’ve seen a couple other recent anti-Helms sentiment. Don’t worry, in a year or two we’ll be celebrating his underrated genius.
Really? Because he’s bugged the shit out of me since The Hangover and I thought he was useless on The Office. And I’m the last person looking for some sort of retroactive cool points. I think he’s just overrated.
So just general hate, huh? I thought I was unaware of something he may have said or did to cause the contempt.
Nothing, he’s the rooty doot tootin’ best.
Glad I’m not the only one with an unreasonable level of dislike of that man.
+1 to Post Office switchShow becoming rabidly pro-union wouldn’t bother me either
Plus they could reincorporate USPIS and Jack Danger
I believe he prefers “Jackie”.
I can see Holt’s first order of business as Postmaster General to be getting rid of pictures on stamps.“The only thing a stamp needs to have on it is the cost. Anything else is just rampant frivolity.”
Split the difference and make them postal inspectors.The setup could be they tried to blow the whistle in dirty cops and were all fired form the police force. The punch line could be that for everything the investigate, the perp turns out to be a cop.
“Manuel loves yogurt!” ~ Manuel (Terry Crews), Fawlty Nine-Nine
[Canned Laughter]
Why is Terry Crews Manuel? Samberg is a much better fit, and Crewes would be hilarious as the innkeeper.
“Don’t mention police brutality! I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it.”
Just pull an “Archer” and reboot the series with the same actors with the same names/personalities in an entirely different milieu. I vote for either pastry chefs or pirates.
Oh, is that what you want? BECAUSE THAT’S HOW YOU GET ANTS!
Sigh. Why must you ruin everything?
LawrenceQ. LawrenceQ. LAWRENCEQ! …DANGER ZONE!
…and those were his last words.
Pirate chefs!
“Yo Ho Ho, and a bottle of rum! Or, if you don’t have rum, brandy can also work in this recipe.”
Hell, they could open up the east coast off ice of the Figgis Agency!
I’ve watched and enjoyed lots of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. But they are definitely cops, doing cop things—arresting people as sport, sending them off to Riker’s, wielding guns and having foot chases in the street, doing massive drug-war stings with federal cooperation, etc.
Yes and no.
The show is far less married to its setting than most sitcoms e.g. Scrubs, Parks And Rec, 30 Rock, etc.
They’re doing ‘cop things’, because the current backdrop of the show is a police station, but you could transplant the entire show into a hospital/restaurant/hotel/post office/generic office/etc. and retain a good 80% as is without any signficant rewrites.
“Do we have a messed up relationship with death?”
“Yup.”“Not gonna keep poking at that thread!”
Holt becomes a sommelier, in “Brooklyn Fine Wine”.
They should do like aging sitcoms did in the ‘50s and ‘60s and just have everyone go to Europe for a season.(of course no one can go to Europe right now, but they can just use some fun fake greenscreens and pretend)
Says the TERF who likes to ungrey transphobes…
While they could definitely pull off this kind of move, I think it might come off as just dodging the issue. IMO, they should confront it directly. All the character could, and in-character totally would, have a different take on what’s happening. Peralta is perfectly positioned as POV as an empathic and self-conscious, but also foot-in-mouth clueless, white dude in the middle of the police force just trying to figure out what he should do, say, and think about all this. Don’t make it a PSA episode, but this WOULD be happening to these characters soooo do it and make it Brooklyn 99y.
Toughest part would be the writing, to keep general tone and feel of the show and character while still tackling the subject matter. But they’d have to do a permanent writing pivot to totally change the setting too *le shrug*
I think this is right. Use it. I’ve got friends who are cops. Good guys. Needless to say, they’re having a very intense, productive time of self-reflection right now. These characters should do the same. It’d be the most interesting sitcom on TV.
Is it better to remain inside a corrupt system and try to make it better, or get out? I want to watch that show.
There are no good cops. Even your friends are just shitty tools. The first A in “ACAB” means ALL.
Are you serious? ALL cops are bad? This defies rational thought.
Just remember that only a sith deals in absolutes.
My idea was that they confront it–something happens in the show. It makes them all so mad, they all quit. In my idea, they start their own PI agency where their cases are all just fluff or working for defense lawyers (something that doesn’t put them in the same position as being cops only private) but they could really open any business and it would be fun.
Unpopular opinion: This show blows. Andy Samberg is painful. Just cancel it, period.
I’m with you on Point 2. Samberg was the primary reason I avoided B99 for so long.
But he won a Golden Globe for acting!!!
I want them to all quit and start a PI agency together. Then we can have fun cases (nothing too serious, of course. Otherwise, we fall into the trap of them working with police) and have them all together.But, I just like PI stuff.
Hey incase you haven’t noticed they’ve already made episodes on issues of racism, LGBTQ and sexual assault. So what do you really think all cops do gun violence all the time like in the other series. #b99 is legit
Despite his words, I have the dread feeling that sometime soon we’re going to hear B99 has been shut down entirely. Mind, I don’t know if that is possible contractually, but it feels very likely that Schur is going to tell us “We tried everything, we can’t do it, we just can’t make a cop show that exists in our current reality funny anymore.”And with that, plus America Ferrera departing Superstore, NBC will have zero decent comedies on the air. Time to call up Ms. Fey quickly!
It got 7 seasons across two broadcast networks. That’s no small potatoes. Honestly, maybe it’s time they just bow out gracefully.
Except Brooklyn Nine Nine *needs* to end with a nine episode ninth season, so find a way Schur!
Through no fault of Ferrera’s, Amy became the worst part of Superstore. The writers seemed to fall flat when it came to her over the last season or so. I think the show will be just fine without her, though I don’t know what remotely satisfying way they can split her and Jonah.
i hear they cut the script where Jake Peralta accidentally wedgies a guy to death
I think that they can potentially figure something out. There are plenty of episodes that have little to do with police work and some of them are the best episodes. They could even circle back to what they did when Holt and Peralta went under cover or when they all had to have them hide out, and make an excuse for no policing.
I’ve seen the “B99 Should End” takes, one of which was a prominent article on Kotaku, and the sentiment seems misplaced.How has B99 ever really glorified the NYPD? Upper management is either openly corrupt, dangerously incompetent or The Vulture. Holt is the only really redeemable part of management and he is constantly striving to make things better.
Anyone that watches B99 and thinks it glorifies policing and the NYPD specifically is not being intellectually honest. If we want to say that any media that fails to demonize police should not exist, fine, let’s say it. Engaging in hand-wringing over a show like B99 just feels performative.Also, these pieces fail to reconcile the fact that the prime audience of B99 is composed of people that are already sympathetic to defunding the police and BLM. This is a progressive, quick-witted show. Do we think any “I Back the Blue” morons actually watch B99? It is not remotely their demo. This being said, they do have a graceful way out:Holt becomes CommissionerTerry goes into private security (he’s been approached before)Charles opens a restaurantRosa embarks on one of her many other interests that we get glimpses ofJake and Amy become upper managementHitchcock and Scully continue to existThat ending would seemingly satisfy the goal of leaving people to try and improve the system along with acknowledging that some people have had enough and wish to wash their hands of it all.
I agree that in the show, the 99 seems to be at odds with the rest of the NYPD.
That has to help somewhat for figuring out how to go forward.
Hitchcock and Scully retire and open a Wing Slutz franchise
Double post, ignore.
I agree totally.
Right, this show has the least need to reorganize as it sufferers very little from “copaganda.” I don’t see any of the Dick Wolf shows or other police procedurals that actually suffer from this addressing it at all.
I’m not sure those shows can exist as anything other than “copaganda”. If you take that out, there´s nothing much left.
Showing the police in a positive light is copaganda too.I see B99 doing for police the same thing that Hamilton does for its subject matter. All very nice or admirable people in the works in question, which allows viewers to ignore how awful the real life versions actually are.
Now I look more insane than usual.
I will never ignore you!
Has stoked a wider interest in a long-standing conversation about “copaganda,” or media images that work to present a more empathetic side to the police state while ignoring the systemic racism and implicit bias that plagues the culture.See I completely agree with this happening as a general process given the abundance of non-critical portrayals of US policing on TV but in the case of Brooklyn Nine-Nine I really struggle to see how that falls foul of this. B99 is a show that portrays the ideal of what policing should be, with its most frequent running villains and plotlines having nothing to do with criminals but crooked, lazy, and/or bigoted cops. This is the show that has repeatedly discussed racism against Black people and LGBT+ communities both within and outside the police structure and had an entire season arc that relied on fighting an established order around “staying the course” old White men who wouldn’t actually serve the community. It isn’t a show that screams “the police are great” but one that goes “the police would be great if they were like this”.
I totally disagree.
That’s what I was thinking. The show feels more aspirational than anything. Mind you, I don’t agree with everything they’ve done but you can’t expect perfection.
I totally agree with your take on the show. I guess my thought is that *because* the show is so good at what it does, there’s a sense that they have the responsibility of raising the bar even more. Few shows are positioned so well to address this moment in such an economical fashion, with such a charismatic cast and consistent writing staff.I do not know what form the show might take going forward, but given the cast—especially the dramatic pedigree of Andre Braugher—I would hazard a shift into a more tragic mode, not without humor, of course, but perhaps something that would be self-consciously in conversation with the precedent set by The Wire, for example.
If they go that route then the show is dead. If we start seeing Very Special Episodes on police brutality (and how many of those episodes can you do, anyway?) in place of the chaotic comedy people watch for in the first place will be buried.
The 90s was full of Very Special Episodes (TM) and all those shows made it just fine.
Yeah, I want to know what they’re going to do about the “true copaganda” shows, that really keep their foot on the gas of constant rah-rah “cops do no wrong ever” shit, like fucking Blue Bloods, or the militarization-porn that is nuSWAT.
I used to watch police procedurals a lot. I finally got to a point where I couldn’t take it anymore because so many of them show the “good” cop beating up a suspect to get them to confess. Or the “good” cop that goes off on a child molester or something like that and it’s played as if it’s OK because he’s really a good guy and he just couldn’t deal with what happened to all those kids or whatever. It started as something that would happen every now and then–maybe once a season or so. Now, it happens almost every episode and it’s exhausting and infuriating.
That’s my thought too. Like, most the time the bad guys aren’t street thugs or such, they’re other professionals in their line of work doing terrible things. And one of Holt’s entire arcs was to rise in the ranks and make changes to the things that bothered him.Also, there was that episode during Holt’s time in PR where he tried to boost police approval ratings but all the posters of Amy just get vandalized because people hate cops.
I think the danger is that people may think that the police are actually like that and that can impede real change. I mean, who really wants to defund Jake, Amy and Captain Raymond Holt? B99 does fall into some copaganda tropes: love of militarization, suspicion of internal affairs, wishing suspects would waive their constitutional rights etc.
If there is any show that I think will be able to pull this off well, it’s this one.
It’s because they are thoughtful enough to not be the worst example of copaganda that they are also thoughtful enough to be thinking about what to change going forward. Shows like the super right wing Blue Bloods will probably double-down with a special episode about how mean those terrible protestors are being to the heroic policeman.
A police officer will get shot (or two, a la the TPD thing just recently) and they’ll tie it to protesters or some black person who was spurred on by the protests. Something gross like that.
