Fans of the FOX comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine were brokenhearted last May when the series was cancelled after five seasons. Luckily, though, it only took a couple of days for a deal to be worked out between the show and NBC, giving it a new lease on life and a sixth season. But, with that major change came the question of how certain aspects of the, typically pretty loony but also surprisingly heartfelt, stories and show in general would be different once they prepared to make themselves at home on a new network.
While the move to NBC has, indeed, led to Brooklyn Nine-Nine airing on a new night, getting about half the episodes in Season 6 than it used to get and debuting at mid-season (which has seemingly meant an end to the yearly Halloween heist episodes), not much about what fans have loved in the show has changed. In fact, actress Stephanie Beatriz, who's played hard-nosed detective Rosa Diaz for the entire run, seems to think that getting picked up by NBC has actually helped and changed Brooklyn Nine-Nine in some positive ways. Here's what she told CinemaBlend's Jeff McCobb during the NBC press junket:
One of the coolest things about moving to NBC, I think, has been the trust in allowing the writers to do these – I don't know what you would call them – almost like a pod episode, or an episode that still is in the world, but feels very different from the other episodes in the show. Like the episode with Rosa and Jake in the apartment trying to figure that out, like the Hitchcock and Scully episode. They're taking these risks that we've never taken before, and I think a lot of that has to do with our move to NBC.
So, while the sitcom is just as wacky as ever, Stephanie Beatriz feels like their new network has given the writers more freedom to play with what fans have come to expect from Brooklyn Nine-Nine. And, it makes a lot of sense that the writers would want to experiment a bit at this point, seeing as how the show has been around for a while and has a dedicated fan base that can handle some switch-ups in tone or episode format. Also, from NBC's point of view, they made a bit of a gamble taking on a series from another network that had a history of being not-exactly-highly rated, so they would want any creative changes that might bring extra attention to the show now that they have it.
Having the freedom to change things up without worrying about being stopped in your tracks is just the kind of thing that helps to keep the creative juices flowing and leads to cool episodes like the ones Beatriz noted. The Scully and Hitchcock episode in particular managed to give us an origin story for two characters who are currently the laziest cops on television, but still bring fans the silliness and potential danger we're used to.
You can see how Brooklyn Nine-Nine has been broadening its scope in Season 6 while continuing to bring the laughs by tuning in when it airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. EST on NBC.
