Brooklyn Nine-Nine Creator’s New Comedy Just Landed an Emmy Winner
Brooklyn Nine-Nine co-creator Dan Goor’s next NBC comedy just leveled up, adding Emmy winner Keith David to its growing ensemble as the untitled series builds buzz.
NBC is beefing up Dan Goor's new private-eye comedy. A few weeks after locking in Jake Johnson as the lead, the untitled series just added Emmy magnet Keith David as the boss. That is excellent, targeted casting.
The setup
The show is a single-camera workplace comedy set in Los Angeles and built around a private investigation outfit. Johnson plays Mickey Wilder, an ex-LAPD cop who ditches the badge and moves into the PI world.
Keith David enters, as the guy in charge
David will play Garner Taggart, Mickey's boss and the head of the Garner Taggart PI Agency. On the job, the primary investigators are Mickey and Taggart's son, Mitch. Taggart himself is very old-school and tough, with a worldview parked a few decades back — which sounds like rocket fuel for the tone this team usually loves.
The team behind the curtain
Goor is developing the series for NBC with longtime collaborator Luke Del Tredici. Akiva Schaffer — the filmmaker behind the Liam Neeson-led The Naked Gun — is directing the pilot and will also executive produce. Goor and Del Tredici are writing and executive producing as well. Universal Television is the studio.
Why this casting clicks
David is one of those ringers who can pivot from gravitas to absurdity without breaking a sweat. He has three Emmys on the shelf for narration and voice work tied to projects about Jackie Robinson, The War, and Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson. Recent voice gigs include Hazbin Hotel and Rick and Morty. On the live-action side, the 69-year-old has a wall-to-wall resume: The Thing, Armageddon, Requiem for a Dream, Pitch Black, Crash, The Nice Guys, and a lot more.
- Network and studio: NBC, Universal Television
- Format and setting: Single-camera workplace comedy, Los Angeles
- Premise: A private investigation agency navigating cases and clashing personalities
- Lead: Jake Johnson as Mickey Wilder, an ex-LAPD cop turned PI
- New addition: Keith David as Garner Taggart, the agency's old-school chief
- Agency lineup: Primary investigators are Mickey and Taggart's son, Mitch
- Creative team: Dan Goor and Luke Del Tredici (writers/EPs); Akiva Schaffer (pilot director/EP)