Blue Bloods has had episodes like that for years already. In some such episodes, the protestors accusing the police of brutality actually hide evidence that exonerates the cops, or manipulate evidence to frame them. Like a criminal jumps out a window and claims the cop threw him out, and so a leading Black Lives Matter-esque activist bribes the only third-party witness to corroborate the criminal’s lies.That same cop actually has engaged in police brutality in other episodes – like waterboarding a suspect – but somehow it’s never those incidents getting him accused of police brutality.
Problem is, the fact that it’s one of the least problematic cop show out there is entirely due to the fact that it’s made by really good people that feel uncomfortable even having a toe dipped into this whole mess, whereas a lot of other cop shows are made by people that don’t really mind that.
Good people have higher standards.
“It isn’t a show that screams “the police are great” but one that goes “the police would be great if they were like this”.
That’s still copaganda though, just far more insidious.
It’s a bit like saying Gone With The Wind isn’t a film that screams “slavery is great”, but one that goes “slavery would be great if it were like this”.
It isn’t a show that screams “the police are great” but one that goes “the police would be great if they were like this”.I’ve seen people say even that is a problem, because they believe the police system is beyond reformation and must be dismantled.
Dismantled & replaced. And whatever they replace it with, the portion that deals with violent threats will still be thought of as “police” in the public’s mind, regardless of whether or not that’s its official name.
Which is also probably the reason why they are considering their continued approach so carefully. This isn’t really good news or bad news, its just Brooklyn 99 continuing to be Brooklyn 99.
The problem is that the show participates in problematic policing practices, but makes them fun. Amy and Jake compete to see who can arrest the most people, which centers their fun relationship dynamic and erases the people who are being arrested. Jake violates the civil rights of a suspect by arresting him with no evidence, but it turns out alright because he was guilty after all. Rosa frequently talks about beating suspects, but it’s a funny aspect of her edgy persona, not a human rights violation. Yeah, the show is better than a lot of “copaganda,” but the fact remains that it normalizes illegal police behavior and puts a friendly, queer, non-white face on it.
Hear!! Hear!!
It reinforces that the police are basically good and *can* quickly root out problematic structures and bad cops purely through internal action, without even Internal Affairs being relied on 95% of the time. I love the show, but whether the ‘good cops’ are CSI geniuses taking down scum, buddy cops operating on the fringes of the law to do what needs to be done, or just friendly jokesters who stand up for minority rights, these are all shows “about good cops”.Thats the entire premise. Put charismatic cops on tv and in movies who can be The Good Guys. It says that All Cops Are (Not) Bastards and ignores how policing actually works even when all the cops involved arent breaking rules and snubbing oversight. Its a fantasy used as a shield. The better the cops on tv, the more leeway they get from the public because ‘surely they knew what they were doing when they shot that kid’ ‘cops always have a good reason’. Portraying policing as basically not-broken in the US is the problem.
Well, it sounds like it’ll be hilarious. Also, why do I feel like the current anti-cop volume just might be turned down a little bit by the time the show went on the air? Maybe he doesn’t want to say it, but I feel like “wait this out” could be the strategy they go with, with a few “very special episode” touches in the first episodes.
That’s more or less what they did post-Ferguson.
Why? The entire show run has talked about issues with bad cops and do-nothing management. They had multiple arcs where the bad guy was a corrupt cop. Hell, all of season 6 was about finding a way to take down the Commissioner of the NYPD because he wanted to keep the course, return the city to Stop and Frisk, and surveil its citizens, all with a straight face and a smile. I never felt that cops were glorified on that show, but mainly shown how a police force should be ran with great, respectful cops and great leadership that wanted to make changes for the good of the community
I’m not sure what the “why” is directed at, but I think we agree. For better or worse, I think it’s important to remember that even at the height of ACAB and the protests, the majority of those polled had a favorable view of the job police were doing, and only a quarter want them defunded. Even the vast majority of the show’s views who are in favor of that, I’d imagine, will grumble a little but then get over it, because everyone likes to laugh.Remake your show however you want, but this would seem to be a “Twitter is not real life” moment.
Repeat:Be progressive.Show the positive of a defunded police.Base stories around crimes that cops would investigate in a defunded world.Show repercussions of incompetence and only keep cops that are good at their job.Move away from their love of militarization.Base the comedy around their personal lives (which they generally do) and not around crime.Add professionals that would take over the type of police intervention that hasn’t been historically unnecessary.
For sure the best move, or at least the best move that doesn’t involve them all getting Green Lantern rings and becoming Space Cops.
Obviously this would never happen but I’m still incredibly disappointed that it won’t.
They also had a talking dog but he died.
Ruh roh!
I’d watch it.
Ooh now I want that. Samberg would make a weird Guy Gardner, but I’m here for it. Holt is Stewart, Boyle is Rayner, Diaz is Soranik, Santiago is Arisia, Terry is Kilowog. If you can think of any better matches, you’re wrong.
Boyle is obviously Ch’p!
Oh shit I love it.
It would for sure be an interesting double dip, considering I’ve been low-key lobbying HARD to folks in my life who aren’t Sarah Halley Finn that Braugher is the ideal choice to play Professor X in whatever form the MCU X-Men take.My criteria for MCU X is that he’s gotta have the same gravitas as Stewart and obviously he’s gotta pull off bald, but for god’s sake make the dude American this time.
I dunno, Braugher’s gravitas is colored with a distinct playfulness that I don’t necessarily think of with Professor Xavier. But it sure would be fun to see.
I think he’s capable of toning down the playfulness, and I also think that Xavier has a certain sense of humor in the comics that pops up every now and then in a similar vein to early B99 Holt.
