Top 20 Funniest Brooklyn Nine-Nine Running Gags

The detectives at the 99th precinct investigate a lot of sticky situations, many of which require going undercover. Jake Peralta especially loves creating elaborate backstories for his undercover identities. In fact, we’ve done a list of the best ones on our main channel - check it out! It takes skill to pretend to be someone pretending to be someone else, and the actors on the show pull it off well. Individually, each of these personas are hilarious, but collectively they make for highly entertaining recurring situations throughout the show.

Rosa Diaz is an enigma, wrapped in a mystery, buried under a deep-sea trench. The woman is impossible to read, and her personal life and past are so full of question marks she deserves to wear Amy’s question mark crown all the time! Rosa is willfully mysterious, keeping things like her own address a secret from her own family members. Her secretive nature leads to even greater humor whenever we do get any insight into her life, particularly if it clashes with her usual tough image. We’d love to go on, but we’re afraid she might hunt us down and rip our faces off.

Charles Boyle and Jake Peralta are the best of friends, and while their bromance is endlessly entertaining, an even better running gag is the degree of affection that the former has for the latter. Boyle takes his friendship with Peralta a little too far sometimes. While being devoted to a friend is admirable, Charles takes an unhealthy degree of interest in Jake’s personal life, and practically worships him most of the time. Although it may not be the best for Charles personally, we certainly benefit from it, since it leads to a lot of great comedy.

Captain Raymond Holt’s adorable dog Cheddar brings joy and laughter whenever he’s on screen, but his relationship with his “papa” is one of the funniest parts of his presence on the show. Holt frequently talks to Cheddar like the pooch is a person. While this is fairly common among pet owners, the fact that it’s the incredibly straight-faced Captain Holt who does it, takes this ordinary idea and makes it comedy gold... and surprisingly cute to boot. And if your own dog likes this gag, they can notify us in the comments – via bark. “Notify me when you’re done – via bark.”

Charles Boyle is a lot of things, but shy isn’t one of them. The man frequently brings up topics relating to, let’s say, “romantic liaisons” at very inappropriate times. Despite this, he also manages to deliver double entendres at a high frequency too, usually referring to non-sexual subjects in some way that’s uncomfortably sexual. However, Boyle seems blissfully unaware of his tendency to deliver gross metaphors. From a sleazier character, these would certainly not be as amusing, but from Charles they’re almost endearing. The guy is just so earnest that it’s hard to be mad at him. Even if he did give the whole precinct “STDs.”

There’s no love lost between these two. Holt and Wuntch go way back, and used to get along until Wuntch allegedly sabotaged Holt’s shot at a promotion. Even though The War On Wuntch persisted through seasons two and three, the shade thrown between both characters is iconic and among the most frequently quoted by fans of the show. It’s also fun to see that no one can get a rise out of Holt like Madeline Wuntch; even when others tell Holt to take the high road, he just can’t resist. Hopefully Wuntch makes a comeback soon, because we can’t get enough of the barbs and pettiness sparked by this feud.

To quote the flawless Gina Linetti, “Dance. Dance. DANNNCCCE!” Aside from her merciless jabs, insightful observations and obsession with her phone and social media, dancing is a big part of Gina’s life. We wish we had her confidence to dance without shame, especially around coworkers. You’d think that she’d be too busy to bust moves because of her job, but this is Gina we’re talking about. She always manages to slip away; whether it’s to test the acoustics in the men’s bathroom, practice her routine in the evidence room, or get up to some other mischief. One thing is guaranteed, though: no matter what, Gina is always up for some dancing.

There’s always that one coworker that professes to be a foodie, but Charles Boyle brings it to another level. His expansive knowledge makes him useful with restaurant suggestions and solving problems when the 99 is in a bind, like when his sensitive palate helped crack the arson case of Sal’s pizzeria. With such great knowledge comes a downside, however, as Boyle’s unsolicited weekly email blasts of various eateries and questionable culinary explorations have grossed out colleagues and led to food poisoning, among other unpleasant side effects.

Meep, morp! Word of advice, if you’re going to make fun of someone from work, make sure they’re not around to see it. Jake’s “robot captain” backfires when Holt overhears and embarrasses him, stating that his impression needs work. Nevertheless, Jake continues to challenge Holt throughout the series, poking fun at the captain’s lack of emotion and absolute adherence to rules. Yet under that expressionless exterior, Holt is in fact a person with flaws and feelings…he’s just quite formal to the point that Twitter mistakes his account for a bot.

Seriously, how are Hitchcock and Scully still on the force? While we could pinpoint specific shenanigans like Hitchcock always finding a reason to go shirtless, these two veteran detectives are basically living, and slightly out of breath, running gags. Though considered the weakest links of the precinct because of how clueless they can be, in more recent seasons they have had their shining moments, helping the team out in startling ways. They might be the most senior members of the 99, but their slapstick gags never get old.

