Fox network on Friday picked up the Andy Samberg freshman police comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine for a full season bringing the total order for the rookie series to 22 episodes.
Andy Samberg’s Fox comedy is getting a full season – and another big boost. Fox has picked up another nine episodes of Tuesday comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Brooklyn has also scored TV’s biggest promotional opportunity: a post-Super Bowl slot.
Brooklyn will join New Girl in a one-hour special comedy block airing after the big game. (New Girl was previously announced, and is still currently expected to air first.) “It’s exciting to see that both critics and fans love Brooklyn Nine-Nine as much as we do,” said Fox entertainment chairman Reilly. “With Andy and Andre out in front of this incredible ensemble, it feels like this show is going to be around for a long time.”
Brooklyn has been struggling in the ratings, yet media insiders expected Fox to give the show a full season. The show was the best-reviewed new fall comedy and the network believes in the series. Plus, the network’s options are limited given that fellow freshman Dads and sophomore show The Mindy Project are really struggling too – you can’t scuttle everything.
Yet adding the post-Bowl move is a surprise and could be seen as a Hail Mary pass. Averaging only 5.2 million viewers and a 2.3 rating this season including DVR, Brooklyn is almost certainly the lowest-rated show to ever receive such an honor. Yet the positioning does make sense in terms of the show’s frat-friendly and male-skewing humor.
In fact, you could argue that Fox’s best post-Bowl option for really grabbing the interest of sports fans would be pairing Brooklyn Nine-Nine with Dads, instead of New Girl. Or not to use comedies at all and instead double down on the network’s most successful new fall drama in years – Sleepy Hollow. Or even to use the post-Bowl slot to launch the extremely guy-friendly robot cop drama Almost Human.
Which Fox series do you think would be best after the Super Bowl?