We Need To Talk More About the Great "Brooklyn 99"

We like to watch tv in our bed as we fall asleep in my home. My wife and I don't let our kids do it yet, but I'm sure it will happen sometime in the near future. My wife and I switch after we finish whichever show we picked. It was my turn to pick recently and I chose "Brooklyn 99".

This is, what seems like, our hundredth time watching this show. We both like it and it is good to fall asleep to. It lulls me into a near sleep space and I can just drift off. But, I have noticed one thing since the rewatch started a week ago. I have started to stay awake a little longer than normal watching it. I want to see each episode again, and may I remind you, I've seen this series many, many times. I want to see if I missed something. I want to relive jokes. I want to see if some stuff comes together better than it did before.

What has really made me stay up longer, this is one of the best shows in the history of television, and I feel like it doesn't get the love it truly deserves.  It has its true fans. There is an online presence, that much is for sure. But when websites make their best of all time tv lists, or talk about the best tv from the 21st century, "Brooklyn 99" never seems to come up. You get the usual suspects, "Breaking Bad", "The Wire", "Lost" and "Parks and Rec", all of which are wonderful tv shows. But "Brooklyn 99" even gets passed up when they narrow the list to best comedies. I don't get it. This show was so well written. It is joke after joke after joke. I find myself cracking up constantly. The delivery is too perfect. And each actor knows how to perform as their characters. Andy Samberg gets to play himself, and he nails it. He is so funny and so witty. He has some of the best jokes on the show. Stephanie Beatriz gets to play someone totally different, and she crushes it. She is brash and harsh, but she also has a soft side. I love how tough she can be, and when she really leans into the joke, it is wonderful. Melissa Fumero shines as the dorky one in the precinct. She's a nerd and she knows it and owns it. She is too funny. Joe Lo Truglio is sweet and naive and he's great. I feel like this show let his best comedic ways shine. He gets to have fun and it shows on screen. Chelesa Peretti made the most of her time while she was there. She was rude and crude and had some of the best one liners. But the one that goes above and beyond, and made the show as awesome as it was, Andre Braugher. He is the straight man on the show and he is perfect. His delivery, his tone, the robotic jokes that happen nearly every episode, it is masterful. When Jake calls him dad for the first time, the way Braugher plays into it, it is one of the best comedic performances in television history.

Mike Schur has this way with comedic tv. He knows how to write it, he hires the best staff, he gives unknown writers their first real shot and he lets his staff do the brunt of the work. And it always comes out smelling like roses. From "The Office" to "Parks and Rec", "The Good Place" and his time at "SNL", the guy knows how to make comedy work on tv and he truly shines when he is the head writer and in charge in the room. But I have come away even more impressed with the work he and his staff did on "Brooklyn 99". I truly believe it is the best work he has done to this day. The show works, it is endlessly watchable and it is so damn funny. I wanted to give it a shout out because I feel like it deserves even more love and recognition. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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R.I.P. Andre Braugher

Andre Braugher passed away at 61 last night. This has hit me rather hard, harder than I expected in fact. I did not know much about Braugher previous to him playing Captain Raymond Holt on "Brooklyn 99". I had seen the movie "Get on the Bus". I know he was on "Homicide". I know he was a steady working actor. But "Brooklyn 99" was my introduction to him and he was incredible on that show.

Captain Ray Holt is an iconic television character. Andre Braugher took this role, ran with it and helped to create one of the most memorable characters in comedic television history. Captain Ray Holt was robotic and amazing at his job. He viewed the world with a cold eye, but he did have a softer side. Holt would say and act robotic, but he would also praise the people he loved on the show. He put his people through tests, and when they came out the other side, he was even happier for them. He took on Jake Peralta, Andy Samberg's character, and helped to mold him into the person he became on the show. He helped Amy and Gina. He entrusted Terry more often than not. He loved the debate and vigor with which Detective Wunch would fight him. Holt was a do it all, genuinely excellent person. I feel like this was just a glorification of Andre Braugher as a person. I feel like the people involved with "Brooklyn 99" were so thrilled to get Braugher on the show that they would just write the character however Braugher wanted him to be written. Braugher seemed to be the consummate professional. Everyone on "Brooklyn 99" seemed to adore him. I think they all loved when they would get to do scenes with him. I also like to imagine that they would love to hang out with Braugher and his family outside the show.

