Fun Fact: Binging is educational

This will sound like a blog post dedicated to how much I love Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Andy Samberg, and I guess it is but there’s more to it I promise.

After finishing my finals, I’ve been taking my time off to catch up with some of my friends and family, and TV series. During my years at uni I don’t really spend much time binging movies or series on Netflix. The whole binging era was at its height during high school. My excuse was that it was a waste of time and I don’t see any productive outcomes from watching them. So fast forward to now, in the past four weeks I’ve been binging Brooklyn Nine-Nine. I divided the amounts of episode I watch per night to a maximum of four to five episodes (it varies) because I did not want it to end so quickly. Yes, I was very late on the band-wagon but considering how I don’t really spend much time on Netflix let alone ever ‘chilling’ during most of my uni days, I should still be granted a label as a fan of the show. Right? Anyways now that I’ve finished the last episode of the fifth season and again very late on finding out that Fox cancelled the show and it had been resurrected by NBC for season six, I’m trying to find ways to cope with waiting for the new season next year. I’ve been re-watching all the highlights and every cast interviews on Youtube. While re-watching all of these, I’ve been researching more about the cast and crews of the show. (Honestly, did you know that Andre Braugher graduated from Stanford AND Juilliard? And that Andy Samberg, Melissa Fumero and Joe Lo Trugilo all went to NYU? I mean…)

Every night before bed I would crawl on the web to obsess over Andy Samberg, and the more I read, watch and listen to things about him I regret not knowing more about him sooner. (I didn’t even know he was the dude in the iconic ‘Dick In The Box’ vid – I was that ignorant). I not only obsess over his gorgeous smile or his skills in acting, I was obsessing most about his pursuit of success. I believe it’s fair to mention that Samberg has made his mark in the industry but the way he achieved it seemed like the perfect Hollywood fairytale, almost too serendipitous. Samberg rose to success alongside his friends Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer, whom he first met during junior high. After graduating from university, the three decided to commit on pursuing a career in comedy. They lived together in an apartment as they hustled for more gigs and opportunities to which the comedy trio created a group dubbed as ‘The Lonely Island’. The synergy of three friends with similar work ethics, values and sense of humor have resulted in a comedic empire. While each member had their own share of gigs, they always try to involve each other in it and still make time to work on projects together. All the members are consistent and committed with what they want to do, and they are as genuine, humble, hardworking and patient as hell.

Getting a career in the America’s entertainment industry is not easy and it is certainly not deemed as a ‘dumb’ career. It’s a competitive million-dollar industry that relies heavily on hustling and networks and networks and networks, and probably not so much on LinkedIn. Working in comedy especially is also difficult, and shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Lonely Island’s sketches and projects has successfully mastered the art of hilarity with the awareness of the current political and social situation by understanding the thin line that blurs a joke from either a satire or a racial slur.

All of this is why I believe binging a show can be worthy of your time. Because there is a reason to why shows like Game of Thrones or Brooklyn Nine-Nine have developed such a strong fan base. It’s because they talk about issues that we are facing everyday and they package it in dramatic or hilarious plots and characters. It’s because they leave us feeling good after watching the episodes that we end up reading more about them. It’s because we actually end up learning more than what the screen shows and that we appreciate the people who made these forms of entertainment. These shows have proven that you are able to use your talent and power for good purposes.