It’s difficult to believe that Brooklyn Nine-Nine was once on the chopping block. The show, which is about to be on its eighth season according to Deadline, had once been canceled before even its sixth. Brooklyn Nine-Nine used to be broadcast on Fox, where it was reported by Deadline to be the highest rated television show Fox had at the time of its cancellation, beating out other FOX shows such as The Last Man On Earth and The Mick. Even though the show had pulled in decent viewership at the time, its cancellation was due to factors outside of ratings. In 2018 Fox struck a deal with the NFL to produce more of its content on the network, leaving little room for many Fox TV shows. Brooklyn Nine-Nine followed The Last Man On Earth, The Mick, Lucifer and The Exorcist as unworthy sacrifices to this new deal. Ownership issues might have also played a part in Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s untimely demise. Since Brooklyn Nine-Nine was from Universal television, Fox had to pay a licensing fee for the show, which might have further encouraged Fox to remove the cop comedy from its lineup.
Fortunately, fan outcry for the show was too loud to go unheard, and after 31 hours of its announced cancellation NBC picked up the show, giving it new life on its own network. “Ever since we sold this show to Fox I’ve regretted letting it get away, and it’s high time it came back to its rightful home,” Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment, said about the revival.
Now Brooklyn Nine-Nine has continued its victory lap all the way to an eighth season on NBC, a development that’s even sweeter given how close it was to the brink of death in 2018. Brooklyn Nine Nine has been a modest hit since then, puling in a 1.2 rating with 3.2 million viewers overall last season, which is an increase from the ratings it grew during its time on Fox. When including digital and delayed viewings, Brooklyn Nine Nine has drawn a 3.2 rating and over 6.4 million viewers. It was also last season’s most active comedy show on social media, earning 9 million interactions in total. Its recent successes on NBC, and its renewal of an eighth season, might prove once and for all that Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s darkest days might be behind it for good.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine was created by Mike Schur and Dan Goor, and stars Andy Samberg as a goofy but talented and effective cop who’s good at his job. The show’s one hour seventh season premiere will arrive on Thursday, February 6th, 2020 at 8 p.m, then will begin airing at 8:30 p.m on February 13th which will then be its regular schedule.