That “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” save? It happened “really quickly,” NBC Chairman Bob Greenblatt said on Sunday.
We’ll say: “Brooklyn” was canceled by Fox on Thursday. By Friday night it was an NBC series.
“We jumped on it really quickly,” he elaborated when asked about timing by a reporter during the network’s annual Mother’s Day pre-upfront conference call. “And we’re thrilled to have it.”
“If I knew Andy Samberg was gonna be cast in that show, we probably would never have sold it to Fox,” Greenblatt said. “He didn’t sign on until after [we sold it to Fox], and we thought it was a missed opportunity from the beginning.”
Greenblatt believes his new existing sitcom actually fits better on NBC than it did on Fox — after all, Mike Schur, Dan Goor and Samberg all first came to fame under the Peacock’s plumage.
“It just felt like a piece of the puzzle that– you know when you finish a jigsaw puzzle and one piece is missing, and you go what happened to that piece?” Greenblatt explained. “It feels like we found that piece.”
On the call, TheWrap asked Greenblatt if he is looking at the upcoming 13-episode Season 6 as a proper sendoff, or if there are hopes the show goes on for many more years.
“Who knows at this point? You take these things one decision at a time,” he responded. “I think we’d love to see it continue — and I don’t want those words to come back to haunt me if something changes in the next couple of years. It’s really hard to predict — we’re just thrilled to have it,” Greenblatt continued. “And we want to see what our audience will do with it and creatively where they go. I know this past season was one of the best years creatively. So it’s hard to tell, but of course you want these shows to go for several more years.”
He then touted the domestically low-rated comedy’s “robust” international numbers as another reason for keeping it alive.
“There are lots of business reasons for this show to continue, but it’s too early to tell,” Greenblatt concluded.
Season 6 of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” will premiere midseason on NBC. Check out NBC’s full Fall 2018 schedule here.
“Brooklyn Nine-Nine” is produced by NBCUniversal’s studio, Universal Television.
NBC’s upfront event — when it will present its new shows to potential advertisers — will take place tomorrow morning at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall.