Subject: The use of 60-90 second cold opens presents viewers with a funny, quick look at a few or the entire cast of characters.
POS: Encourages audiences to stay by giving them a laugh and then complete the episode, even if they are not familiar with the series.
Subject: The cold opens are typically gag/punch line style jokes that are the characters doing an exceptionally dramatic scene, while making a casual point about an important subject.
POS: The audience sees these specific characters of a variety of backgrounds give a light-hearted commentary that goes against societal expectations. ex, Gina explains she sees G-d when she is hit by a bus and describes G-d as “ethnically ambiguous”.
Subject: The emotional attachment to both these cold opens and the characters make them popular within the genre.
POS: This use of cold opens redefines network televisions use of their characters and time slots to keep audiences engaged within the first minute of each episode.
Question: How does Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s use of 60-90 second cold opens to engage audiences allow the writers to comment on society without distracting the audience from the enjoyability of the show?