NBC just landed a power move for its upcoming detective comedy. Keith David, the legendary actor with over 400 roles to his name, has signed on to star opposite Jake Johnson in a still untitled private investigator comedy pilot. The show comes from the creative minds behind Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and it could be the freshest buddy comedy on network television in years.
If you loved the charm of New Girl and the chaos of the Nine-Nine bullpen, keep reading. This one is shaping up to be something special.
What We Know About NBC’s New Detective Comedy
2 The untitled half-hour is a workplace comedy set in the world of private detectives, which continues the proud tradition of Los Angeles private eyes that began with Philip Marlowe and will end with this show.
That cheeky logline alone tells you the tone. This is not another gritty crime drama. It is a comedy that knows exactly what it is and leans into the absurdity of the genre.
2 The show centers on Mickey Wilder, played by Johnson, a former LAPD cop turned PI. 5 Mickey is described as “smart, cynical and heartbroken, but trying to pretend he’s not,” a private investigator with a knack for solving cases who was formerly an LAPD cop until his life imploded three years ago. 2 David will play his boss, Garner Taggert, who runs the Garner Taggart PI Agency where his son Mitch and Mickey are the main PIs. He’s a tough guy with somewhat antiquated views of the world.
That generational clash between Garner’s old school methods and Mickey’s cynical modern approach is designed to be the comedic engine of the entire show.
Keith David Jake Johnson NBC detective comedy pilot 2026
The Brooklyn Nine-Nine Connection Runs Deep
The creative team behind this pilot is stacked with comedy veterans. 11
11 Luke Del Tredici wrote 18 episodes over the course of eight seasons as co-executive producer and then executive producer on Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He previously worked as a co-executive producer on NBC’s 30 Rock, where he received Emmy and WGA Award nominations. 11 This marks the latest collaboration between Goor and Del Tredici. They most recently co-created and executive produced the comedy Killing It, starring Craig Robinson, which ran on Peacock for two seasons.
Directing duties fall to another familiar name. 12Akiva Schaffer, the director of 2025’s The Naked Gun and Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, will direct the pilot and also executive produce. A two-time Emmy winner for his work on SNL and I Think You Should Leave, Schaffer directed the Brooklyn Nine-Nine season 1 finale and “The Puzzle Master” episode.
2 Universal Television, part of Universal Studio Group, is the studio.
Key Creative Team at a Glance
- Writers/Executive Producers: Dan Goor and Luke Del Tredici
- Director/Executive Producer: Akiva Schaffer
- Lead Actor/Producer: Jake Johnson
- Studio: Universal Television
- Format: Single-camera, half-hour comedy
Why Keith David Is the Perfect Choice
Keith David is not just a great actor. He is an institution.
18 He is mostly known for his bass voice and screen presence in over 400 roles across film, stage, television, and interactive media. 18 He has starred in such films as The Thing, Platoon, They Live, Dead Presidents, Armageddon, There’s Something About Mary, Requiem for a Dream, Pitch Black, Barbershop, Crash, The Chronicles of Riddick, Cloud Atlas, The Nice Guys, Nope, and American Fiction.
His television work is just as impressive. 18He starred as Elroy Patashnik in the sixth season of the NBC series Community and as Bishop James Greenleaf in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama Greenleaf.
2 David won his three Emmys for his voiceover performances in Jackie Robinson, The War and Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, all from documentarian Ken Burns.
He is also staying busy right now. 2He stars opposite Ethan Hawke on FX’s The Lowdown and recurs on Prime Video’s The Gray House.
There are very few actors working today who can command a room with just their voice. Keith David is one of them. Putting him in the boss chair of a detective agency opposite Jake Johnson’s wise-cracking PI feels like comedy gold waiting to happen.
Jake Johnson’s Big Return to Network TV
This NBC pilot marks a significant moment for Johnson. 7The new comedy would mark his return to a broadcast comedy series regular role for the first time since starring in Fox’s New Girl alongside Zooey Deschanel.
5 Johnson is best known for playing the curmudgeonly Nick Miller in the popular Fox sitcom New Girl. The show aired for seven seasons between 2011 and 2018. He has since starred in shows like the animated comedy Hoops at Netflix and the 1970s porn magazine comedy Minx at HBO Max/Starz.
Johnson has a packed 2026 calendar beyond this pilot. 7He has The Sun Never Sets, also starring Dakota Fanning, his fourth collaboration with Joe Swanberg, set for release at SXSW. He will also star in the Apple TV series Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, opposite Tatiana Maslany, and the pickleball comedy The Dink, co-starring Mary Steenburgen and Ed Harris, also at Apple.
5 In film, Johnson is known for his work in the hit Spider-Verse animated film franchise as well as for features like Let’s Be Cops, Jurassic World, Ride the Eagle, and Self Reliance.
NBC’s Biggest Bet on Pilot Season in Years
This detective comedy does not exist in a vacuum. It is part of a much larger push by NBC to bring back old school pilot season.
36 NBC is going all-in on pilots in 2026, circling back to an industry-standard method of making TV in the hopes of crafting the broadcast network’s next big hit. This year, NBC bet on pilot orders for eight new projects, generating 4,000 new jobs across five dramas and three comedies. 30 NBC and Peacock scripted content president Lisa Katz said of the Goor and Del Tredici pitch, “It was laugh-out-loud funny, and felt like such a home run for NBC comedy.” 36 Katz said the show could be an effective complement to St. Denis Medical, the hospital-set mockumentary that was already renewed for Season 3 for the 2026-27 season. 15 In an anticipation of a greenlight, the project’s studio, Universal Television, applied for a tax break. It was granted, with the comedy receiving a $1.4 million tax credit from the California Film Commission to shoot the pilot in Los Angeles.
That tax credit is a strong signal. NBC is not just testing the waters here. They are investing real money in making this work.
36 NBC and Peacock’s scripted development teams looked at over 1,500 submitted pitches for new TV shows during this development cycle. From there, roughly 70 projects were developed specifically at NBC. Eight projects received pilot orders, and greenlight decisions on most are expected before NBCUniversal’s 2026-27 season upfront presentation in May.
The Goor and Del Tredici pilot was the very first comedy project NBC committed to this cycle. That tells you everything about how much the network believes in it.
There is something exciting about watching two comedy heavyweights like Keith David and Jake Johnson team up under the guidance of the people who gave us Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The LA private eye genre has been done a thousand times in film and TV, but rarely with this much self-awareness and comedic firepower. If the pilot captures even half the magic of the Nine-Nine bullpen, fans of smart, character-driven comedy are in for a treat. With greenlight decisions expected by May 2026, all eyes are now on NBC.
Drop your thoughts in the comments below. Who else would you love to see join this cast?