The high-achieving Amy Santiago is also a little high-strung most of the time. But, like most people, she loosens up after drinking. With Santiago, it’s to the degree that her personality changes in oddly predictable ways after a certain number of drinks, such as dancing constantly after 3 drinks, or becoming aroused after 4. While it was a major gag in the episode it was introduced in, the scale has been referenced multiple times after it was introduced. For instance, Amy deliberately orders 4 drinks on her first date with Jake. We’ve also learned that Amy believes she can ride a horse and speak French at 8 and 9 drinks, respectively. Will we see what 10-drink Amy does by the end of the series?

Say what you will about Boyle, but the guy is confident in himself. A little too confident, actually. There’s a running gag that Charles thinks he’s better at things than Terry is. Despite being much smaller and less coordinated than the muscular sergeant, Boyle often tries to prove he can outbox Terry or perform other physical feats Terry can. He even believes he’s better-looking than Terry is. Everyone has their own type, but come on Boyle: Terry’s a specimen! Of course, Charles’ false confidence makes those moments when he does prove himself Terry’s superior even funnier.

“Cool” is a cool word to say. It never really goes out of style. However, Jake Peralta’s use of it tends to be less conventional. Whenever something upsetting occurs, Jake will often repeat the word “cool” rapidly. In addition to sounding like a pigeon learned how to speak, this gag is one of the most fun to use in real life. Other members of the squad have picked it up too, even Captain Holt. It’s perfect for any unfortunate situation, like having an argument with your friend, or being sentenced to prison for a crime you didn’t commit.

Sergeant Terry Jeffords loves many things, but the one constant is his deep affection for yogurt. Like crunchy granola mixed into a fresh fruit yogurt parfait, this running joke is lovingly sprinkled across all seasons. While Terry often states his obsession with yogurt in third person, other members from the precinct echo the same statement. Terry’s love for the delightful snack is also a weakness and has been used against him, as seen in season five’s Halloween heist when he’s treated to yogurt several times, unaware that each yogurt cup has a tiny tracker to monitor his whereabouts. Let’s hope no one messes with Terry’s yogurt in the future.

Let’s be honest, Jake referencing and quoting “Die Hard” is as natural as breathing. This running gag is consistently mentioned throughout the show to the point where the characters have even recreated iconic moments from the 1988 action flick. These include Homeland Security agent Kendrick shooting Jake with a gun he had duct-taped to his back, and Jake jumping off the roof “Die Hard” style. Jake’s love for the movie is so profound, he’s annoyed his coworkers enough that they know the movie verbatim. “Die Hard” even featured at Jake’s wedding, with Nakatomi Plaza serving as the cake.

Essentially the equivalent of “that’s what she said”, Jake can’t resist poking fun at Amy’s choice of words and her love life. He also uses it as a means of lifting the mood by making Amy the butt of the joke. It’s happened so often that even Amy occasionally beats Jake to the punch. The joke has evolved along with Amy and Jake’s relationship, changing from an immature put down to an endearing joke shared between the couple. Aww, character development. So sweet.

The Pontiac Bandit, AKA Doug Judy, is Jake’s arch nemesis; a con-artist known for stealing more than two hundred Pontiacs. Doug Judy appears in each season and outsmarts Jake every time with increasingly elaborate plans to avoid the long arm of the law. Each time they cross paths, Jake insists that they’re not friends, but inevitably the two end up cracking jokes and making references. The chemistry between the cop and thief is undeniable, and would definitely make Charles boil with jealousy. Even though Doug Judy appears when he needs help from Jake, The Pontiac Bandit always ends up having the last laugh. Is it bad that we root for him? He’s just so likeable!

It’s no secret – Jake has a terrible father. While this gave him a lot of hang-ups and an unhappy childhood, Jake’s loss is our fictional comedy gain. Jake’s daddy issues have led to a plethora of funny moments over the years, from comedic spins on how awful Jake’s dad was in the past, to his current relationship with him. Peralta also sees Holt as a father figure, which has led to a lot of funny and often heartwarming moments. This attitude also extends to his significant other too, as Amy, too, thinks of Kevin and Holt as dads. Sidebar, we would absolutely watch a family sitcom with those two as the parents!

Easily the most quotable running gag or catchphrase on the show is actually part of its title. Whenever the 99th Precinct is in need of cheering up, affirmation, or they’re just making a toast, someone, usually Terry, will yell “Nine-Nine!” Although it’s often played straight, it has also been used as part of a lot of jokes, such as Amy’s inability to get anyone to say it with her, the gang needing to say it discreetly, or Holt’s suggestion for an alternative. It never fails gets us pumped, and has given us plenty of laughs.

What started off as a challenge for Jake to steal Captain Holt’s Medal of Valor has evolved into a capture the flag-esque competition, with every character scheming and backstabbing each other in hilariously over the top ways. Over the seasons, the Halloween Heist has become increasingly elaborate and full of complicated plans, shocking double crosses, and fun callbacks. As unpredictable as it is funny, the heist winner is almost always a surprise, which adds an element of suspense to an already engaging running joke.