Brooklyn Nine-Nine Cold Opens

 Posted by on Tue, 2/5 at 8:20pm  underappreciated heuristic #1  Add comments
Feb 052019
 
  1. Identify your tentative “underappreciated” genre (or subgenre)

Brooklyn 99 Opening Scenes

  1. What is interesting to you about this genre? Or, why might it be significant or otherwise worth paying attention to?

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a diverse comedy that provides relevant, insightful, and hilarious interactions between its characters.

  1. Tentatively, define/describe your corpus (collection of texts/examples)

A Television show containing well-delivered interactions between a diverse cast of New York’s “finest”

  1. Provide links (and/or titles) of five samples. (Try to gather samples from more than one “place” [or type] in order to obtain a diverse and accurate representation of the genre. For now, choose samples without significant deviations).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upEvNeTvtF8

https://www.vulture.com/2018/05/brooklyn-nine-nine-cast-choose-their-favorite-cold-opens.html

https://www.buzzfeed.com/noradominick/brooklyn-nine-nine-cold-opens-funnier-hundreth-time

https://www.buzzfeed.com/astrolexi/which-brooklyn-nine-nine-cold-open-matches-your-pe-1sq19

https://www.reddit.com/r/brooklynninenine/comments/6hjf8i/list_of_cold_opens/

 

 

Describe the Context

  1. Setting: Where (in what context or medium) does the genre appear? How and when is it used? With what other genres does this genre interact? How?

Appears on Network television as a way to deliver niche comedy. It is used as both entertainment and to provide representation to communities that are under-represented in the typical media.

  1. Subject: What topics, issues, ideas, etc. are common to this genre? When people use this genre, what are they communicating about?

When people use this genre, they are typically looking to entertain a wide variety of viewers.

Shows that fall into this genre are using their platform to create open dialogue between characters about issues that are not typically covered in mainstream media outlets, while keeping the tone lighthearted. Issues taken up in Brooklyn 99 include: toxic masculinity, bisexual erasure, racism, transphobia, homophobia, and sexism.

  1. Writers: Who writes the texts in this genre? Are multiple writers possible? What roles do they perform? What characteristics must writers of this genre possess? Under what circumstances do writers write the genre (e.g., in teams, on a computer, in a rush, for their profession? for fun?)?

There are multiple writers for this genre, they play a key role in how the characters and story will be affected with each episode.

This genre can take the life of numerous circumstances, mostly on a computer, in teams, and not typically a rushed writing event.

These writers do this as a profession but I would imagine that they selected it as a profession due to how fun it can be when it is succeeding.

  1. Readers: Who reads the texts in this genre? Is there more than one type of reader for this genre? What roles do they perform? What characteristics must readers of this genre possess? Under what circumstances do readers read the genre (e.g., at their leisure, on the run, in waiting rooms)?

There is a diverse audience for this genre as it has a far-reaching audience on Network television.

Readers of this genre enjoy single-camera comedies like Parks and Recreation and The Office and is typically enjoyed in their leisure time or in weekend long binging sessions.

  1. Exigency/Purpose(s): Why do writers write this genre, and why do readers read it? What purposes does the genre fulfill for the people who use it?

Writers write this genre and readers consume it both for the use of entertainment and for the messages of inclusivity that are sprinkled throughout the series. This genre is providing its readers with feeling important, validated, and most importantly, seen as a member of everyday life.

  4 Responses to “Brooklyn Nine-Nine Cold Opens”

  1. Daniel says:
    Wed, 2/6 at 1:40am

    I am very interested with your topic because there are many avenues you could pursue. A genre providing its readers with “feeling important, validated, and most importantly, seen as a member of everyday life” through comedy is a great way to unite an audience to feel like ” we are all together”. I would suggest focusing on how these groups are tied together as one and how effective these tv show cold opens are at uniting people. Reddit would be a perfect way to research these get together.

  2. Gabriel says:
    Wed, 2/6 at 2:16am

    Cold opens are also very useful in setting the tone or major themes for the episode ahead. I’d be interested in seeing how the cold opens connect to the A or B plots and whether the values they promote with comedy are carried over into the rest of the episode. I’ve seen a few episodes of this show and it does brush on some very important topics in a very accessible way. And cold opens are the epitome of that same principle because they accomplish it in very little time, and with no context.

  3. Logan says:
    Wed, 2/6 at 4:45am

    I love Brooklyn Nine-nine, I would love to read a paper on this. Providing a cold open view of this show would be very interesting, and pinpointing how this effected the target audience. What makes a show successful? What is strived for in order to keep watchers of the show entertained?

  4. Dr. Mason says:
    Sun, 2/10 at 10:26am
    What is interesting … why might it be significant or otherwise worth paying attention to?:
    Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a diverse comedy that provides relevant, insightful, and hilarious interactions between its characters.

    Oh! I actually have a little experience with this television show—my son likes it, so I’ve watched a bunch of episodes on Hulu. 🙂

    So, a few things flying around in my head:

    About Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s Diversity / Issues

    The diversity you identified is a big part of why Brooklyn Nine-Nine is thought to be such a fan favorite (so much a fan favorite that there was an active campaign to save the show after it was cancelled by Fox… I’m sure that campaign was part of NBC’s decision to pick it up). That diversity (and the issues surrounding diversity (racism, sexism, homophobia, police violence, coming out, etc.) are a big part of what critics love about it.

    About Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s Cold Opens
    • Only a few (or some) sitcoms have cold opens (certainly not all of them), and I think Brooklyn Nine-Nine‘s cold opens are somewhat unique in that they don’t usually have anything to do with the plot of the episode that follows.
    • Found a list of Nine-Nine’s cold opens with short descriptions on reddit, if it’s helpful.
    • They’re also somewhat unique from other current/recent sitcoms because they’re a huge part of what people enjoy about the show. There are bunches of Best/Favoritee Nine-Nine Cold Opens lists out there, like on Buzzfeed, TV Overmind, Vulture, and Twitter.
    • Also, if my memory (and limited experience) is correct, Nine-Nine‘s cold opens are always funny (a quick set-up and punchline style joke). Because they have nothing to do with the plot of the episode, they don’t serve the purpose of previewing what’s to come to the audience (they aren’t like most plot teasers).
    • But…. because they’re always jokes, they do prime the audience for comedy. So I guess their primary purpose is to be jokes? (This strikes me as important because network half-hour sitcoms only have 22 minutes to play with—I imagine every second is precious—so it says something that the writers/producers/showrunner is willing to give up 30–90 seconds for something that doesn’t contribute to the plot).