Brooklyn Nine-Nine is almost like a what would happen if The Wire were pitched as a network show rather than HBO, where what started as a serious drama would slowly morph into a wacky comedy. In The Wire, Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West) has a hatred of authority which manifests itself in self destructive behavior like drinking, womanizing and taking a path of overall career destruction. Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) of Nine-Nine has a distaste for authority that manifests itself in wearing ties around his chest and adding glitter to his reports.
The whole time I was watching Nine-Nine I could see story elements used there — like Peralta arresting the son of a deputy police commissioner for vandalism, and the commissioner telling Peralta that Peralta’s career was in the commissioner’s hands, so let the kid go — being turned around on The Wire where it would be McNulty arresting the kid and it being the commissioner owing McNulty a huge favor to keep the whole thing quiet and it benefiting McNulty’s career.
