Andre Braugher Hopes That ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ Tells The Kind Of Stories That Are Seen On ‘Grittier Shows’

Brooklyn Nine-Nine will address the nationwide protests against police brutality in season eight rather than stick to the Copaganda “fantasy” that has previously guided the comedy. Scripts were re-written, the goofball tone has shifted, and while star Andre Braugher admits that B99 could “fall flat on [its] face” in going from Halloween pranks to tackling systemic racism and police misconduct, he’s optimistic about the new season.

“Can a comedy sustain the things that we’re trying to talk about? I don’t know. It could be a really groundbreaking season that we’re all going to be very, very proud of, or we’re going to fall flat on our face,” the two-time Emmy winner, who plays Raymond “Hot Damn” Holt, told Variety. “But I think this is a staff, a cast, and a crew that’s willing to take it on and give it our best. I think we have a damn good chance to tell the kinds of stories that heretofore have only been seen on grittier shows.”

Braugher isn’t sure how season eight will depict Holt, who could be “a staunch defender of the NYPD, or he [might try] to burn the whole thing down.” But the actor assures that he’s still a “loving, robotic person. I’m anxious to see what that’s all about, and I have no idea what season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine is going to be, because everything’s changed.”

We’ll find out when Brooklyn Nine-Nine returns in 2021.