I have never heard anyone say a bad word about Braugher. When the news came out last night there were tremendous amounts of people in shock. All the social media stuff was heaping praise on Braugher. People seemed to be very affected by this news. Braugher had a wife and three kids. I cannot imagine the pain they are going through at this moment. All the love he got from his peers, I have to imagine it was ten times more at home. I have to imagine his wife and children adored him like no one else could. This has to be tragic for them. And he was only 61. That is way, way too young. That is far too young to take Braugher away from his family and friends. I read that he had a brief illness. I don't know what the illness was, but it must have been pretty awful to take Braugher's life. And I don't know how long he fought it because, as I stated before, the illness was described as "brief". This is akin to Chadwick Boseman passing away for me. I am as shocked by this news as I was by Boseman's news. But in Boseman's case, the people around him knew he was sick, and they were able to keep it quiet. With Braugher it feels like he got sick and just passed with no warning.

This is a tragedy. I am super bummed by this. I didn't want to believe the news when I read it last night, but it appears to be true. What a tragic loss for his fans, but more importantly, his family. Rest In Peace Andre Braugher. You were taken away much too young and you are going to be missed. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Ty Watches "Brooklyn 99" Series Finale

Last night "Brooklyn 99" came to a close. I have loved this show from the start. I'm a big Andy Samberg fan, and when he is involved with something, I watch it. He is funny and charming and a very good comedic actor. Add on Mike Schur and I was sold. I also really enjoy Chelsea Peretti, so this show did not have to do much to win me over. Then to get me familiar with actors like Melissa Fumero, Terry Crews, Stephanie Beatriz, Joe Lo Truglio and Andre Braugher was a total plus. I now really like these actors, and have followed them since I first saw them on this show.

I was curious how they were going to end the series though. The final season has been very different from the rest of the series. This is due to many things. We have COVID, people being afraid and angry with the police and all these actors have grown up. I have enjoyed the final season, and the finale was a great way to close this all out.

For the finale they did a heist episode. Fans of the show know exactly what I am talking about. These are their best episodes in my opinion. So doing that, and making it a series finale was the absolute correct choice. I was enthralled the whole hour. I hung on every twist and turn that the episode gave us. I was also very happy to see Chelsea Peretti and Jason Mantzoukas and the guy who plays Bill and Fred Armisen all reprise their much loved characters. I also really enjoyed that Captain Holt and Jake and Terry all had these grand plans for the heist, but they were all sidetracked by one another. Holt, Jake and Amy were all leaving the 99, and with Rosa already gone, this was one of their last hurrahs as a group. This made the heist even more fun and funny. Everything they did in this episode was perfect. This is what a show like this should do to wrap everything up. I appreciated and liked that they touched on all the issues in the world that pertained to them on the show, but going out with a straight up goofy and wild episode was the thing to do.

“Brooklyn 99” has always been about jokes and relationships. They do touch on stuff in earlier seasons too, namely the episode where Terry gets racially profiled, but they always come back with a super funny follow up episode. That is what the "Grand Heist" was last night. It was just a blast to watch. They did tug at the heart strings too. Amy and Rosa have a very touching moment where they say I love you to one another. Gina does what she always does, but seems nicer about it. Terry is laughing and joking with everyone. But the ending moment between Holt and Jake was where they got my wife and I. This was great. Holt has always been Jake's father figure and to hear the words he says to him, I'm getting choked up as I write this just thinking about it. It was wonderful and poignant and brilliant and simply perfect.

"Brooklyn 99" is one of the best sitcoms that has been on TV in some time. It gets its due, but I feel like it deserves even more credit. I love this show, and the ending was the best possible way they could have closed it all out. I will miss you "Brooklyn 99". Thankfully I have Hulu so I can continue to watch this series over and over again.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.