Tonight marks the return of one of the more eclectic and
bizarre installments of our new “Golden Age” of Television: Brooklyn 99. When Brooklyn 99
premiered a couple years ago it was quickly treated as the next thing in
sitcoms and heralded by a lot of critics as something you needed to be watching
to be in the know. However, 3
years later the show holds a very different place in the television landscape
as it’s struggled to define its identity as a lighthearted and non-serious cop
comedy in the wake of growing concerns over police misconduct and
brutality. Maybe I’ll dedicate
more time to Brooklyn 99’s
metamorphosis in a future review but for right now, the show’s shift in focus
rather than risk getting into more serious fair reminds me of a highly underrated
British comedy starring Rowan Atkinson and David Haig entitled The Thin Blue Line.
