Cpt. Raymond Holt: Urbane Legend

[David T. Cole]

Never has a man held two dogs like he.

[TravisNelson76]

I happened upon Dahlia Lithwick's piece from last year on Order Muppets and Chaos Muppets and realized that Capt. Holt is essentially the platonic ideal of an Order Muppet.  He is basically Bert + Sam the Eagle.  And he operates within a sea of Chaos Muppets who "make their way through life in a swirling maelstrom of food crumbs and small flaming objects."

Taking this theory a step further: Jake is obviously Ernie; Terry is Big Bird; and Gina is... some frightening combination of Animal and Statler/Waldorf?

[thuganomics85]

I hope one day the show gets to revisit Holt's great undercover work as Gerald James from "Thanksgiving."  Will he ever find peace after his wife was "KILLED BY A MAN IN A YELLOW SWEATER!!"?

I'm still amazed that Holt can be do damn funny with just the word, "Wassup?"  Andre Braugher can just make anything golden.  I've always been a fan of his, but he's just pure bliss in this role.  I'm glad someone had the idea to cast Andre in a comedy, because this is just turning into a brilliant decision.

[Danny Franks]

Andre Braugher can get a laugh out of any line at all. I'm almost sure of it. Like that Hitflix interview stated, it's all about the timbre of his voice and the way he paces his lines. There will always be something funny about a serious man saying or doing something ridiculous, and that's exactly the spot Holt hits, every time.

He's the perfect straight man for anyone else on the show. And it works well because it means that everyone else has a chance to be the goofy one. Amy is Jake's straight (wo)man, a lot of the time, but she gets to be crazy around Holt. Terry is the mother hen of the precinct, but he gets to act more like a child with Holt as well.

So I think those measured, limited opportunities he gets to be a bit more out there, like the "wassup" moment, work even better. Because they're surprising.

[Edna Crandall]

His joy in telling Peralta about the hula-hooping and then deleting the picture was possibly the funniest thing on TV this year. So amazing. 

[Carrie Ann]

I LOVED his delivery of "Jake, the incredible time pressure." I missed it the first time because I was laughing so hard at the dance costumes and Samberg's sweet slo-mo moves, but my God, Braugher is just perfect.

[mad_typist]

Never has a man held two dogs like he.

Indeed.

[NoWillToResist]

I love this character and the way Braugher plays him. I cannot get enough.

The gif above with him and the puppies? Bless you, poster. Bless you.

[EC Amber]

This casting was perfect. I love this show and I think without him as the ultimate straight man would have put me at just finding this show as good. As it is he makes it great and keeps me checking it out. 

[Rinaldo]

I am now finding that when I see Andre Braugher in an older movie or TV show and he's looking super-serious (as he nearly always did), it makes me giggle. Like I'm waiting for him to deliver a perfectly timed deadpan punch line. What a reversal of how I (and, I'm guessing, others) felt about him a year ago.

[KBear]

My reaction to Andre Braugher on Brooklyn 99 is similar to the reaction people had when Leslie Nelson appeared on Airplane. Nelson was only known as a serious dramatic actor who played a lot cops and authoritarian figures like Braugher.. Seeing him be so funny in Airplane was a revelation, the same as seeing Braugher on Brooklyn 99. Airplane totally changed Nelson’s career and image, I wonder if it’ll do the same to Braugher.

[Inquisitionist]

This article about Vicious briefly mentions the Holt character:

 

In more recent years, Matthew Breen, editor in chief of The Advocate and deputy editor at Out Magazine, said that TV viewers have also become accustomed to nontraditional gay characters like the strait-laced police captain played by Andre Braugher on “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (Fox) or the slovenly slacker portrayed by Adam Pally on the canceled series “Happy Endings” (ABC).

[Inquisitionist]

Don't recall seeing a link to this NY Times profile of Andre Braugher in this forum yet:

Andre Braugher, the UndercoverBraugher leaves nothing to chance with his acting.

 

Braugher leaves nothing to chance with his acting. He had spent three hours that morning rehearsing lines with his wife, the actor Ami Brabson. “Andre is like Superman, and improv is his Kryptonite,” says Ray Romano, who starred with him in the TV series “Men of a Certain Age.”

 

 

 

Free-associating, Samberg started talking candy bars: “ ‘Now with three times more nougat.’ What the hell is nougat? Why do I want 300 percent more?”

Braugher paused and then answered in the deeply serious voice he used to narrate openings during three different Olympics for NBC. “Pop. Rocks. Now. With. 100. Percent. More. Rocks.”

Samberg sputtered and did a near spit take.

 

“Andre, that’s funny.”

 

Shortly after graduating, he auditioned for the filmmaker Ed Zwick, who was casting “Glory,” about African-American soldiers in the Civil War. Braugher got the part of Thomas Searles, a bookish Northerner whose experience as a soldier is harrowing. Braugher was so green that his co-stars, Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman, had to show him how to act for the camera.

 

And more...  Excellent profile!

 

[Inquisitionist]

Happy New Year!  Here's your chance to spend it with Capt. Ray Holt when he was Det. Frank Pembleton.  (This episode takes place on NYE.)

[Traveller519]

I have no reservation that Andre Braugher needs to win the best supporting actor Emmy this year. Holt just brings so much to show that would likely be aimless without him, and Braugher embodies him so well. The Mole would still be my choice for his submission. The monologue in the bar coupled with the scenes with him and Jake at his home showed what range he brings to a character that's more than just the Robot he's caricatured to be. Sprikle in the Wunch related pettiness, playing off his awkwardness with Rosa and Marcus, and his farewell to the precinct, and "Hot Damn!" it was a fine season.

[Trillium]

Andre Braugher was just an answer, I mean question on Jeopardy. Holy and Kevin would be so happy!

[Inquisitionist]

Any idea why the writers shipped Kevin off to Paris this season?  Is Marc Evan Jackson not available for filming?  His IMDb credits don't suggest he's terribly busy, and I can't find any info about him doing theater on a regular basis.

 

As a bonus, here's an article about MEJ and Andre Braugher from 2014.

[bethy]

I've seen him in a number of commercials recently.

 

His, "Where is your husband?" line in the Progressive commercial always make me laugh. 

[Inquisitionist]

Bumping because Holt/Braugher deserve more love.  :-)  As I posted in the SAG thread, it is a travesty that he was not nominated in their TV comedy category.  Apparently, Barry, The Kominsky Method and Mrs. Maisal are the only comedies in existence right now. 

[biakbiak]

[Inquisitionist]

Oh, yes, you'll know.  Love it!

[ElenaFR]

I just love him.

[CheetaraThunder]

So when is Andre going to win all the awards?

[doodlebug]

On 6/2/2020 at 4:44 AM, CheetaraThunder said:

So when is Andre going to win all the awards?

It's almost like Andre has been so consistently excellent in all of the roles he has played over the course of his career that people just expect it of him to be brilliant.  He has never gotten the recognition he deserves.