Last week, for just over a day, it appeared that fans would have to bid farewell to Brooklyn Nine-Nine — but the period of mourning was promptly cut short when NBC rescued the acclaimed cop comedy, picking it up for a sixth season.
Speaking to PEOPLE at a Deadpool fan event in New York City on Monday, actor Terry Crews opened up about the roller coaster of emotions felt by the cast in the span of just 30 or so hours.
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“It was like horror meets comedy meets twisted science fiction,” said Crews, recalling the whirlwind that followed after Fox canceled the Andy Samberg-led series on Thursday. “No one knew what was happening. I was working on another show and I got the email that we were canceled. It’s a surreal experience because every show is like a human being — it has its own personality, and when it’s canceled it’s a death. There is mourning.”
“And Brooklyn — these guys are my second family, we love each other,” he continued. “We all talk in a What’s App group, so we were all talking like, ‘I love you guys,’ ‘If I never see you again…’ There were a lot of tears, I’ll be honest, lots of tears. What can you say? It’s like, my God, this was five years of my life. I spent more time with these guys than I did with my own family. And then you hear, ‘Oh, we might get picked up by Hulu.’ And then it failed, Hulu passed.”
Crews, 49, said he could hardly believe the outpouring of fan support on Twitter.
“The internet was freaking out,” he said. “That is what shocked us. If no one said anything, it would have just been like, it’s over. But we were no. 1 trending worldwide. People wanted the show back. And then Mark Hamill went off, Lin-Manuel Miranda went off, Guillermo Del Toro went off. They were like, ‘What are you doing?!’ It made us feel so good that at least if we don’t come back, we have the love of the world. And then NBC comes through, freaking 30 hours later. … We went out of the frying pan into heaven. Not fire, because this is the better situation. NBC already owned us, so it makes it better. And we can fit right in with their sitcoms!”
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“I was emotionally drained — I’m still emotionally drained,” said Crews. “I’m running on adrenaline, a little bit of caffeine right now. I’m gonna take the biggest nap you’ve ever seen when all this is over!”
“I tell everybody, I feel like I’m one of Madonna‘s kids — you’re just like, ‘Pick me! Pick me, please!’ And Madonna’s like, ‘Well, uh, YOU!’ And your life is changed forever because you weren’t going to live that good before that. I’m just telling you, I’m like Madonna’s kid, and she’s a good mommy. And I’m going to live a great life now!”
Brooklyn Nine-Nine premiered on Fox in September 2013. The ensemble comedy, about a group of NYPD cops and detectives at Brooklyn’s 99th Precinct, celebrated its 100th episode earlier this season.
