'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' Has a New Home, But Will It Have Better TV Ratings?

Brooklyn Nine Nine san diego comic-con 2018 panel

FOX

After seven months off duty, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” moves into its new precinct, NBC, tonight.

But with the comedy’s channel switch for its sixth season — which came about following serious fan outcry that led NBC to save the series last May, less than one day after Fox gave it the ax — comes the question: Will the Andy Samberg and Andre Braugher-led sitcom see better Nielsen numbers when it starts working NBC’s 9 o’clock Thursday shift?

NBC placed “Nine-Nine” on what has in recent seasons been considered the network’s “comedy night,” which in the fall included a lineup of “Will & Grace,” “Superstore” and the now-“concluded” freshman series “I Feel Bad.” But with a new midseason schedule in place, Dwayne Johnson’s new series “The Titan Games” at 8 p.m. will serve as the lead-in for “Nine-Nine” tonight, with the midseason return of Mike Schur’s “The Good Place” being on the other end at 9:30/8:30c.

Also Read: 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' and 19 Other TV Shows That Found New Homes After Cancellation (Photos)

Season-to-date, the now-“Brooklyn” time slot on NBC has averaged a modest 0.8 “live” rating and 3.428 million total viewers, excluding sports. It’s a tough night for comedies — at least, the ones going up against CBS’ strong sitcom lineup.

The previous “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” season premiere (on Fox) received a 0.7 demo rating and 1.963 million viewers. At the time, the Tuesday sitcom followed “The Mick.” The finale, which featured Jake (Samberg) and Amy’s (Melissa Fumero) wedding and was almost the series finale, got a 0.8 rating and 1.788 million viewers. That one aired on a Sunday in May and followed “The Simpsons.”

All told, last season of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (again, on Fox) averaged a 0.7 “live” demo rating and 1.761 million viewers. With a week of delayed viewing factored in, that rating grew by 86 percent on average (a 0.7 to a 1.3) and 59 percent in overall eyeballs (1.8 million total viewers to 2.8 million).

Also Read: 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' Boss on Why a 'This Is Us' Crossover Is Probably a Bad Idea

Those still relatively low Nielsen numbers explain why Fox canned it, but “Brooklyn” carries plenty of value elsewhere. For starters, it’s a critical darling and an excellent half-hour show — hence the outcry over Fox’s cancellation. Plus, in its final Fox season, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” was the broadcast network’s second-most upscale series behind only “New Girl,” which ended anyway.

We’ll find out soon enough if Fox’s loss is NBC’s gain. Having seen the Season 6 premiere in advance, we can promise a good time for any Nielsen panelists that vote with their remotes.

“Brooklyn Nine-Nine” Season 6 premieres tonight, Thursday, at 9/8c on NBC.

21 TV Shows That Found New Homes After Cancellation, From 'Gilmore Girls' to 'One Day at a Time' (Photos)

One man's trash is another man's treasure. OK, no show wants to be called "trash," but if it means you're getting picked up by another network or platform after cancellation at your original home, you probably won't mind it too much.

Also Read: Here Are the Premiere Dates for Broadcast TV’s New and Returning Winter Shows (Updating)
Netflix
"One Day at a Time" -- The sitcom revival ran for three seasons on Netflix from 2017 to 2019 before being canceled in March 2019. Pop TV then picked up "One Day at a Time" for a fourth season, which began airing earlier this year. The cable channel canceled the series in November.

Netflix
"Brooklyn Nine-Nine" -- The Andy Samberg comedy ran from 2013 to 2018 on Fox and was picked up for a sixth season by NBC one day after being canceled by its original network. The show's seventh season aired earlier this year and the eighth season is expected in 2021.
Universal
"Designated Survivor" -- The Kiefer Sutherland drama ran for two seasons from 2016 to 2018 on ABC. The series was picked up by Netflix for a third season, which ran in 2019. The show then got canceled again.
ABC
"Lucifer" -- The drama ran for three seasons on Fox, from 2015 to 2018, and was picked up by Netflix for a fourth season in June 2018. Season 4 launched on the streaming service in 2019, and the first half of its fifth season premiered in August. Netflix still has the second half of Season 5 to launch before "Lucifer" goes into its sixth and final season, which is expected to debut in 2021.
Fox
"Nashville" -- The country-music-world drama aired from 2012 to 2016 on ABC, then got picked up by CMT for two more seasons from 2016 to 2018.
CMT
"Cougar Town" -- Ran on ABC from 2009 to 2012, then on TBS from 2013 to 2015.
TBS
"Arrested Development" -- The comedy aired on Fox from 2003 to 2006 and then moved to Netflix in 2013 for a fourth season. A fifth season rolled out in 2019.
Netflix
"The Expanse" -- The sci-fi series aired from 2015 to 2018 on Syfy and was canceled before being picked up by Amazon Prime Video for two more seasons. Ahead of the fifth season's December 2020 premiere, the streaming service ordered a sixth and final season.
Syfy
"Futurama" -- The animated comedy ran on Fox from 1999 to 2003, then moved to Comedy Central from 2008 to 2013.
Fox
"Gilmore Girls" -- The dramedy aired from 2000 to 2007 on The WB, which became The CW in the show's final season. It was revived by Netflix in 2016 for a special four-episode miniseries, "Year in the Life."
Warner Bros
"Community" -- The sitcom ran on NBC from 2009 to 2014 and aired its sixth and final season on Yahoo! Screen in 2015.
Sony
"Scrubs" -- The hospital-set sitcom aired seven seasons on NBC from 2001 to 2008, then moved to ABC for two more seasons.
ABC
"The Mindy Project" -- Mindy Kaling's comedy ran on Fox from 2012 to 2015, then moved to Hulu from 2015 to 2017.
Hulu
"Diff'rent Strokes" -- The classic comedy started its long run on NBC from 1978 to 1985, then moved to ABC from 1985 to 1986.
NBC
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" -- The cult classic aired from 1997 to 2001 on The WB before moving to UPN for its final two seasons, which aired from 2001 to 2003.
20th Century Fox
"Roswell" -- The sci-fi teen drama first ran on the WB from 1999 to 2001, then moved to UPN from 2001 to 2002. (A reboot, titled "Roswell, New Mexico," premiered on The CW in 2018.)
20th Century Fox
"Veronica Mars" -- The Kristen Bell show ran on UPN from 2004 to 2006, then moved to The CW for a final season from 2006 to 2007. And then Hulu released a revival in 2019.
Warner Bros
“Stargate SG-1” -- The sci-fi series started on Showtime from 1997 to 2002, then moved to Sci Fi (later Syfy) from 2002 to 2007.
Showtime
"Project Runway" -- The fashion competition series first ran on Bravo from 2004 to 2008, then moved to Lifetime from 2009 to 2018, and then came back to Bravo in 2019 for a new season with Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn replaced by Karlie Kloss and Christian Siriano.
Lifetime
"JAG" -- The procedural ran for one season from 1995 to 1996 on NBC, before CBS picked it up from 1997 to 2005.
CBS
"Last Man Standing" -- The Tim Allen sitcom ran for six seasons from 2011-2017 on ABC, then got picked up by Fox in 2018 and aired Seasons 7 and 8 on its new network. The show's ninth and final season is scheduled to premiere in January on Fox.
Fox

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TheWrap rounds up more crews who have been saved

One man's trash is another man's treasure. OK, no show wants to be called "trash," but if it means you're getting picked up by another network or platform after cancellation at your original home, you probably won't mind it too much.

Also Read: Here Are the Premiere Dates for Broadcast TV’s New and Returning Winter Shows (Updating)

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