BWW Interviews: Andy Samberg On BROOKLYN NINE-NINE, Leaving SNL, Beef Jerky

Andy Samberg's new cop-comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine is the most buzzed about sitcom to hit the air this fall. The new ensemble comedy is about what happens when a talented, but carefree, detective (Jake Peralta, played by Samberg) and his diverse group of colleagues get a new captain (Ray Holt, played by Andre Braugher) with a lot to prove.

Heading into the series premiere on Tuesday, September 17th at 8:30/7:30c on FOX, Broadway World recently participated in a discussion with Samberg and the show's Emmy Award-winning writer/producers Dan Goor and Michael Schur ("Parks and Recreation").

What was it about the cops genre that you wanted to focus on for a sitcom?

M.S.: When Dan and I first started thinking of ideas for shows, we started talking about the idea of doing a cop comedy, and we pretty quickly realized that there hadn't been a half-hour cop comedy in a while, and that, in this day and age where there is 10 million shows about every genre, every setting, every location that is possibly imaginable by the human brain, that made it seem like kind of an exciting challenge. And we were both fans of BARNEY MILLER and we have fond memories of BARNEY MILLER, and just the more we talked about it, the more it seemed like something that, at least in the half hour network comedy world, was at least somewhat unexplored territory, I guess. As soon as we came to that conclusion and we started talking about it, we just liked the idea more and more and we kind of stuck with it.

Andy, what do you think about the cop genre? What was it that appealed to you?

A.S.: Well, I definitely was going to get to wear a cool leather jacket (see picture above), which was appealing, and honestly, I've always enjoyed cop comedies as well as cop dramas as well as cop films and T.V. I like the procedural aspect of it, and I also really like the work place aspect of it. When it comes to work place comedies there is really no one else I would want to work with than these dudes.

D.G.: We also really like the world because we thought it was a cool way to have interesting characters, both in the police department and in terms of the people that they interact with, so that it's an interesting subsection of humanity that cops get to deal with.

Each week does Andre Braugher get to ask, "What's wrong with you?" or a variation of that to Andy's character?

M.S.:Yes. The answer is yes. Most of the episodes involve Andy's character, Jake Peralta, doing something which requires Andre Braugher's character to say some version of, "What the hell is wrong with you?" That's a pretty constant theme. For example, right now, during this conference call Andy is eating a giant bag of beef jerky. I think if Captain Holt were here, he would be staring blank faced at Andy and saying, "What is wrong with you?"

A.S.: "Peralta, that's way too much sodium for you."

How much can you change Detective Peralta without sort of upsetting the balance between the two characters?

M.S.: Well, it's a good question. It's one we talk a lot about in the writing room, and I think that the central tension of the show comes from the fact that Jake doesn't really want to be changed that much, and Holt really wants to change him, and they butt heads a lot. That will be the dynamic that's set up in the pilot; Holt is a guy who wants to make the best precinct in Brooklyn. Jake is his most talented detective, but he also doesn't really do things the same way that Holt does, and that is a source of constant irritation and annoyance. Because as long as Jake is closing cases, which he does, because he is good, he has a leg to stand on in terms of the way he conducts himself. That dynamic is the central dynamic intention in the show.

Andy, how is working on Nine-Nine better and different than working on SNL?

M.S.: He can't answer you because his mouth is full of beef jerky. I'm not kidding.

A.S.: I wasn't expecting to be asked a question. It's better in that, for me anyway, it's much less stressful because the hardest part of SNL, was having to create something new every week. And with this I have, basically just scripts handed to me every week that are already great, and a bunch of jokes that are already written, which is the hardest part of comedy, in my opinion. So in that regard it's been a lot less stressful for me.

Certainly, the hardest part changing has been waking up early versus staying up incredibly late with SNL, which is much more my element, but I'm adjusting nicely. And I say that with full confidence knowing you can't see the other two's eyes rolling as I say it.

Is there any advice that someone at SNL gave you that you're using now for your new character in Nine-Nine.

A.S.: No, but I will say that I took a cue from Amy Poehler in terms of feeling confident about making this decision. Not just because she seg'd successfully out of the show into a show, but because she literally did it with the same guys.

Was "seg" short for segue?

A.S.: Seg was a shortening of the word Segway, yeah. And by that I meant, she rode a Segway out of 30 Rock, all the way to Los Angeles and onto PARKS AND REC. Stay tuned for the documentary.

Why is it so difficult to make a quality sitcom that doesn't just appeal to the lowest common denominator?

M.S.: Well, comedy is hard. As I think Henny Youngman once said, in general, but comedy pilots are almost impossible. It's really, really hard to make a good comedy pilot, and partly that is because characters aren't funny until you know who they are. And comedy pilots are trying in 20 minutes to introduce you to people, to explain who they are, where they are, what they are doing, what they like and don't like, what their motivations are, their dreams, their hopes, their desires, their fears, and then make a bunch of jokes about those things and it is just really hard.

And I think that over the last 30 years there's the story that emerges constantly which is, "Show X" was the lowest rated, lowest testing pilot in the history of the universe and then look it became an amazing show. And that is true of CHEERS and it's true of SEINFELD and it's true of THE OFFICE. I think that it's not at all surprising. It's because it's very, very hard to find people funny before you know who they are.

So I think that if you make a good pilot, it's because you have a good idea and you have a great cast and you have great directors and editors and you're able to capture a snapshot of hopefully what the show will be someday in an enticing way that has a bunch of good jokes in it. It's just a very difficult task.

