Brooklyn Nine-Nine might be the most slept-on comedy of the last few seasons, but for the life of us we can't figure out why. The workplace sitcom set in the NYPD's 99th precinct sprung from the same family tree as Parks and Recreation and burst onto the TV landscape primed for the same level of critical and commercial success. Yet here we are at the end of Season 5 facing a potential early demise for one of the most fearless and surprising sitcoms of the last decade. As we inch closer to hearing the fate of one of our favorite shows, let's take a walk down memory lane to see why Brooklyn Nine-Nine deserves not just one more season, but as many as it has stories to tell.

17 Bubble Shows: Which Will Survive?

1. Brooklyn Nine-Nine proved there can be more than one latinx in the room. Stephanie Beatriz (Rosa) and Melissa Fumero (Amy) have both spoken extensively about their casting stories and how they both assumed showrunner Dan Goor would likely only cast one latinx. To their surprise, they both wound up with roles on the show that showed of a range of latinx identities.

2. And speaking of range, the show also inverted harmful Hollywood stereotypes of black men by creating the gentle marshmallow that is Terry (Terry Crews). Seriously, this man once got upset because he was late to the farmers market, and lives to do his daughters' hair because, "their little heads are so cute."

3. The male friendships are unlike anything on TV. Just thinking about Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) and Charles Boyle's (Joe Lo Truglio) friendship brings a tear to my eye. What started out at first as Boyle's obsession with the coolest detective around flourished into a deep bromance that frequently involves capers, solving crimes, and learning how to pronounce Nikolaj correctly. Name a better best friend duo, I'll wait.

Photo: EDDY CHEN/FOX



4. Same with the female friendships. Three vastly different women — Amy, Rosa and Gina (Chelsea Peretti) — frequently band together in the most surprising of circumstances to solve the worst that life throws at them. Six-drink-Amy might have been the worst of it, but regardless, if there's anything the women of the Nine-Nine don't tolerate, it's anyone cutting up on their family. (That's their job, after all.)

5. Which brings us to our beloved Captain Holt (Andre Braugher). This man is an Emmy winner — for another cop show, Homicide: Life On The Street, no less! As the inscrutable Captain Holt, Braugher commands every scene he's in and reminds us what a gift that is. After all, not all dramatic legends have an inner comedy god waiting to be unleashed.

6. Did we mention that this sitcom is one of the few where your ship getting together doesn't ruin the flow of the show? Brooklyn Nine-Nine pulled off the impossible when, after years of pining for each other, Jake and Amy finally got together and didn't make it weird in the workplace. Even now as they head into planning a wedding together, fans are eager to watch their bumbling mishaps because not even age could cut the sweetness out of this relationship.

7. But Brooklyn Nine-Nine also loooooooves an independent woman. Gina Linetti, office scamp, former lover of Boyle, and current single mom is out here crushing every day. And frankly we need to see the return of her dance group Floorgasm before the show comes to an end.

8. Scully and Hitchcock are terrible, ignore them. But the rest of these beloved misfits, I'd watch every day for the rest of my life. TL;DR: Brooklyn Nine-Nine needs at least one more season, and hopefully many more after that.

Brooklyn Nine-Nineairs Sundays at 9/8c on FOX.