Brooklyn Nine-Nine to end with upcoming eighth season

We bring you news that fans will find neither noice nor toit: Brooklyn Nine-Nine is preparing to hand in its badge.

NBC announced Thursday that the beloved police comedy starring Andy Samberg and Andre Braugher will come to a close after its upcoming eighth season. And before the goodbye comes a long wait: This final batch of 10 episodes (three fewer episodes than last season) won’t even air in the 2020-2021 season as initially planned, but is slated to premiere during the 2021-2022 season.

Samberg recently said that Brooklyn Nine-Nine will resume filming on season 8 in the coming weeks; it is, of course, one of many series that shut down production due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine premiered in 2013 on Fox, where it garnered critical acclaim and a cult audience. Brooklyn’s soft ratings led its to cancellation by Fox in May 2018 after a five-season run, but a massive outcry from fans and an outpouring of love on social media (including by some high-profile fans including Mark Hamill and Lin-Manuel Miranda) paved the way for NBC to immediately scoop it up and order a sixth season.

While reveling in 𝕥𝕠𝕞𝕗𝕠𝕠𝕝𝕖𝕣𝕪 and absurdity, the series hasn’t been afraid to tackle larger social issues, including the 𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕔𝕣𝕚𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 that Braugher’s Capt. Holt experienced coming up the ranks as a 𝔹𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕜, 𝕘𝕒𝕪 NYPD officer. A season 4 episode explored what happened when Sgt. Terry Jeffords (Terry Crews) was 𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 profiled while off 𝕕𝕦𝕥𝕪, season 5 installments featured Det. Rosa Diaz (Stephanie Beatriz) coming out as 𝕓𝕚𝕤𝕖𝕩𝕦𝕒𝕝 and the squad 𝕕𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 with the effects of an active 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕣, a season 6 episode delved into different officers’ viewpoints while 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 on a 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕜𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕖 𝕤𝕖𝕩𝕦𝕒𝕝 𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕒𝕦𝕝𝕥 case, and season 7 saw Sgt. Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero) and Jake (Samberg) 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕘𝕘𝕝𝕖 to 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕚𝕧𝕖 a baby.

The show plans to address police brutality — a deeply ingrained issue in law enforcement that became an urgent national discussion in 2020 — in its final season. “There’s nothing funny about what we’ve been seeing from the police,” Samberg said last year. “It’s not a laughing matter.”

Addressing the show’s final season, co-creator and showrunner Dan Goor in a statement Thursday, “I’m so thankful to NBC and Universal Television for allowing us to give these characters and our fans the ending they deserve. When [co-creator] Mike Schur and I first pitched the pilot episode to Andy, he said, ‘I’m in, but I think the only way to tell this story is over exactly 153 episodes,’ which was crazy because that was exactly the number Mike and I had envisioned.

“I feel incredibly lucky to have worked with this amazing cast and crew for eight seasons,” he continued. “They are not only among the most talented people in the business, they are all good human beings who have become a family. But most of all, I feel lucky that we have had the best fans in the world. Fans who literally saved us from cancellation. Fans who fill us with joy. Ending the show was a difficult decision, but ultimately, we felt it was the best way to honor the characters, the story and our viewers. I know some people will be disappointed it’s ending so soon, but honestly, I’m grateful it lasted this long. Title of my sex tape.”

Brooklyn Nine-Nine also stars Joe Lo Truglio, Joel McKinnon Miller and Dirk Blocker.