Double Feature: Derek & Brooklyn Nine Nine

I got to be honest: I had zero interest in this show.  The pictures of Ricky Gervais as Derek on Netflix certainly didn't help at all.  An IMDB rating of 7.5 - which is by no means a good source of the quality of a television show (it has since improved) - confirmed my suspicions in my mind that the show wasn't that great.

Then on twitter MLB pitcher Brandon McCarthy threw his full fledged recommendation for the show.  I looked at the show a little more closely and realized it was seven episodes and had the length of a 30 minute show.  So why not try it because it's little time commitment?

Needless to say, I don't agree with Brandon McCarthy.  It's not exactly a bad show.  I commend it for being different than just about anything else.  The thing about being different though is that it doesn't always work.  I don't really think this show works for me.

There are genuinely moments in the series where it's fantastic.  Those moments aren't common enough to overcome my problems with the series.  Just to be clear, Ricky Gervais plays Derek genuinely and in an inoffensive way in my opinion.  Derek is ambiguously assumed to be autistic, but we don't really know.  So Gervais the actor isn't the problem.

Its shot in documentary style made famous by The Office.  This is one of the problems with the show.  There's little reason for it to be shot this way.  I frequently wondered how they got certain camera angles which was distracting.  Also, it's not really used in any sort of positive way on the show.  I didn't see any benefit to it, maybe other than it appears more realistic.

The show frequently repeats itself, which gets irritating.  For instance, we're reminded 1many, many times about how great of a guy Derek is and selfless he is.  It does this a lot whether by side character or something Derek says.

The home is run by Hannah, played by Kerry Godliman.  She's sympathetic enough and interesting.  Then there's Dougie, played by Karl Pilkington, who is funny due to his general outlook on life.  Then there's Kev, who as worthless as characters come.  He doesn't go to the home, he doesn't work there, but apparently he goes there and gets drunk and makes rude remarks referencing sex.  His appearance makes no sense on the show.  His scenes are too hit-or-miss comedy-wise as well.

I've watched three episodes and while I'm sure it has some of the better ones later in the season, I don't have much desire to watch them right now.  It's a different series that aims high and unfortunately seems to miss a lot.

Brooklyn Nine Nine 

I heard a lot of positive buzz about this show before watching the premiere which caused me to watch it at least partially.  But it exceeded those expectations that had been created by that buzz.  It's pretty funny.

I suppose this show is long overdue.  Cops shows have existed for a long time and it's long since become a tired genre.  But I don't remember a time when a comedy about cops was pitched mostly because the source material wouldn't lend it self to comedy.  Or so it seemed.

Andy Samberg, who plays detective Jake Peralta, is the star of the ads, but I think this show is more of an ensemble after watching it.  At least so far, none of the characters seem like deadweight.  This is kind of what happens when you put a bunch of funny people in a show with good material.

Andre Braugher, formerly of The Wire, is hilarious in his deadpan serious response to anything that would make a normal person laugh.  Melissa Fumero plays Jake's partner and she creates an interesting character I want to find out more about in the coming episodes.  Their banter, I presume, will be an ongoing source of humor.

Filling out the rest of the roster is Jo Lo Truglio (Superbad), Stephanie Beatriz (I assume this will be her breakout role should this show succeed), Chelsea Peretti (who you'll recognize despite not knowing why), and Terry Crews.  All of them have something that makes them stick out, which hopefully will get expounded upon in later episodes.  I also wonder how they'll treat the more serious aspects of police work, which they understandably avoided in this episode.

Overall, the pilot was very good filled with humor throughout the episode.  I'll be watching the show for the rest of the year and assume it will be one of the best comedies this fall.  (Also, Michael Schur is in some way involved with this show as he co-wrote the pilot but I'm not sure how so talented people are in this show both behind and in front of the camera)