NBC has given the Brooklyn Nine-Nine family its official welcome to their new home, and we are so excited. They’ve opened the doors for the show they always regretted not picking up, and it seems like the addition has benefitted both the show and the network. At today’s NBC Upfronts, the Nine-Nine squad —sans Chelsea Peretti— looked as dashing and as excited as ever.
The cast and crew took it hard when FOX announced it had decided to cancel the ensemble comedy, with many of them taking to Twitter and other social media platforms to express their sadness and disappointment, and to thank the passionate fanbase that has supported them through thick and thin. But the fans decided it wasn’t the show’s time to go, and took advantage of social media to make very public how much they wanted the show to be picked up by another network.
Hulu and Netflix both passed up on the opportunity, and when everything seemed lost, NBC swept right it and saved Brooklyn Nine-Nine from its cancellation hell, affirming that they had regretted for years not picking it up when Dan Goor and Michael Schur first pitched it to them.
It seems like the resentment went both ways, in some cases. At the upfronts, Andy Samberg —accompanied by Seth Meyers— admitted that when NBC first passed up on it, he made a lot of calls.
“I made sure to call every NBC executive and damn them to hell. So needless to say, this has been a bit of an apology tour,” Samberg, who is also a producer on the show, admitted. In fact, it looks like he called NBC entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt “Bob Greenbutt”. Yikes, Samberg.
But it does strike as strange that NBC first refused to produce the comedy, seeing as it’s the home of Parks and Recreation and The Good Place, also from the Goor-Schur universe, and famous comedies like The Office, 30 Rock, and even Saturday Night Live. Surrounded by these almost legendary comedies it looks like the Nine-Nine will feel just at home here, and who knows, we may even get a very special crossover episode in the new season.
The Nine-Nine is looking Fine-Fine.?
Welcome to NBC, #Brooklyn99! pic.twitter.com/CHLkk3MHvn
— NBC Entertainment (@nbc) May 14, 2018
It looks like they’re definitely starting on the right track. We won’t get a new season until 2019, but the network has owned the show for a total of three days, and already they’re promoting it way better than FOX ever did. In fact, they’ve already given the show a new promotional poster in which the squad is dubbed “NBC’s most wanted.” So, with a warm welcome like this, it isn’t strange that the cast is more than happy to be welcomed to this new family. Their giddiness and excitement was more than evident as they recalled the “tumultuous 24 hours” that followed FOX’s news and the outburst of love and support they got from fans.
“I’m still processing the news,” Melissa Fumero assures. The Latina who has given life to Amy Santiago for the past five years posted a teary-eyed Instagram Story attributing their rescue to their fans not long after news broke about their show being saved.
“I’ve never been on a network this big,” Terry Crews, Sergeant Jeffords himself, excitedly told a reporter on the red carpet. “The checks are going to be amazing!
Some of the fans who rallied to save the show included world-famous personalities that took the time to not only express how big of fans they were of the show, but also how angry they were that the show got cancelled. Lin-Manuel Miranda —who I’ve been desperately campaigning for to play one of Amy’s brothers—, Mark Hamill, Seth Meyers, Sean Astin, and Guillermo del Toro, to name a few, were all ready to defend the show and fight someone before news of rescue broke the Internet.
It’s great news for the show to know that they have such a star-filled fandom, according to the cast, because they took the Upfronts as an opportunity to express how much they’d love any single one of them to be a guest star on the show.
Also: we got to celebrate with the #Brooklyn99 pic.twitter.com/ALjxd8DDwb
— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) May 14, 2018
Also: since Friday night, I’m in the weirdest, best group chat with @HamillHimself @RealGDT @sethmeyers and @SeanAstin.
Thanks again #Brooklyn99!— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) May 14, 2018
And seriously, I would be really pleased if Lin-Manuel Miranda —who is close friends with Melissa Fumero in real life, by the way— were to play one of Amy’s brothers.
Come on people, make it happen!
You can check out Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s new official website on NBC. Brooklyn Nine-Nine is set to return for a 6th season at NBC.