When “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” returns for its sixth season next year, executive producer Dan Goor says the now-NBC comedy is considering doing an episode about the #MeToo movement.
“I can’t make a promise, but we’re really interested in trying to do a #MeToo storyline,” Goor said during the show’s TCA panel on Wednesday. “It’s something that we’re actively talking about in the writers room.”
During its five seasons on Fox, the cop comedy hasn’t shied away from tackling more serious subject matter, with episodes about racism and racial profiling, sexuality and active shooter situations.
“We’re not going to do it unless we feel that we have the right take that is doing it justice,” said Andy Samberg.
Terry Crews, who has accused WME agent Adam Venit of groping his genitals at a Hollywood party in 2016, said the #MeToo movement is making Hollywood safer. “I feel like this is gonna be a new day, and now the town will be safer for my wife, for my son and for my daughter.”
Samberg, who plays Jake Peralta, explained that the “Moo Moo” episode in season 4 that focused on racial profiling, “took a really long time to be written in a way where everyone was like yes, this is how the show wants to do this.”
In the episode, Sgt. Terry Jeffords (Crews) files a complaint against a fellow police officer after he’s stopped while he was off-duty walking around in his own neighborhood. Much of the episode features Jeffords arguing with Cpt. Raymond Holt (Andre Braugher) over how to best handle the situation as African-American police officers and the idea of not wanting to be seen as “troublemakers.”
Even if they don’t figure out a #MeToo storyline that works within the show, Goor said that “‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine” would continue to do topical episodes, including more about Rosa Diaz’s (Stephanie Beatriz) bi-sexuality and her coming out to her parents.
“They’re really hard to do, but we’ve been very happy with the way they’ve turned out,” said Goor. “Our challenge is always to make them still feel really true to the show, feel funny, but at the same time give weight to the issue and to really explore it in a fair way.”