TV Review - Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Written by Dan Goor and Michael Schur, it's basically another version of The Office or Parks and Recreation but only it's set in a New York City police precinct. Andy Samberg (Saturday Night Live) is adorkable as Jake Peralta, a total man-child who is constantly joking and playing around on the job and certainly in the precinct. Andre Braugher (Homicide: Life on the Street) co-stars as Captain Ray Holt, a black, gay cop who comes to the precinct as Jake's new commanding officer.

Obviously, the comedy comes from the fact that Ray is the complete opposite to Jake. Ray is strict, serious and always professional. Samberg's relationship with Braugher is synonymous with the relationship between Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin in 30 Rock as well as synonymous with the relationship between Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman in Parks and Recreation.

Jake's sophomoric behavior clashes with Ray's desire to adhere strongly to the rules of order and cleanliness. It will be interesting to see if like in 30 Rock or Parks and Recreation, Jake and Ray develop a friendship or possibly a bromance. Without it, the show lacks the heart of Fey and Poehler's TV shows.

There aren't any nods to the camera. There are no asides where a character will speak and even look directly into the lens. It doesn't feel like Brooklyn Nine-Nine is spoofing any thing or aiming for any kind of layered, meta-commentary. It doesn't feel like it's trying to tell a story either. It feels like mainly just an excuse for Samberg to be goofy. It's a tailor-made vehicle for him.

That's fine because Samberg is "adorkable" or a cute, adorable dork. He's also very funny, which is enough for a weekly sitcom. Most of the comedy is Samberg literally just doing goofy things. The rest are constructions of the writers, juvenile for the most part. The first episode has Samberg dropping his pants and realizing he has no gaydar. In the second, writer Norm Hiscock pens a story involving a graffiti artist who spray-paints pensises on cop cars.

Four Stars out of Five.
Rated TV-14-DLV.
Running Time: 30 mins.
Tuesday at 8:30 on FOX.