Brooklyn 99’s Andy Samberg says ‘moving forward with police sitcom is a challenge’ in age of Black Lives Matter
BROOKLYN Nine-Nine’s Andy Samberg has admitted ‘moving forward with a police sitcom is a challenge’ in the age of Black Lives Matter.
The NBC comedy centers around a bungling police force, and it was revealed last month that the show’s boss had scrapped a number of episodes he had already written for season eight in light of the recent Black Lives Matter protests.
Andy, who plays Jake Peralta, has now revealed the show is “taking a step back” to figure out how to move forward in the wake of George Floyd’s death and the recurring issue of police brutality.
He told People: “The writers are all rethinking how we’re going to move forward.”
Andy added the cast and crew are “all in touch and kind of discussing how you make a comedy show about police right now, and if we can find a way of doing that that we all feel morally okay about?
“I know that we’ll figure it out, but it’s definitely a challenge.”
His comments come after his co-star Terry Crews , who plays Terry Jeffords on the show, revealed show boss Dan Goor had scrapped the episodes he had written so far for the show’s upcoming eighth season.
He told Access Hollywood: “[Dan] had four [new] episodes all ready to go and they just threw them in the trash.
“We have to start over. Right now we don’t know which direction it’s going to go in.”
Dan had shared the news with the cast over a Zoom call, and Terry added the cast fully supported his decision.
He said his co-stars had: “a lot of somber talks about it and deep conversations and we hope through this we’re going to make something that will be truly groundbreaking this year.
“We have an opportunity here, and we plan to use it in the best way possible.”
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George Floyd, 46, died after a white cop knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes while he was lying face down and handcuffed.
His death sparked a wave of protests around the globe, and Terry, 51, described the reaction: “Black America’s #MeToo movement.”
He continued: “We always knew this was happening, but now, white people are understanding.”