TV cancellations suck. Even the least watched network shows usually have a million viewers or more in the U.S. and when those shows get shoved down the garbage disposal, that means there are at least a few fans out there who loved the show, and more that were probably at least casually invested. The longer a show is on, the more fans have latched onto and begun to love a show and its characters, which is why the cancellation of Brooklyn Nine-Nine earlier this week at the end of its fifth season was so devastating. Not just to us, but to celebrities like Mark Hamill, too, and now Brooklyn Nine-Nine cast member Terry Crews is thanking him for saving the show, which was recently revealed to be saved from cancellation and heading to NBC. Per Crews:
If you've ever paid attention to Mark Hamill's social media, you should know that he has a huge fanbase. Apparently, he is also a big fan of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and he has tweeted about the show prior to its cancellation, including congratulating the cast when the former Fox show hit 100 episodes earlier this year. As a fan of the series, Mark Hamill was just as devastated as the average home viewer when the show was cancelled, and he took Fox to task for the action, heading to Twitter to note,
While critically acclaimed, Brooklyn Nine-Nine was never a huge ratings bringer over at Fox, which is one of the reasons its cancellation was not a huge surprise. (Another reason being that it had hit the 100 episode mark needed for syndication.) However, the show already has a second life on streaming via Hulu, and while the streaming service didn't end up picking up the series, the fact that NBC might want to lengthen the life of an NBC Universal-owned show isn't really all that surprising. If Brooklyn Nine-Nine has a large streaming fanbase, that might have been reason enough to keep the show around for another set of episodes.
At the end of the day, we may never know whether Mark Hamill really made a huge impact on NBC's decisions-- although he's responded to Terry Crews' message to say he's happy to take "full credit." However, we do know that Brooklyn Nine-Nine was trending heavily following its initial cancellation, and I'm sure the 37K likes and 10.5K retweets on Hamill's post really helped. (As well as maybe gave some people flashbacks to Fox cancelling such gems as Firefly and Arrested Development.) Perhaps it even means the series will work to get the famous Star Wars actor on for a cameo or role next year? B-99 has had some famous guest stars in the past, after all...
If you'd like to remember some other shows Fox should probably be embarrassed about cancelling, we have you covered. In the meantime, look for new episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine over at its new NBC home during the 2018-2019 TV season.
