“Brooklyn Nine-Nine” may explore the Me Too movement in an upcoming episode of the police sitcom.
Showrunner Dan Goor hinted at the possibility of a Me Too plot line during a panel at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour on Wednesday. Goor, along with cast members including Andy Samberg and Terry Crews, agreed that a storyline centering around sexual misconduct would fit with the NBC series’ trend of highlighting timely subjects.
“They are really hard to do, but we’re happy with the way they turn out,” Goor said, according to Deadline.
“The challenge is to stay true to the show and feel funny, but give a weight to the issue and explore it in a fair way,” he continued. “I can’t promise, but we’re really interested in trying to do a Me Too story.”
The comedy series was canceled in May after airing for five seasons on the Fox network. After an outcry from devoted fans, NBC picked up “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” for the show’s sixth season.
Samberg, who stars as Detective Jake Peralta, added that the show won’t run an episode with a Me Too storyline “unless we have the right take that does it justice.”
The Me Too movement has hit close to home for Crews, who plays Detective Sgt. Terry Jeffords. Last fall, Crews publicly accused Hollywood executive Adam Venit of groping him at a party in 2016.
During Wednesday’s panel, Crews reflected on his journey since going public with his story.
“I call it the ‘summer of freedom’ in that we can now tell our truth. These are lessons I learned while I was doing this show,” Crews said. “It’s about freedom and being able to tell your story.”
Crews added that he told his “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” castmates about the assault the day before he told his story publicly.
“One thing that influenced me was being here and feeling safe and having friends and family on this show that I felt secure enough that I could tell my truth and still go to work. And it made a difference,” he said. “Each and every person is standing up here right now because it gave me strength to do that ― along with all the women who came forward in the Me Too movement where I got all my strength from.”
Clarification: This article has been updated to include more information about the show’s move from Fox to NBC.