NBC Chief Admits They Stuffed Up By Not Taking ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ In 2013

The head of NBC Entertainment says his network was absolutely stoked to pick up the cancelled Brooklyn Nine-Nine from competitors Fox, as they’ve actually been tracking the show since its inception under the NBCUniversal umbrella.

On Sunday, NBC Entertainment chief Bob Greenblatt reminded The Hollywood Reporter that Brooklyn Nine-Nine was first created by Universal Television, an in-house development wing with ties to NBC.

However, NBC passed on the show, and Universal Television ended up selling the rights to Fox. Greenblatt said it’s a decision his network came to regret.

“We’ve been watching it closely ever since,” Greenblatt said.

“If I knew Andy Samberg was going to be cast, we would have never sold it to Fox. We thought it was a missed opportunity from the beginning.”

He also remarked on the show’s fit with NBC compared to other networks, which appear to be adopting more half-hour, multi-camera sitcoms to fill in the programming gaps.

NBC mended countless broken hearts over the weekend when it announced it will save the show, which had been cut loose by Fox after five seasons.

The shock cancellation also gave Brooklyn Nine-Nine unprecedented levels of attention, meaning NBC is probably feeling pretty bloody chuffed they managed to scoop up the beloved cop sitcom.

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