Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Breaking Convention Like It's No Big Deal

People have different opinions on what makes a progressive series. Some say it should be one that has a diverse cast of characters and constantly addresses the issues that said ensemble would normally face. Others say it should be one that has a diverse cast of characters and never address the fact, treat it like it's perfectly normal-which should be the end goal for progressive groups. Then there is Brooklyn Nine-Nine, a comedy about a group of police officers in New York, a series that features a diverse group of characters and though for the most part sticks to more light-hearted stories, doesn't ignore some of the more pressing issues the characters would face. Captain Raymond Holt for example is a gay black man, which in itself is a rare character to see in a sitcom, but the series acknowledges that it's also a rare person to see in real life, often referencing the fact that he had to struggle and fight for his position of power. Most recently, and arguably the most in-depth the show has gotten on an issue is in the newest episode at the time of writing this 'Moo Moo' was an episode focusing on the character of Terry getting stopped by a police officer, for being black. It's definitely the most dramatic episode of the series and was heavily praised for it's treatment of a serious issue, & bittersweet ending, while still managing to be a funny episode.

That last point is the most important, while the show has briefly touched upon a lot of issues, they've always done it with a tongue-in-cheek manner. Not necessarily mocking the issues or those involved, but taking what is the ultimate goal of comedy, to take the miserable parts of life and bring levity. The show is always able to find that balance between real world issues and comedy, because if it were to ignore the fact that police officers don't hold the best reputation these days, then it would come across as rather ignorant.

But it goes beyond tackling relevant social issues, what impresses me even more so is how it subtlety breaks genre conventions. It is a diverse cast and in a lot of ways they could be seen as a conventional group of sitcom characters, but they don't act like it. Jake Peralta, the main character is a childish and zany idiot like you see in a lot of sitcoms (Lister from Red Dwarf, Fry from Futurama, Will from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) but he's still really good at his job. Boyle is the awkward best friend that usually the protagonist is constantly annoyed with (Sheldon from Big Bang Theory, Barney from How I Met Your Mother--okay I could do this with all of them, but it's gonna take too much time) but instead, while Jake can be weirded out, he for the most part embraces his bromance with Boyle, including all the weird stuff. Amy is a workaholic but isn't a stick in the mud, Terry incredibly masculine but still emotional, Rosa is aggressive but still enjoys spending time with her team, Holt is-like I said-a gay black man yet as far back as I can remember there are no jokes about stereotyping him, instead the comedy comes from his deadpan deliver on everything.

It's a show that doesn't rely on stereotyping for humour, it allows its characters the grow and develop new healthy relationships, the characters are believable friends, they're good at their jobs, they never go for the easy joke. It's a well-written, socially conscious comedy and is easily one of the better sitcoms out there today in a world of so many derivative, simple, lazy sitcoms that plague the airwaves (Mostly everything on CBS).

-Danny