Brooklyn 99 is still a great show

Many comedies kind of fizzle out after a couple of years in my opinion. For example: I really enjoyed Big Bang Theory for the first 2 or 3 seasons but then I kind of had a falling out with the show as a whole for a variety of reasons. One of the main ones being that there are only so many scenarios that you can accomplish when your set is just a few rooms in the same apartment building. Plus canned laughter kind of gets on my nerves after a while.

The need for an overall story in sitcoms is a strong one, even though just like in Big Bang, Brooklyn 99's episodes are their own self-contained stories for the most part and the overall theme of the season is kind of a minor issue compared to the self-contained objective that is in each episode. For me anyway, ending Penny and Leonard's romantic tension by having them get together kind of killed the show. There are loads of other shows out there that kind of lost their edge over the years, but in my world, Brooklyn 99 has remained just as entertaining throughout the now 7 years that it has been on.

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I would imagine that there aren't a whole lot of people out there that are not familiar with this show already but if you are one of those folks, I highly suggest you give this show a try. The characters are all humorous for very different reasons and even though I guess Andy Samberg is the "star" of the show, various episodes focus on various actors. Really you could take anyone in the picture above and at least one episode per season is going to focus very heavily on them.

Andy Samberg plays the role of Jake Peralta, who is a detective at the 99th precinct police station in Brooklyn (bet you never would have guessed that) and he is kind of similar to almost every other role that he has had in films: He seems like an idiot but somehow manages to be very good at his job and even though he appears to have bizarre ideas about how to solve crimes, they kind of work out for him.

The other characters that are still listed as "main" on the credits include Terry Crews as Sargent Terry Jeffords, who is a sensitive yet massive member of the crew who has a soft spot for suspenders, yogurt cups, and his daughters. He isn't normally the true main character but he does have his moments.

I think my favorite charcter is Captain Holt, who is played by Andre Braugher. Holt is a very strict and rather humorless commander of the precinct, who revels in things that most people would find very boring. He is also gay and is married to his equally humorless husband who is a professor of classical studies at Colombia University. They bore everyone else to tears but honestly, they are perfect for one another.

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Captain Holt rarely smiles and is extremely stoic and gets very little joy out of things that most people find interesting. I have never met anyone like this in real life, but i am sure they exist.

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That's fun and all but what really makes 99 so interesting is that the episodes are designed so brilliantly. At just 22-24 minutes per episode, things keep moving in a montage type way with some flashbacks built into the story and basically, there is no downtime at all. This sort of quick storytelling really appeals to people with a short attention span, which unfortunately is me and probably most of the world.

The things that have kept this show fresh is that they haven't run out of material nor have there been any actors or actresses that have left the show except for one (Chelsea Peretti) and both Peretti and the producers of B-99 have been very tight-lipped about why it is that she abruptly started being featured less in season 6 and then not at all in season 7. There is also no canned laughter and no studio audience, which is something that I have come to loathe in comedies anyway - especially ones that aren't funny.

This is one of my favorite comedies of all time and I am pleased that it has maintained its edge over the years. It is, however, very inconsistent in its overall ratings. I don't know if 2 million viewers is considered enough by today's standards. It seems it would be.

What do you think of the show? Do you agree with me? I have never met anyone that didn't like this show so if you are one of those people I would love to hear your reasons why.