【1996 Archives】

996 Archivesfrenzy over Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s cancelation at Fox and subsequent pickup by NBC may have caught some corners of the industry off guard. But it shouldn’t have.

Creator Mike Schur, who is currently helming The Good Placeand also worked on The Officeand Parks and Recreation, is one of the most beloved names working in television comedy today, with good reason. And Brooklyn Nine-Nineis part of his tradition of joyful, sentimental, and down-to-earth comedies.

SEE ALSO: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mark Hamill, and celebs who helped save 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' now have a group chat

The power of the Schur comedy is that, even while watching the Brooklyn Nine-Nineprotagonist go to prison or The Good Placecharacters get tortured for all eternity, the audience rarely feels anxious or hopeless. These shows are beacons of light in a depressed TV and news landscape.

Schur, along with his crew of frequent writers, collaborators, and actors, have a propensity for unique, diverse, optimistic shows filled with characters that support each other while growing into better people. This approach has led to some of the most memorable titles of the past decade. Brooklyn Nine-Nineis just another entry.

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Like Schur's other series, Brooklyn Nine-Nineexists in a world that we could call our own if we applied a bit of creative license and added a touch of the absurd. The people usually begin with a definable and obvious characteristic that acts as a comic well. For example, Jake (Andy Samberg) is immature and has unrealistic expectations of cops thanks to '80s movies. Capt. Raymond Holt (Andre Baugher) is monotone and strait-laced to a laughable degree.

The same goes for most of Schur’s other comedies. Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) in Parks and Rec has an inflated, self-centered sense of ambition; Eleanor (Kristen Bell) in The Good Placeis selfish and abrasive; Dwight (Rainn Wilson) in The Officeis, well, Dwight-ish.

These character archetypes could grow stale, but Schur’s comedies have longevity because his creations become more than their parts, even if the character starts off as a joke. Jake comes into his own as a detective and is able to show maturity and growth. Eleanor embarks on her journey to become a better person because of happenstance in The Good Place, but is actually able to learn a thing or two. Leslie reaches her lofty ambitions while also learning that it’s okay to rely on others.

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These characters transform into better people gradually, usually after experiencing a conflict that is relatable to most viewers. It’s rarely something as intense as violence -- which is often used as a stepping stone to character development in drama -- but it can still be life-changing. Jake, for instance, is placed in witness protection and goes to prison. He becomes a more grounded, serious detective as a result. The drama of the situations, however, never manages to overwhelm the comedy keeping the show’s heart intact.

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Schur characters, after learning a lesson, reach their ultimate goals all while overcoming adversity (usually in the form of inept people or systems that are filled with inept people). They’re “feel-good” shows not only because they're funny, but because we almost always get a happy ending – a rarity in this TV landscape. We also tend to get it in a concise manner, something that can seem impossible in sitcoms.

When happy endings are unnecessarily drawn out over multiple seasons, lead romances are the most likely to struggle. How I Met Your Mothersuffered partially because the protagonist seemed to forget and relearn the same lessons over and over again. Friendslanguished thanks to a will-they-won't-they romance that took years to conclude.

But Schur comedies let the audience relax. Leslie and Ben (Adam Scott) on Parks and Recwere sidetracked by office politics, but we still got to watch them move in together, get married, have children, and follow their dreams. Jim and Pam from The Officeare allowed to develop across nine seasons. While early seasons focused on the tension of whether they’d get together, the show then allowed the two characters to explore each other, what their relationship meant, and if it could survive a big move in the final season.

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Brooklyn Nine-Ninehas followed this tradition. It’s difficult to find another lead couple on TV that’s allowed to be as happy as Jake and Amy (Melissa Fumero). There was some classic romantic tension early on, especially since the two seemed to be at odds with each other. However, they’ve been together for multiple seasons now, having survived family meetings, a prison stint, and bad Florida haircuts.

In the season 5 finale, airing May 20, we’ll see their wedding. Throughout the show’s run, Jake and Amy have been a rock of stability despite their differences, and they've supported each other both physically and emotionally. It’s the kind of relationship the majority of the audience would want to strive for.

You know what you’re going to get with a Schur-stamped comedy. The characters will be three-dimensional and dynamic, the worlds will be off-kilter, and the one-liners will be on point. They are typical sitcoms in some senses, but subversive in how they do away with tiresome tropes or create experimental setups, such as in The Good Place's high concept premise.

But what truly makes shows like Brooklyn Nine-Ninespecial for so many though is a sense of camaraderie. The characters care about each other and support one another. The worlds they inhabit might not be perfect, but it always ends up fine because the characters have each other. That’s a heartening idea and one worth cherishing.

So when the detectives go out to the bar after a long day or week or year, it’s like you’re toasting the “Nine Nine” with them.

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