I’d definitely like to see it.
yeah sounds hilarious
If we can get comedy out of regular policing, and also medical emergencies, and also municipal bureaucracy, and also at a company that sells paper, what makes you think this can’t be made funny?
because all those examples do it with levity and this guy is britta pitching The Wire version of Community over here, nobody would fucking watch it
Okay A: you and I both know that an entire thirty minutes of Britta pitching The Wire would be outstanding to watch, and B: my point is that professional comedy writers can for sure make something with levity out of those ideas.
i know it wouldn’t be, because i watched all of community
If you don’t think thirty minutes of Gillian Jacobs going full PLEASE GOD LET ME PROVE I’M WOKE I LIVED IN NEW YORK and lay out an entire agenda for how The Wire should be made wouldn’t be hilarious, we were not watching the same show.
i’m referencing the last episode where she actually does that and everyone makes fun of her because it sucks
Correct, and I’m saying a full episode of her doing that would be great.
well as long as we both agree that making fun of this idea is the only way it’d ever be funny
You’ve really latched onto my aside and missed the part where your problem is having such little faith. We will see!
hopefully not
I created an account just to give you a virtual “Cool, cool, cool”. See everyone, pitching a show is harder than it seems! If the show takes itself too seriously, they will lose their fanbase and it will turn into the final season of Scrubs.
after everything they did for zach braff!
Sarcasm? Hahahhah!!!!!!!!1
Yayyyyyyyyy
“Move away from their love of militarization.” Especially this one, for when they get all hyped up and kitted out for a raid, “Oh wait, I’m part of the problem.” It would be a perfect, moment in line with all of Jake’s other “America is broken” realizations. Not just move away from the stuff they should get defunded for, showcase them being out of their depths and handing it over to trained professionals (who are, of course, just as zany as they are.) There’s still room for them on TV, but probably not the straight-up copaganda of The Rookie.
I think for the most part the show did a decent job on the topic of militarization. When they were being serious, they would not use rifles and other military style gear unless it was truly appropriate to the situation – known armed and dangerous bad guys. SWAT wasn’t being called constantly over little things. They weren’t looking for excuses to gear up (unless it was just for a silly joke – not to actually arrest someone). Most of the time at least. I’d have to rewatch to be sure and actually look for this kind of stuff.
They have a few places where they really glorify the violence. It’s usually training scenarios, competitions over “best kill,” etc. A lot of wanting Die Hard style violence/doing something cool with guns. But it’s not rampant, which is a big difference, again, between it and The Rookie. Think about the 7 seasons of 9-9, how many people has Peralta shot or even drawn a gun on versus the slew of dead and injured at Fillion’s feet. That’s why I think 9-9 might still have a place on tv during/after all of this.
I don’t mind the training stuff, since the whole point is they are basically playing an intense game of paintball.
Yeah it seems innocuous, but that’s the problem, right? My thing about that is the “best kill” being a focal point, not just fastest time. Because then we go from the violence being a grim necessity and last resort to a fun opportunity to show off, which isn’t what we want in our police. It’s not terrible, hell it might be a great plot line for Peralta to kill someone in the line of duty and then be a wreck after it.
I…don’t think any of them have killed someone in the line of duty, have they?Other than Pimento, of course.
Pimento, yeah. I mean he’s probably socially liberal and woke, but definitely too crazy to be a “good one.”
Yeah, I’d love to see them do a parody of that “warrior cop” training that so many precincts get. They definitely have a few areas to rethink (a lot of is that Die Hard and other action movies in that vein tend to get fascist really easily since the bad guys are all really obvious and the good guy always does the right thing when “rules” aren’t making him limit himself and think about the consequences of his actions- so many bad ideas are tied into that such as how many films have a hero who is a cop who has had multiple complaints against them)
We watched the last (hopefully) Die Hard in the theater and I was a McClain fan in the first 3, less so in the 4th, but 5 was awful. Mainly for the car chase where they laid waste to a busy highway, where I’m sure all the civilian drivers were in death-proof stunt-cars. And being all quippy and not at all concerned for the collateral damage you called killed me on the character. It’s one thing for the grey area protagonists of Way of the Gun to cause collateral damage, a whole other thing for the “hero.”
Yeah- I have similar uncertain feelings about the action scenes in John Wick (a series which I love)- they’re dynamic, but he has shoot outs in a LOT of crowds and miraculously never hits a bystander. The whole world is weird so maybe I don’t know everyone else was also a magic assassin but it says something that in the second movie Keanu and Common have a scene where they chase each other through a crowded mall shooting at each other and they’re both supposed to be sympathetic
Cops won’t be doing any of those things if they’re defunded. They’ll be out of work. That’s the point, dummy. Fuck this reformist bullshit.
You should educate yourself about what “defunding” the police actually means, or at least what most people who support such a notion actually want / discuss.
ok parks and rec fan
You got me. I am, indeed, a Parks and Rec fan.
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That’s not the point at all. It’s not what defunding the police means or does. It’s shifting of funds to things like social services or other groups that really SHOULD be handling many of the calls relating to mental health issues and such that come in so police won’t have to deal with them and chances of escalation of benign situations are reduced.
That would indeed be one result of defunding the police.
Fuck off, asshole. Defund isn’t abolish you dipshit. Never met a lie you didn’t cling to though.
Fuck off, asshole. Defund isn’t abolish you dipshit. Never met a lie you didn’t cling to though
Fuck off, asshole. Defund isn’t abolish you dipshit. Never met a lie you didn’t cling to though
Fuck off, asshole. Defund isn’t abolish you dipshit. Never met a lie you didn’t cling to though
Fuck off, asshole. Defund isn’t abolish you dipshit. Never met a lie you didn’t cling to though
Fuck off, asshole. Defund isn’t abolish you dipshit. Never met a lie you didn’t cling to though
Fuck off, asshole. Defund isn’t abolish you dipshit. Never met a lie you didn’t cling to though
Fuck off, asshole. Defund isn’t abolish you dipshit. Never met a lie you didn’t cling to though
Fuck off, asshole. Defund isn’t abolish you dipshit. Never met a lie you didn’t cling to though
Fuck off, asshole. Defund isn’t abolish you dipshit. Never met a lie you didn’t cling to though
Fuck off, asshole. Defund isn’t abolish you dipshit. Never met a lie you didn’t cling to though
Fuck off, asshole.Plus you don’t even understand what defund the police means.
