Acclaimed cop comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine has cancelled after five seasons by FOX, it was confirmed today.
It’s an especially painful cancellation for fans since it looked like the network had rescued the series from certain death. Ratings for its Tuesday episodes this year were low and where it didn’t have the luxury of being owned by FOX to fall back on, it seemed like it would be cut this year in favor of in-house productions. However, a move back to Sunday bumped Ghosted off the schedule and gave Brooklyn Nine-Nine the shot in the arm that it needed. Numbers went up and buzz remained high, but in the end, it wasn’t enough to get another season.
The likely culprit here is the pivot FOX is taking upon the impending Disney merger. They’ll be cutting their scripted presence in lieu of not having an attached studio to monetize content from, with their comedy presence next year likely consisting of animation and multi-cams. The (certain) pickup of Last Man Standing signals that the network isn’t content with producing well-liked single cams whose ratings power lies in non-linear, but in cancelling so much at once, they’re sending a bad signal to TV fans just as they’re transforming their brand.
The series finale of Brooklyn Nine-Nine is set to air Sunday, May 20th at 8:30 on FOX.
