Dan Goor and Luke Del Tredici on character development and storytelling in Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Dan Goor and Luke Del Tredici discuss how they approach character development and storytelling on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and tease what to expect going into the next season.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is approaching its seventh season, and its hilarious storytelling style and beloved cast of characters are still bringing fans back to their television screens, eager to see what happens to the members of the 99th precinct next.

At San Diego Comic-Con last month, creator Dan Goor and Producer Luke Del Tredici discussed their thoughts on approaching the most important elements of each episode. With the show changing networks for its sixth season, viewers were concerned that it might see some changes going forward. Goor and Del Tredici denied that the shift had any effect on their storytelling methods, however, something that seems to be confirmed by their work.

“NBC has always produced the show,” Del Tredici said. “They bought the show knowing what it was, and they never wanted us to do anything different. And we didn’t feel at Fox that there was any pressure to make it a Fox show. We just have always made the show we wanted to make, and we continue to make the show we want to make.”

Del Tredici also admitted that they’ve been trying to branch out from their typical form of storytelling, shifting from episodes that tell multiple stories at once to episodes that focus on a singular plotline. He attributed this to being pressed for time, however, and not to the fact that the show is now airing on NBC.

The pair also talked about their approach to writing characters, addressing how they’ve managed to create such a wonderfully diverse cast that makes the series realistic and relatable.

“It started, I think, with the pilot,” Goor explained. “We chose the NYPD, and we chose Brooklyn, because the NYPD is 50 percent diverse. So, it felt like a very natural way in which to have a diverse workforce that didn’t feel in any way forced. And then Brooklyn itself is so interesting in terms of how every neighborhood, every block, can be a completely different and fully fleshed out community.”

Goor also added, “And then we also try not to make the elements of diversity the butt of the joke or the sort of mechanism of it. It’s a part of who you are. It’s not a part of what makes you funny.”

The pair also teased the upcoming seventh season, relaying that it’ll be “bigger, better, funnier, the best.” Their plan is to continue to challenge themselves to experiment with the formula for each episode, but they also have no desire to change the show in any real way. Goor even emphasized that they aren’t trying to “reinvent themselves.” And we can’t argue there; Brooklyn Nine-Nine isn’t broken, so why fix it?

“What we can tease is we’re gonna pick up where we left off with Captain Holt,” Goor told interviewers. “We’re gonna really try to pay off the cliffhanger we had. We’re excited to explore more of the Jake/Amy dynamics. We’re gonna bring back a lot of our favorites, who are also fan favorites. We’re hoping to have a Pimento episode. We’re hoping to have a Pontiac Bandit episode, obviously. We’re hoping to have Marc Evan Jackson.”

“I think our challenge is always to do things that we have never done, that the audience hasn’t seen from us, while also making sure it stays the same show,” Del Tredici added.

That same show is the one we know and love, and we can’t wait to see what the upcoming season brings to the table.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine has officially been confirmed for its seventh season, but the premiere date has yet to be announced. Make sure to check back on Culturess for news and updates about the show.