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Fuck off, asshole.Plus you don’t even understand what defund the police means.
Fuck off, asshole.Plus you don’t even understand what defund the police means.
Fuck off, asshole.Plus you don’t even understand what defund the police means.
Fuck off, asshole.Plus you don’t even understand what defund the police means.
Fuck off, asshole.Plus you don’t even understand what defund the police means.
Fuck off, asshole.Plus you don’t even understand what defund the police means.
Fuck off, asshole.Plus you don’t even understand what defund the police means.
Fuck off, asshole.Plus you don’t even understand what defund the police means.
Fuck off, asshole.Plus you don’t even understand what defund the police means.
…that seems silly.We need a group of public employees to engage community policing and investigate crimes, the way they do everywhere else in the world.The problem is that modern cops don’t spend very much time doing that, and instead doing a bunch of shit they have no reason to know how to do.
Cops have never spent much time doing that.
Bold claim. I have a counterpoint:Every civilized country.
ok cop
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lol.“American police suck because they don’t do police work. We need police who do police work, like every other country has.”“WHAT A COP THING TO SAY!!!!”
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Fuck off, asshole.
Fuck off, asshole.
Fuck off, asshole.
Fuck off, asshole.
Fuck off, asshole.
Fuck off, asshole.
Fuck off, asshole.
Fuck off, asshole.
Fuck off, asshole.
Fuck off, asshole.
Fuck off, asshole.
Fuck off, asshole.
Fuck off, asshole.
Fuck off, asshole.
Fuck off, asshole.
Fuck off, asshole.
Fuck off, asshole.
Fuck off, asshole.
Fuck off, asshole.
Fuck off, asshole.
Fuck off, asshole.
Fuck off, asshole.
Fuck off, asshole.
Fuck off, asshole.
Fuck off, asshole. Defund isn’t abolish you dipshit. Never met a lie you didn’t cling to though
Fuck off, asshole.
If anyone can do that and keep it funny, it seemed like it would be those guys.They could probably even successfully show the kinds of conflicts and rivalries that would arise. I mean, if they can do it with the fire department, they can do it with a new enforcement group.
Basically, make it Barney Miller.That’s not a bad thing. Barney Miller is great.
Agreed. This should be the easy route. Show what defunding should ideally look like and how it can work, and bring in some new guest characters who are social workers and the like that are funded by former police funds.
A B-plot where a couple cast members spend an episode in cleaning storage lockers to get rid of all the military gear they’re no longer allowed to use and mocking the need for some of the hardware.
Of course, the big catch is:
Show repercussions of incompetence and only keep cops that are good at their job.Which probably means Scully & Hitchcock should lose their jobs. But you don’t want to punish the actors for their characters being horrible.But I imagine they could have them “retired” and working at the local bar the group hangs out at, as an excuse to keep them in the show.
Reassign the whole precinct to investigate white collar crime.
None of that sounds all that funny.
Wait… You think B99 celebrates the militarization of the police?Cocaine is still a helluva drug, apparently.
I can’t wait to watch a sitcom about the politics and bureaucracy of police reform.
Defunding the police is the single stupidest thing anyone has ever proposed in the history of stupid things. LOL!
Yeah, I think they’d be well-placed to show the general population what “defund the police” means in a practical sense- it doesn’t mean Officer Friendly going against every drug dealer in only his boxers, it means redirecting services so the police aren’t doing everything and so they aren’t the only ones in government getting adequate funds.
It’s beyond idiotic to think a cop sitcom can’t exist now, and I’m not one bit surprised no one here is saying that. It’s the AVC. Plus, this is a Schur show, and those are always full of actors telling us how much better they are than the rest of society, so it’s not a shock they’re scrambling to make a fictional cop show. Oh dear!! Oh well. Bye bye 99.Shocked you didn’t go after Terry Crewes for good measure. I suppose the comment section will grab that low hanging fruit sooner enough. When your dwindling comments are failed writers trying to crack tired jokes for adulation, the Terry Crewes jokes aren’t far away.
My God are you a whiny, fucking baby. Also, it’s Crews, not Crewes you fucking moron.
“It’s beyond idiotic to think a cop sitcom can’t exist now”Literally no one is saying that. B99 may be able to square the circle, and maybe they won’t. But that doesn’t preclude any future cop comedies. It just means they’re going to be different.
I mean, Kotaku said that…
No, the Kotaku article was about B99 specifically, not all cop sitcoms.
There’s a second cop sitcom still in production?
There’s not? I haven’t had cable in 5 years and I couldn’t be bothered with the antenna, so I got no clue what the networks are doing these days.
Unless it’s a streaming network original or some small time network, the only other comedic cop show in recent days was the Reno 911 revival on Quibi. Cable sitcoms are pretty much only the territory of Tyler Perry, Nick, and Disney these days. Networks only have sitcoms one day a week now, and B99 is the only one that’s not a standard “family lives at home” setup. I mean, I suppose you could count Whose Line when one of the performers plays a cop in their games, which usually has them beating up Wayne at some point, even if Wayne’s a cop too.Other than that, the only other show that has a cop focus is really Chicago PD (not counting shows focusing on detectives and federal agents).
Are you seriously telling me there’s not a Law & Order show on TV anymore? Holy fuck, never thought I’d see the day.
No, Law & Order: SVU is still being made. But they are detectives, not cops. And yes, there is a distinctive difference. But I DID forget about Blue Bloods. That show is still in production.
Jesus fuck, nerds ruin everything.
B99 is also about detectives. Only one of the leads (besides the captain) wears a uniform now because she got promoted.
