One of the funniest introductions in the history of the series
How many brilliant and cult scenes have been written, conceived at the last moment? On the corner of a table, like madness, without necessarily having much hope if it would be retained in the final cut? This is what happened for the series Brooklyn Nine-Nine, a crime comedy series that initially aired on Fox, then NBC and now Netflix. For this series, made up of 8 seasons and 153 episodes, grace has touched its authors several times, but above all for the introduction, the “cold open” of episode 17 of the fifth season.
This scene consists of a line of suspects at the police station. At first we don’t know why they are together – which is the flavor of the scene – but the witness explains that she heard what they were looking for singing”I want it like this” by the Backstreet Boys. Jake (Andy Samberg) then decides to have each of them sing, then all together. A fan of the song, he is delighted with the result, having completely forgotten it identification of the culprit. A hilarious and cult scene, considered by fans of Brooklyn Nine-Nine as the most important moment of the series.
The team of Brooklyn Nine-Nine tells behind the scenes
In a beautiful interview conducted by GQthe authors of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, accompanied by some actors from the scene in question, returned to his production. They say in particular that they didn’t think they could get the rights to the famous song. Executive producer Luke Del Tredici explained:
I remember it quite well. I was with Dan Goor and Jeff, we were finishing rewriting the episode and it was getting late. (…) We were really late, so Dan sent me to the writers to ask them to stop what they were doing and think of an opening sequence. (…) I had the idea that Jake was trying to blackmail a group of suspects for him. The basic idea was a Disney song, which was never going to happen. And then someone – I really wish I could remember who specifically – came up with the idea for the Backstreet Boys song.
The series’ co-producer, Justin Noble, goes on to say that they knew it was a lot of fun, but he thought “that they would never have had the right to do so. Making a channel pay for a song intended for a comedy series was unheard of. They were really stingy about it.”
Luca Del Tredici then continues by detailing the program. The sequence, written on a Tuesday evening, will be read with the actors of Brooklyn Nine-Nine the next day from 10.30am”A famous song can cost between $30,000 and $100,000. It may be more expensive if you change the text. We kind of told ourselves that Matt, the producer of the series, would do it if it was successful at the time of reading.. (…) It worked immediately. That was great.“
Convinced producers
At this point everyone is convinced that this scene needs to be produced. But the line producer, in charge of financing, tempers his enthusiasm by saying that he is not sure he has the funds to propose the “I want it like this” series. Screenwriter Jeff Topolski then explains in detail:
I spent a day looking for other songs, and all the royalty-free ones are old, outdated. It was like, “she’s riding down the mountain.” After that, the producers said, “Okay, we’ll find a solution.” It was a huge relief. Everything happened very quickly. We read the scene on a Wednesday and shot it the following Monday.
As for the filming, the actors present remember. Arriving an hour before filming starts, they don’t know each other and so spend 10 minutes harmonizing together. Adam Bucci, who plays suspect #1. 2, states that the director and producers told them:
“Okay, cut it, you sound too precise. That’s not the idea.” So I tried to lower the pitch, but the others continued to sing “in tune”. I later saw comments that said “#2 is ‘flat,'” and I was very offended. This is my chance to redeem myself, this interview.
Five years after its broadcast, the opening of this episode is considered a perfect comic moment, also because you don’t need to know the series to grasp all the humor. A great success and a television scene that has become legendary.
Source: Cine Serie
Ray Ortiz is a journalist at Gossipify, known for his coverage of trending news and current events. He is committed to providing readers with accurate and unbiased reporting, and is respected for his ability to keep readers informed on the latest news and issues.