I think our pilot wouldn't be nearly as good as it is if we hadn't gotten Andy and Andre Braugher and Terry Crews and Chelsea Peretti and Stephanie and Melissa and Joe. It's an amazing cast. And I think that the fact that the pilot reads as a quality product to you, if it does, is largely because of how good they are and how funny they are.

How do you maintain the momentum of having such a good pilot when other shows, sometimes start slow and gradually build?

M.S.: Cocaine. We do a lot of cocaine.

A.S.: You've given voice to my every anxiety.

M.S.: Well, you trust in the cast and you trust in the directors and you trust in the writing staff. If you worry about things like, "Are we maintaining our momentum?", then you are kind of dead, because the only thing that you can control as you go along in a TV show that requires possibly 22 or more episodes in a year, is "Is this one good?"

As long as you can say, "Alright, this one's good, move onto the next one," that's enough of your time to be taken up. And if you start worrying about anything else, any peripheral issue or sort of metaphysical issue about momentum or the zeitgeist or the nature of the shifting sands of comedy in the universe or something, you're just going to spiral until you collapse into a puddle.

A.S.: And, by the way, if we're lucky enough that everyone enjoys the pilot enough that we're worried about losing momentum from the pilot, we're in really great shape and we'll consider ourselves happy.

Andy, now that you've had some experience playing a police detective, if we were to drive you to a real cop shop or to a crime scene, gave you a prop gun, and a badge, how long do you suppose you could fake it without being found out as a fraud?

A.S.: Well, it depends on if it's an area near any college kids because that's who recognizes me the most from SNL. But assuming no one had ever seen me anywhere else.... I would say maybe 30 seconds. Not that I'm not taking (police research) seriously, but I don't want to belittle how much training and how much work actual police officers put in to get to a point where they really know what they're doing. I can pretend like I know how to fly a plane, but we wouldn't be in the air very long.

I'd like you to speak a moment about how you feel about your success starting from SNL, going into the movies, and now you're a lead character in a terrific sitcom. Tell me how that feels.

A.S.: It feels more and more impossible every time I do something new. When I was eight years old, I decided I wanted to do SNL and that was pretty much all I thought about until I was actually on it. So everything from the point I got to audition, really, has been icing. I'm incredibly grateful for it all and to be able to have done movies and to have done SNL and now this. It's so far beyond what I imagined happening for me. I thought that I would probably try and do standup for a while, unsuccessfully, and then get a different job and be sad. Yeah, it feels incredible. I feel incredibly lucky.

Is there any room for any spontaneity or any ad-libbing in the script?

A.S.: Absolutely, we try and do as many takes as it takes to get as-scripted exactly how we want it, and then we'll do multiple takes where were we just go for broke and try different stuff. There is always a writer on set and a director-producer on set and that week's director on set and the whole cast on set, many of whom are trained comedians and writers as well. So even if we're going off of a scene that's written, if we feel it's not totally clicking, we'll brain storm and come up will alt's and give ourselves as many choices in the editing room as possible.

D.G.: I just want to say, Andy frequently has the best joke in an episode. He will come up with it on the set. He's an incredibly funny performer and writer, and so, thank goodness there is a lot of spontaneity.

A.S.: Well, I am blushing, and eating beef jerky.

Is Captain Holt testing detective Peralta's ability to do his job or is he kind of jealous of how smart he is in solving the crimes, and will they ever be happy with each other?

A.S.: I don't think that he's testing his ability so much as his potential. He sees that Jake is a good detective with a lot of good instincts, but that he could be a really great one and a leader. And he's choosing to be lazy and selfish and play in his own lane, and he's challenging him to be more.

M.S.: When Dan and I first started conceiving of the character in the show, we had this character detail for Jake that he was the kind of kid in high school that bragged to his friends and would say, "I didn't even study for that test and I got a B." And the idea was that Holt comes along and says, "Hey, you should study and get an A." That was the essential dynamic of the two characters.

A.S.: Oh my God, I love that. I'm finding more and more parallels between Jake and I as the show goes on. He's based more on me than I realized.

We see some fun scenes in the pilot including Charles' head being stuffed into ice cream when they're trying to catch the Serbian thugs. What is it like shooting those type of scenes, and what were some of your favorite scenes or moments to shoot?

M.S.: Yeah. That was a really funny moment, and to Joe Lo Truglio's credit we were doing that scene and he was getting his face smashed in and he was like, "You should just throw me entirely into this gelato cabinet."

By the way, it wasn't gelato. It's like Crisco or something that's like food coloring and stuff cause the actual ice cream was melting so fast. So, he said to the guy playing Ratko, "Yeah, just pick me up and throw me entirely into this gelato cabinet."

The fun part of the pilot was we decided that the show, because it's a cop show and it's a pilot and needed to have some action, and the fun part was coming up with ways that we could shoot legitimate action sequences, even if they were brief, that also had some comedy in them. And shoving Joe Lo Truglio into a giant glass cabinet full of Crisco definitely qualified as one of the more enjoyable moments of the pilot. But, the whole thing was really fun.

Our directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, did a great job, and they're really, really funny guys and they added a lot of great stuff. The whole experience-pilot creation can be a very taxing and trying way to spend your time, but we really had a good experience. It was fun all the way through, which is always, I think, a good sign.

To post a comment, you must register and login.