I’ve admittedly not watched Law and Order SVU, but, are they not police detectives on that show?
For one, people don’t care about that anymore. The rule of the day for now is that if you’re law enforcement, you’re wrong. Also, B99 also features detectives.
“Literally nobody is saying that”…how about this epically stupid article from the NYT talking about getting rid of “Paw Patrol” as well as shows where “police are portrayed as lovable goofballs” (aka literally cop sitcoms). Choice quote below: Last week, Tom Scharpling, an executive producer of “Monk,” criticized his own show on Twitter: “If you — as I have — worked on a TV show or movie in which police are portrayed as lovable goofballs, you have contributed to the larger acceptance that cops are implicitly the good guys.” Just because you don’t believe it, doesn’t mean someone (in this case an actual TV executive) isn’t pushing the narrative.
I find it interesting that you’re able to twist “If you — as I have —
worked on a TV show or movie in which police are portrayed as lovable
goofballs, you have contributed to the larger acceptance that cops are
implicitly the good guys.” into “It’s beyond idiotic to think a cop sitcom can’t exist now”.Wait, no, the word I’m looking for is disingenuous.
It takes just a slight bit of logic to get there. This TV executive is making the case that even “lovable goofball” cop shows contribute to an atmosphere of seeing cops as good guys. If you use the logic inherent in that statement, he’s saying even comedies with protagonist cops are bad. How is that not saying a cop sitcom shouldn’t be on TV right now? Again, just because you aren’t taking it that far, that does not mean other people aren’t as well. “Literally nobody is saying that”…except this guy right here.
“It takes just a slight bit of logic to get there.”Funniest thing I’ve read all day.And that’s after watching the MAGAts melting down over today’s SC decision. Well played.
Again you’ve replied with zero meaningful discussion. Good day to you, sir.
As compared to torturing logic and the english language in order to avoid admitting my claim was hyperbolic, I’ll take that gladly.
So when I replied showing that your use of “literally” was incorrect, instead of admitting you were being hyperbolic you get pissy and attack me. And I’m the one “torturing the english language”. Sure thing, guy.BTW I’ll admit I was wrong if you show me where you gave any indication you were being hyperbolic. So please, show me the receipts.
“So when I replied showing that your use of “literally” was incorrect”That quote you posted was far from the slam dunk you think it is, and if you want to keep dying on that moldy hill, knock yourself out.Shit, I don’t even know what we’re fighting over here. Who is it in this story that you’re advocating for? What terrible sin is being inflicted here? The B99 people all seem to be super mindful and chill about this, and unlike you they’re directly affected by this social movement.And no one in their right mind thinks there’s never going to be cop shows on the teevee again, so what the hell’s your beef?
My comment was literally (correct usage here) a response to your overly hyperbolic claim that “literally nobody is saying that”. Instead of saying you were being hyperbolic and letting it go, you decided to accuse me of being disingenuous, mocked me, tried to subtly accuse me of being a MAGAt, and just acted like a general jackass. You should probably learn to be more precise in your word choices.
For a claim so hyperbolic, you sure are having a hard time finding actually, you know, saying it.Also, this isn’t the fourth grade, so I have no idea why you think the “rubber, not glue” tactic is worth trotting out.
kill yourself
This is a reasonable, rational way to get people to consider a different position.
Hey everyone! Look at the guy who thinks any screaming howler monkey who wanders in is entitled to a weasonwable wational way to be made to consider a different opinion. I wonder why that could be…
Wow! The tolerant Left!
Oh cop shows definitely can exist.It’s just that they shouldn’t.
I’m not sure what your point is here. “Cop shows” have been a staple of TV since forever, be them dramas or comedy or a mix of both. Let’s make sure we go after Westerns, although they are hardly a mainstream show anymore, let’s erase them too. Let’s not forget any kind of medical drama, because health insurance is still an issue with a lot of folk (myself included) and it may be offensive to show doctors, RNs, etc, in a positive light. The biggest thing is why are folk going after B99? ALL of Dick Wolf’s productions should be under the same scrutiny. When it comes to B99, it ain’t broke.
“It’s just they shouldn’t.”And why in God’s name shouldn’t they exist?? Just because people have gotten their underwear bunched and decided that all policing is bad policing? Just because a fraction of their workforce is giving the rest of them a bad image? Do you say the same thing about medical shows since a lot of doctors are just in it for the money and push prescription pills to make money? Every profession has bad parts and good parts but the bad shouldn’t negate the obvious good that they do.
they’re pulling episodes of golden girls where they wear mud masks because someone thought it made them look like a black person. reason has been abandoned.
Why does this make you so mad? There are so many other cop shows. Literally hundreds and hundreds of hours of TV that involves cops that isn’t Brooklynn 9 9 if this show raises your blood pressure.
Shocked you didn’t go after Terry Crewes for good measure. I suppose the comment section will grab that low hanging fruit sooner enough. When your dwindling comments are failed writers trying to crack tired jokes for adulation, the Terry Crewes jokes aren’t far away.Congrats on being the first.
You okay?
It always amuses me when people with interesting usernames are utter shitheads.
“Plus, this is a Schur show, and those are always full of actors telling us how much better they are than the rest of society”Well they’re thoughtful and consider how to go about things in a sensitive sympathetic way given the power and exposure their jobs provide them with. So they’re probably a bit than you and people you know considering your comment.
Set it on Mars in the future and have everything be exactly the same. Still a cop show, only in the distant future with new technology and presumably much needed reform. Then maybe people will be able divorce this show, the only cop-show apparently willing to reflect upon itself despite it also being one of the ones least needing to do so, from reality.
It’s corny as hell, but the space heater joke gets me every time.
That is the one episode I think I’ve only seen when it first aired. Stellar cast, amazing writing, and I really wish more shows would just go off the rails like they did sometimes. Nothing wrong with continuity or through-lines, but the season finales were always a high mark because you could tell the writers were thrown an idea and ran wild with it.I think I’m gonna be marathoning Newsradio today.
“Set it on Mars in the future and have everything be exactly the same.”#GreenLivesMatter
Sparks Nevada: Marshal on Mars, the TV series
So, lots more Kevin is what you’re saying then? I’m in…
…I realize you were going a different direction with the reference, but find a way to sneak in Ronny Cox and Michael Ironside as recurring antagonists and you’ve got yourself a sale.
Whoa, it’s the Total Recall crossover I never knew I wanted, I’m in.
Set in in a world where the NYPDs union contracts been terminated and they’re starting over with the NYSB (New York Service Bureau). Charles makes more sense as a social worker anyways. It’s a win-win cause you’ll drive all the right wing nuts crazy anyways
Jake quits the force and becomes a stand-up. The gang hang out at his apartment.Nine-Ninefeld.
Bring back the bass lines and I’m in.
“’Master Of Your Domain’ title of your sex tape.”
L&O / Seinfeld bass mashup!
Boyle with the Kramer entrance
“Ever shaved with butter, Jakey?”
Except instead of always taking food from Jake’s fridge, he’s always stocking it with gourmet items.
all with superior mouth feel
What’s the deal with precinct? What about a postcinct? Can this area just be cinct?
What’s the deal with Terry’s yogurt?
“This was meant to be the Summer of Hitchcock!”
shouldn’t they pull the office from streaming? it was about heartless capitalists exploiting society by marketing products for purchase.
Work backwards towards your goal. If you want to re-direct funding for the police to social services, medical care, education, psychologists, sociologists, and all of the many ways that the problems in society can better be addressed by those services than this outdated police system, and you want to reflect that in the television show, then you come to one conclusion. Each of the characters takes up a new occupation in one of these fields. The entire season is about all of the main characters deciding to stay friends but transition out of the police force into these other lines of work. (After all, it’s not like we know what field every single character majored in during college and what degrees they have. Who’s to say that Terry doesn’t have a doctorate in sociology?)The entire season deals with each character ultimately finding a job in the system outside of the police force that still serves to make their city and their country a better place. That could be a series wrap, or it could be a big pivot with an ask for another season with a new status quo in its reestablished premise with new settings.
We shouldn’t get rid of the cop genre of fiction any more than we should stop writing about the Mafia or other things like that. A television landscape where everyone and everything is positive and enlightened would be boring. But I understand the hesitation and frustration people are feeling right now. There’s no easy answer here. That said, can we just stop and think about how awesome (and prescient) The Shield was? Now that’s how you do a cop show. Even the few good cops aren’t perfect, and the show doesn’t let them forget it.
Once we go down this path, there will be nothing left to make. Every piece of entertainment triggers somebody. Once you take out the higher-profile examples like cop shows, the pack will just move on to the next. Satire and parody will be dead, because if you can even mentally conceive of something to -satirize it means deep inside you’re fundamentally _________-ist. That’s a boring and depressing future for entertainment.
What an embarrassingly overused arctic cold take.
Whatever will we do without goofball cop comedies? We’ll just have to form our opinions of police based on personal interaction, facts and journalism
Their second season debuted basically right after Ferguson, so I have faith that these guys know how to work around some fucked up shit.
A lot of television shows are going to have to go through a reinvention or rethinking in a year or so, when they come back. Prior to the protests, I’ve wondered how Grey’s Anatomy will come back. It’s a hospital show set in Seattle, there’s no way they can come back to all of the nonsense storylines they were doing before.How about Superstore? Is it going to suddenly become about masked people praying they don’t catch the virus while telling old people they are out of TP?It isn’t just B99. 2020 is going to force a lot of television to change or end.
Eh, I’d be more than happy if shows just continued on ignoring corona. I watch TV to escape my looming existential dread, thank you. After everyone from insurance companies to car dealerships started coming out with those maudlin “we’re all in this together” commercials a couple of months ago I was about ready to tear my hair out. B99 being a cop show that valorizes (a select group of) cops kind of has a moral obligation to address the current political climate, but I neither expect nor want Superstore to attempt to make anti-mask rallies or chronic PPE shortages funny.
Seriously. I’ve had songs about social distancing come up on my Spotify new music playlists and literally just yelled NO and skipped. I have been alone in my Manhattan apartment mainlining CNN for 4 months(I know non stop news watching is my choice but eh) and I never want to think of this part of my life ever again. I already barely remember March and April.
What? You don’t want to watch Mateo and Cheyenne take turns wiping down carts and clicking people into the store on their corporate overlord’s iPad-like device, while Sandra clicks them out and Dina runs around trying to catch people shopping without a mask?Just after the pandemic started, we watched a new season of some reality competition show — I want to say it was Zumbo — and the contestants sitting close together on a set of bleachers made me go, “that’s not social distancing”. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to stay in all the lovelorn stories on Grey’s, knowing that at any minute a pandemic could hit. (Last season, the rumor was that they were going to kill-off Jackson, now I just don’t care)I don’t know. B99 is just another a workplace comedy to me. The episodes were fun the first time around, but a couple of times lately I’ve tried to stream an old episode as time-filler and it’s just not that deep. Maybe they could out a bad cop or something, but it’s a diverse cast and all of the characters are good people. Maybe it’s my privilege, but I’m going to be much more taken out of the shows by the pandemic. After all, I’ve always known that some cops are bad and some cops are guilty by association because they didn’t speak up.Only the reaction is really something new.
Yeah, I don’t really expect B99 to start portraying this revolutionary post police abolition utopian ideal as a couple of folks on here seem to desire, but I get why the writers and performers are going “uh, we need to think through some shit going forward.”
The first time they send a social worker to intervene in a domestic dispute and she gets shot, it’s going to be HILARIOUS. And at least they won’t be glamorizing cops.
