The Comedy of Civilizing Millennials

One of the funniest aspects of Brooklyn Nine-Nine is Sergeant Jeffords' continual efforts to civilize his Millennial and Gen Z-er charges.

It is Terry Jeffords who instructs Peralta, Rosa, and even Gina on how to behave at Captain Holt's birthday party; it is Jeffords who provides basic commonsense instructions on "normal" behavior: Yes, it is correct to feel bad when a pet gets lost.

His wish: "I want an HR person who can remind people of workplace boundaries." 

After all, Jeffords is the one who refuses to "take Frasier's name in vain."

It's hilarious because Millennials and Gen Zers do seem to exhibit an absence of basic social behaviors. This may be a perception rather than a truth; the perception is that an entire swath of young people have no clue how to behave in restaurants, town meetings, funerals, and other social venues.

Consequently, Terry Jeffords' efforts to "civilize" his colleagues are funny precisely because they appear to address a real issue. The freedom of individualism (me, me, me and my self-esteem) comes up against the need to be at least reasonably intelligent social animals.

As with most gaps between perception and reality, between individuals and society, comedy ensues. 

NOTE: Hitchcock and Scully also don't know how to behave--but the comedy there (the gap) is between their behavior and their generation. They ought to know, but they don't. (And we love them anyway.)