Rod Kimble can’t land a jump. He can’t hold his breath underwater without passing out. He can’t take a hit. He can’t even grow a mustache. But in 2007’sHot Rodstarring futureBrooklyn Nine-Ninelead Andy Samberg, Rod Kimble is the greatest stunt man alive. That he knows. ButHot Rod is more than disposable comedy. It was the beginning, at least for Andy Samberg, of creating comedy with an individuality rather than following a set pattern. An individuality that would inform the development, and success, ofBrooklyn Nine-Nine.
Hot Rodis considered a cult favorite, but after Andy Samberg and The Lonely Island’s continued success, it’s a pretty generally recognized property. However, without the success of Samberg/Island, the ridiculous butsweet story of an amateur stuntmantrying to win the respect of his step-father Frank and the heart of his childhood crush with his pals by his side probably would have been a mostly forgotten flick by “that one guy who was on SNL.” Rewritten and then released just as the digital age and all its influence was in its puberty,Hot Rodis a heartfelt meme that is both familiar in its story and fascinating in its execution.
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In the mid-2000s, there was one king of irreverent comedy: Will Ferrell. From back in 1998 withA Night at the Roxburywhich sawhis and Chris Kattan’s popular SNL sketch characters “The Roxbury Guys” in their own poorly received feature, Will Ferrell is synonymous with comedy films. Part of the mid-90s to mid-aughts “Frat Pack”, a group of high grossing male comedy actors which included Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Steve Carell, Jack Black, and Vince Vaughn among others, Will Ferrell would be featured or star in films such as 2003’sOld Schooland 2004’sAnchor Man: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.The success of these films would influence comedy for a decade, trading the traditional script structure for loose, loud, improv and favoring “masculine” themes and concepts like hot women who are terrible people and charming men who are selfish people. So when Pam Brady, who co-createdLady Dynamitein 2016 for Maria Bamford, first draftedHot Rod, it was for a specific actor. Will Ferrell.
But, due to scheduling conflicts,Will Ferrell wasn’t availableand for several yearsHot Rodlived in film purgatory under Paramount Pictures. Brady draftedHot Rodduring Will Ferrell’s SNL tenure of 1995 to his exit in 2002. In 2005 the digital comedy trio The Lonely Island would be hired to SNL with Andy Samberg coming on as a performer and Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone joining the writing staff.
This would become a huge change-over for SNL. 2005 was also the launch year for YouTube and The Lonely Island’s sketches of absurdist humor and beats, a much more “hip” look than SNL had experienced in awhile, would explode in popularity making them one of the first successful digital properties. In turn,Hot Rodwould be taken from the shelf and offered to The Lonely Island for a rewrite reflecting their humor style and become Andy Samberg’s first film and lead role.
While Lorne Michaels, raking in the benefits of the millions of views The Lonely Island was pulling in for SNL, sawHot Rodas “a different generation’s comedy” (and was right) Paramount was lacking that same confidence. Wanting to avoid Samberg doing a “Will Ferrell” impression, Paramount was a little nervous at the tricky summer filming schedule and that The Lonely Island’s comedy is, well, weird by production company standards.
There was a balance in the rewrite that had to be struck between The Lonely Island’s style (Samberg did major in experimental film in college after all) and maintaining accessibility by Paramount’s standards. The result was a comedy of slapstick humor and nods to thesensibilities of that “different generation”Lorne Michaels was talking about with an impressive cast.
Along with Samberg was other Lonely Island member Jorma Taccone as well as Sissy Spacek as Rod’s mom, Isla Fisher as Denise the childhood crush, andDeadwood’s Ian McShane as Rod’s step-father Frank.Hot Rodwas different and unpredictable for the time, not only for its early digital influences, but having heart in its irreverence. Earlier comedies in the same theme, a sports comedy or just dudes doing stuff, would easily point out who to laugh at. WithHot Rod,everyone’s the joke and everyone’s pretty cool about it.
And it bombed in the box office. The reviews? Mixed. Generally, it seemed that critics didn’t know what to make ofHot Rodbut unfavorable comparisons to Adam Sandler’s post-SNL feature comedy 1995’sBilly Madisonwere made, another comedy that was considered a cult-favorite that ended up influencing the style of the genre for the next decade. Andy Samberg would remain on SNL until his departure in 2012, the same year he’d land his next lead role in Adam Sandler’sThat’s My Boywhich was also a box office and critical bomb. But in 2013,Andy Samberg would pick up a TV rolethat would earn him a Golden Globe in 2014 for Best Actor in a Comedy Series. Detective Jake Peralta inBrooklyn Nine-Nine.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine,the former Fox now NBCcomedy series following a police department in the fictional 99 precinct of New York City has received accolades upon accolades since its premiere. Though cited for its inclusion of diverse characters and commentary on the good and the bad of law enforcement,Brooklyn Nine-Nineis also heralded for its smart, fast comedy. A season can feature an episode entirely focused on a Halloween scavenger hunt while another features a black officer falsely arrested while off-duty.
While not explicitly “weird,” the comedy style ofBrooklyn Nine-Ninecan be irreverent and typically never associated with a series focused on law enforcement. It’s a style that works, a style that Andy Samberg and The Lonely Island, were teasing as they worked outHot Rod,a style that would evolve on the internet before the internet became TV, a style that garneredBrooklyn Nine-Ninea strong audience even as the police faced controversy in the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.
So of courseit’s ending after its 8th seasonpremiering August 21st. Because it kind of has to. To continue a comedy focused on law enforcement but avoid over-glorifying nor avoiding the difficult topics is a feat. Too much when the risk is destroying the work that rallied audiences to the show in the first place. But it’s amazingBrooklyn Nine-Nineexisted at all and it probably wouldn’t have, at least not as it is, if three guys hadn’t rewritten a script to reflect what they thought was funny and not what everyone already knew would make people laugh.
WithoutHot Rod, there still probably would have been aBrooklyn Nine-Nine.But would anyone have wanted it?
