Andy Samberg has spent the last eight years playing Detective Jake Peralta in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and here is his favorite cold open the show has ever done. Since 2013, Brooklyn Nine-Nine has endeared itself to viewers with a combination of irreverent workplace comedy, the suspense of a police procedural, and pure heart, but one of its strongest traits is its bulletproof cold opens.
Similar to other NBC comedies like The Office or Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine wastes no time getting laughs in its cold opens. Since the cold opens often have nothing to do with the episode that follows, they’re fantastic opportunities to explore the unique quirks of the Nine-Nine’s personnel, able to get in, land a short, simple punchline, and get out before a smash cut to the show’s bombastic opening credits. Samberg’s favorite cold open may possibly be the shortest and simplest they’ve ever done.
In a 2018 interview with Vulture, Samberg named the cold open to Season 4, Episode 9’s “The Overmining” as his absolute favorite. In it, Jake arrives at the precinct in the morning and greets Boyle, who claims he was sick over the weekend, prompting a sympathetic apology from Peralta. Boyle then clarifies that he’d come down with a “big ol’ Dianne Wiest infection" after having watched Bullets Over Broadway on television. In classic Brooklyn Nine-Nine fashion, the two then spend 10 agonizing seconds locked in a staredown, with Jake stone-faced and Boyle barely able to contain himself after the pun. Boyle finally breaks with a shrill, “Like yeast!”, ending the scene.
As Samberg explains in the interview, the beauty of this cold open lies in its simplicity, admitting that the sheer length of the shot made him laugh on every take. One of the many tricks up Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s sleeve is its ability to commit to a bit for longer than most sitcoms would be comfortable with, and this scene is no exception. The entire cold open clocks in at a mere 26 seconds, but 10 of that is spent lingering on the expressions of Jake, originally known as JP, and Charles. What makes the camerawork even funnier is the subtle zooms on each successive shot, pulling in closer and closer on Jake’s irritation and Boyle’s excitement. Finally, a great cold open lives and dies on its timing, and the timing of the scene’s cut to the credits is impeccable; Boyle barely gets out his line, explaining the punchline of his terrible pun, before the loud opening note of the show’s theme song is heard.
All of these elements come together to create one of the best cold opens that Brooklyn Nine-Nine has done, so it makes perfect sense that it would be Andy Samberg’s favorite. With Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s eighth and final season premiering in August, there’s still time for plenty more iconic cold opens, and killer cameos like Sterling K Brown, before the precinct closes its doors for good.