I actually think “Here’s What ‘Defunding the Police’ Should Look Like” is a great premise.
Honestly I can see a great plot about a terrible misunderstanding caused by speaking while wearing a mask- probably Glenn since he has a quiet and high pitched voice and tends to get upset easily
I can’t even tell what most advertisements are promoting any more. I don’t give a fuck if Avis is there with me. Every one is like those Sarah McLaughlin animal adoption solicitations.Plus maybe it’s just because all the Madison Ave. types live in Manhattan apartments, but they miss that most people have been spending MORE time outdoors because it’s the safest place to be, and we generally have time on our hands.
Those commercials drove me nuts!!
I’m with you 100%. I’m not really sure what covering coronavirus would even bring to a TV show; the quarantine has been difficult, and life-changing and for some people traumatic, but I wouldn’t say it’s especially interesting. People have stayed at home a lot and worn masks. When we move into a post lockdown world, I want TV to move right along there with me.
How about Superstore? Is it going to suddenly become about masked people praying they don’t catch the virus while telling old people they are out of TP?I’d assume the writers, who have done a great job thus far, can mine better jokes and stories than this.
Superstore might address the mask thing- they’ve addressed healthcare, immigration and unionization before so it’s definitely not out of their scope and it is an issue that has been impacting a *lot* of people in the service professions
Follow the Archer model: Come up with any other frame for these sorts of characters to exist in, maybe even a new one every season, and just do it. Don’t explain it, don’t resolve it, just do it.
The Ninety-Nine Detective AgencyThe Hotel Ninety-NineFor Ninety-Nine Dollars MoreStar Wars: The 99th LegionThe Nine-Nine Legal Defense FundThe 99th Parallel
Thing with that is, Archer did explain it; all that stuff happened because Archer was in a coma.
Archer did like three seasons of reinvention before the coma tbf.
Point taken, but there was always a bit more connective tissue between the reinventions than I think a lot of people who propose that B99 do “the Archer thing” tend to acknowledge even before the coma (they get fired by or quit the US government, so become coke dealers/private detectives/whatever). There’s a lot of people who seem to be proposing that the squad just instantly become mailmen or hoteliers or whatever without any explanation whatsoever which, Defund The Police aside, is going to be pretty offputting for most of the audience. Frankly, if the show’s connections to the police have become so toxic that the only way out is an instant “let’s pretend they were never cops” do-over, then they should just cancel it outright. I’m all for reinvention, but under these circumstances it would just seem a bit spineless for the show to suddenly start pretending that it’s nice characters never had anything to do with the police, honestly.
I think you’ve got a point, though personally I think the idea of handwaving the thing would be funny. The show’s been on for ages and already been cancelled once, it wouldn’t be the end of the world to just let it go and produce some new stuff.
Oh totally, I agree that under normal circumstances handwaving the fact that these people are now suddenly in totally different jobs could be hilarious. It’s just that doing so under these circumstances would just seem a bit cowardly, like they’re trying to weasel out of having made them cops now that cops are particularly unpopular.
There’s only 2 seasons, but maybe we should call it the “Miracle Workers Model”.
Deep Space Nine-Nine
I love the cast, but similar to Parks and Rec, I have wondered if the show has gone on a little too long. Current events make me wonder that all the more. I am interested in seeing what they will do. It’s not the same thing by any means, but A Different World, in their last season, underwent huge tonal changes partly down to rapid changes and conflicts in America over race. It didn’t always work (and the show was canceled), but it was a fascinating experiment that in some cases holds up pretty well today.
I wondered what that headline was about for a moment. I genuinely forgot this was a show about cops…I don’t think there has to be some sort of comment about BLM on a show like B99. But if they feel they want there to be, then fine.
“I don’t think there has to be some sort of comment about BLM on a show like B99.”
Well, they’ve already addressed systemic racism in the NYPD, why would they not at least acknowledge BLM?
Just pull a Good Place and have the show turn into a philosophical comedy about the meaning of law enforcement and how America’s bastardized it beyond all recognition.Or set it in an outhouse.
Just make it about Cheddar. Problem solved.
I’ve got some bad news about Cheddar.You may want to sit down……
We regret to inform you that Cheddar is racist
Cheddar can never die, only the dogs who play him
I can imagine the notes from the network:
“Isn’t it weird that over the summer they made us all firefighters?!”“Weird but still fun! And non-problematic!”*Bah da Bah da dahhh!*
I love cop shows , hope this doesn’t affect the final season of Bosch.
Here is an idea: Have the precinct deal with the ugliness, have the “good cops” try to do the right thing and get systematically removed.Then reboot the series with the same characters having to navigate a post-police world.Use one of the other ideas mentioned below: Opening a restaurant, Transitioning to USPS. I love that, and they could get a couple of good seasons out of it.
Lol “police state”Someday, I wish the “progressives” of first world America finally get to see what a “police state” is. Or “fascist rule”. Or any number of ridiculously hyperbolic claims they make with a straight face.Fun fact: if you lived in a “police state”, you’d never be allowed to call it out so flippantly in public without risking your life.Grow up, stop demanding YOUR views be the ONLY views represented, and for Christ’s sake, drop the hyperbole. You lose more people’s support via that stupidity than anything else.
I’m ashamed to rewatch “Police Squad.”
Two thoughts:1) I think if any show could pivot into a thoughtful examination of police in our modern world and still be entertaining, it’d be ‘Brooklyn Nine Nine’.2) I don’t think ‘Brooklyn Nine Nine’ can do it. Honestly, if you’re the kind of person who cares about copaganda, I don’t think any show where the protagonists are police is going to make you feel good now. The institution has been exposed as so thoroughly toxic. It’d be like having a show where the protagonists are ICE agents working at an internment camp.