Television series

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Name: Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Genre: Comedy, Action, Crime
Released: 2013
Cast: Andy Samberg, Andre Braugher, Joe Lo Truglio, Stephanie Beatriz, Terry Crews

A precinct sitcom that runs on pure affection: dumb bits, big hearts, a captain who says everything in a monotone and somehow steals every scene. It's giddy, character-driven, endlessly quotable, and structured for easy binging in twenty-two-minute bursts. Great for anyone who wants comfort telly with jokes this sharp and a genuinely lovely ensemble underneath them.

TVMaze rating

8.1

If you liked this

Parks and Recreation2009

Same DNA: a warm, joke-dense workplace ensemble built on earnest characters who actually like each other. If you want the Brooklyn Nine-Nine feeling again immediately, start here.

But The first season is rougher and meaner than what it becomes; you have to push through to find the warmth.

The Office2005

The mockumentary grandparent of this style of comedy — awkward, sincere, character-first, and just as rewatchable once you know everyone.

But Slower to start, and the office setting has none of the action-comedy energy Nine-Nine brings.

Superstore2015

A big-box store standing in for the precinct — same formula of oddball coworkers becoming a found family, with sharper class politics than you'd expect.

But Lower budget, smaller stakes; it never gets the swagger of a squad-room action cold open.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Barney Miller1975

It's the direct ancestor: same premise (a captain, his squad, a room full of desks) decades before Nine-Nine gave it jokes about heists and Die Hard.

A late-70s single-set sitcom about a Greenwich Village precinct captain managing his oddball detectives — the actual template Brooklyn Nine-Nine is quietly rebuilding, right down to the deadpan boss.

But Talky, stagebound, studio-audience pacing from another TV era; almost nothing happens visually.

Community2009

Community-college study group instead of cops, but the same generous, silly, big-hearted ensemble energy, with wilder genre swings.

But Gets self-consciously meta and experimental — brilliant, but a different rhythm than Nine-Nine's tight plotting.

New Girl2011

Same era, same rapid-fire joke density, same loveable-idiots-as-family structure, just swapped for a Los Angeles loft.

But More romance-plot focused; less puzzle-box case-of-the-week structure to sink into.

Scrubs2001

An earlier blueprint for blending genuine emotional stakes with absurd comic detours — hospital instead of precinct, same big heart.

But Tonal whiplash is more extreme; some episodes go properly heavy without much warning.

Cheers1982

The ancestor of every hangout-ensemble sitcom since — a bar instead of a squad room, but the same joy of watching a chosen family bicker and banter.

But Multi-cam, studio audience, decades-old pacing — a real shift in style if you're used to modern single-camera comedy.

Abbott Elementary2021

The current best heir to this mockumentary-workplace-family format — a Philadelphia school standing in for the precinct, with just as much heart.

But Gentler and more grounded; it doesn't have Nine-Nine's action-comedy set pieces or heists.

Reno 911!2003

The trashier, improvised cousin — actual cops, actual mockumentary format, and a willingness to be far dumber and more chaotic than Nine-Nine ever gets.

But Deliberately crude and shaggy; if you liked Nine-Nine's polish, this will feel loose to the point of sloppy.

Hot Fuzz2007

Same engine — genuine affection for cop-movie clichés used as comic fuel — but compressed into two hours and dialed up into full action-movie spectacle.

A British cop-comedy that loves buddy-cop-movie tropes as sincerely as Nine-Nine loves Die Hard, then detonates them with unexpectedly real action filmmaking.

But Far gorier and more violent in its back half than anything Nine-Nine would ever show.

The Wire2002

It's the same setting — cops, bureaucracy, a broken city — played entirely straight; watching it makes you notice everything Nine-Nine gently chooses not to show you.

If you want to know what a precinct show looks like with every joke stripped out and every institutional failure left in, this is the serious, patient, devastating answer.

But Slow-burn and demanding, with no relief from how bleak the system it depicts actually is.