‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ Writers Have Been Consumed With the Best Way to Approach Season 8
When Brooklyn Nine-Nine premiered back in September of 2013, plenty of people were fighting against police brutality. But now, in 2020, the discourse surrounding police brutality and policing is even more prevalent in mainstream U.S. society. In light of recent events, more and more people are questioning the function of the police and demanding that cities rethink the budgets that they allocate to their police departments. This national shift has caused Brooklyn Nine-Nine writers to rethink the way they approach the show ahead of Season 8.
But, just how can fans of Brooklyn Nine-Nine expect the show to change, and what is happening behind the scenes to ensure that there is sensitivity to current events? According to some of the cast members, the writers have “taken a step back” to think about how to approach Season 8 in a way that they feel morally good about.
The ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ writers have taken a step back ahead of Season 8
The process has, apparently, not been an easy one. In a recent interview with Vulture, Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s co-creator, Mike Schur, got candid about how preoccupied the writing staff and his fellow co-creator, Dan Goor, have been with serving the tone of the show while also acknowledging the current political climate. Though Schur admits that he’s no longer involved with the show on a daily basis, he has spoken to Goor at length about how the writers plan to address season 8.
“We’ve had a bunch of conversations about it,” Schur shared about his Brooklyn Nine-Nine co-creator, Goor. “I know that it has been, I would say, all-consuming for him and his writing staff. How could it not be? It’s not very frequent that you’re making a TV show and then the exact subject of your TV show becomes the dominant national conversation everyone is talking about,” the talented producer shared.
A double-edged sword
Schur admitted that the Brooklyn Nine-Nine writers are operating from a fairly tricky spot. On one hand, they want to be respectful of what’s going on in the world. But, they also want to do so in a way that serves the overall story and tone of the show.
“It’s a tricky thing,” Schur began, explaining how the writers for Brooklyn Nine-Nine were in a difficult spot. “They want to address it more than anything, and they’re going to. But also the show has a very specific tone and it’s very silly and fun, and you can’t just turn on a dime and make the show into something it isn’t. The show is not designed to be a vehicle for the intense and drama-filled discussion of social justice. So if you suddenly make it that, it’s not going to work,” the co-creator confessed.
The writers want to ensure that they aren’t alienating their viewers
Schur added that changing the tone of the show completely would only manage to alienate the Brooklyn Nine-Nine audience. “Whatever message you’re trying to get across won’t be received, because people will be like, ‘What the he*l is this? This isn’t the show that I know.’ At the same time, if you don’t address it at all, then it’s absurd — you’re doing a show about police officers in New York City who are completely, utterly failing to address the dominant issue of the day that has to do exactly with them and their behavior. So it’s a really dicey thing.”
It will be interesting to see how the creatives behind Brooklyn Nine-Nine go about writing Season 8. Though it’s certainly not an easy task, it’s absolutely a necessary one. We’re sure that fans of the show are anxiously awaiting the next season.
