Andy Samberg reveals how 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' is moving ahead following BLM protests

The future of the fictional 99^th precinct is unclear as NBC series Brooklyn Nine-Nine continues to reevaluate itself following the global movement to end systemic racism. According to series producer and star Andy Samberg, everyone involved in the making of the show is taking a step back following the Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality to figure out the best way to proceed.“We're taking a step back, and the writers are all rethinking how we're going to move forward, as well as the cast," Samberg told People while promoting his new wedding comedy Palm Springs. "We're all in touch and kind of discussing how you make a comedy show about police right now, and if we can find a way of doing that that we all feel morally okay about. I know that we’ll figure it out, but it’s definitely a challenge, so we’ll see how it goes."In Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Samberg plays Det. Jake Peralta, a goofy officer who despite joking around on the job is actually pretty good at it. The diverse ensemble cast—which includes Andre Braugher, Terry Crews, Stephanie Beatriz, Melissa Fumero, Joe Lo Truglio and Chelsea Peretti—has been lauded by critics for its racial and queer representation. It's gained a reputation for its lovable characters who also tackle hard real-world issues. When the beloved series was cancelled on Fox in 2018, fans and celebrities like Lin-Manuel Miranda and Mark Hamill took to social media in droves to protest and NBC “saved” the series for its own network less than 30 hours later.“We really tried to push the envelope a bunch this season," showrunner Dan Goor told Variety at the time. "There were two factors. Mainly the year before we did the 'Moo Moo' episode in which Terry [Terry Crews] was racially profiled. That was a tonal shift for us and an experiment, and we were really happy with the way it turned out.”[video_embed id='1973107']RELATED: Michael B. Jordan wants Hollywood to 'commit to Black hiring' [/video_embed]“It opened us up to doing more of those sorts of episodes," Goor continued, "We’re committed to doing the same show we’ve been doing. I feel like season five was one of our most successful years creatively and we still want to find a way to do your standard issue Brooklyn Nine-Nine episodes where the squad is hanging out and solving crimes, but we want to do things like 'The Box' and challenging things like Rosa coming out or 'Moo Moo' too.”Goor, who is currently plotting season eight of the series, recently scrapped the first four episodes of the season in order to reimagine the show and potentially amplify the Black Lives Matter movement. The question remains how a show centered on a fun group of cops can exist in a world where police brutality is a constant topic of discussion, activists are calling for defunding police departments and "copaganda" is being criticized for its role in normalizing and glorifying dangerous police practices.“We’ve had a lot of somber talks about it and deep conversations and we hope through this we’re going to make something that will be truly groundbreaking this year. We have an opportunity and we plan to use it in the best way possible,” Terry Crews revealed in June.“They had four episodes all ready to go, and they just threw them in the trash. We have to start over. Right now, we don’t know which direction it’s going to go in.”

#JusticeForGeorgeFloyd https://t.co/mwCLtdpW0p pic.twitter.com/Z8HRCTvZD3

— Dan Goor (@djgoor) June 3, 2020

As the cast and crew figure out next steps (the show isn’t scheduled to return until 2021 at the earliest), they’re also doing their part to support the Black Lives Matter movement behind-the-scenes. In early June, Goor and the cast donated $100,000 to the National Bail Fund with a unified message. “[We] condemn the murder of George Floyd and support the many people who are protesting police brutality nationwide,” Goor tweeted. “We encourage you to look up your local bail fund: the National Bail Fund Network is an organization that can lead you to them. #blacklivesmatter.”[video_embed id='1990254']BEFORE YOU GO: Speak out about racism say Prince Harry, Meghan [/video_embed]