Nearly five years have passed since Andy Samberg's Brooklyn Nine-Nine wrapped on NBC, but the beloved comedy never stays out of public consciousness for too long, and not just because of its availability with a Netflix subscription and Peacock subscription. The iconic "I Want It That Way" cold open from Season 5, in which Det. Peralta turns a suspect lineup into a boy band experience, still goes viral from time to time. Now, nearly a decade after the Backstreet Boys-inspired scene first aired, B99 writer Lang Fisher opened up about starting episodes on laughs.
The cold open in question popped back up on my X feed recently after the debut of the Backstreet Boys' Super Bowl commercial, with the T-Mobile version of "I Want It That Way" already accumulating more than 7 million views on YouTube alone. Whenever BSB go viral for something, it's all but guaranteed that the Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 5 clip will start circulating again. I spoke with Lang Fisher, who was a producer and writer across Seasons 4 - 6, at SCAD TVfest, and she weighed in on the cold open that just won't quit:
