Samberg on ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ return, and why ‘Popstar’ bombed Patrick Ryan
Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s midseason finale ended with a splat.
Gina (Chelsea Peretti), the police precinct’s egotistic civilian administrator, got hit by a bus in the final moments of the episode, with her fate left up in the air as the fourth-season sitcom returns to Fox Tuesday (8 ET/PT). “Gina’s a very strong character, and you certainly don’t expect anything like that to happen on a show like ours,” says star Andy Samberg, who plays goofy detective Jake Peralta. “It definitely seemed unexpected and funny.”
Away from Brooklyn, Samberg was on the big screen last year in music mockumentary Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. The outrageous R-rated film was embraced by critics but tanked at the box office, earning just $9.6 million.
Q How do you feel the show has evolved since its first season?
A Getting to know the characters more, you get to know (their) backstories and the inner workings of their lives, and that allows it to (have) more depth and more layers. We definitely have gotten more joke-dense as well. The editing is pretty snappy and we try to pack a lot in there. It’s a half-hour sitcom, so it’s always a struggle to find a balance ( between story and jokes).
Q In an upcoming episode (airing May 2), Terry (Terry Crews) is racially profiled by a white police officer. How do you approach a heavier topic like that?
A Well, you’d have to get the real answer from (co-creator) Dan Goor. I encouraged him and the writers to go for it when he brought it up to me, because with everything that’s going on and the subject matter of our show, it seemed like it was something that we could easily address. But I loved how it turned out. I don’t think we sacrificed humor.
Q Like Hot Rod and MacGruber ( both, like Popstar, were created by members of The Lonely Island and box-office bombs), have you seen Popstar build a fan base through rentals and on demand?
A Yes, it definitely feels similar to those other two, in that it didn’t come out the way we were hoping in terms of the theater launch. But already, the word of mouth on it has been wonderful. I’ve noticed, which is the ultimate dream, that other people who work in comedy have gone out of their way to tell us that they like it. I did something with J.J. Abrams the other week and he said he’s been watching it a ton with his son. That was awesome. I also bumped into Tony Hawk and he told me the same thing. I was like, “Well, those two alone — it was worth making it.” Those are just two heroes, straight up. Those are the kinds of things you love taking back to the guys, Akiva (Schaffer) and Jorma (Taccone). “Hey, guess who likes Popstar?”
Q Why do you think these movies have gotten more attention after their release?
A I think some of it is when you put them out; some of it is the way they’re represented in the PR stuff; some of it is just luck; some of it is it’s just not the kind of thing people want to go to the theater for, for whatever reason. This time, I feel we got really good reviews, which was unexpected, because we thought we were making such a silly comedy. It felt nice. ... So I really couldn’t say. If I knew the answer, I would have put out movies that made more money.