Who is Michael Hitchcock in Brooklyn Nine-Nine?

Show

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Played by

Dirk Blocker

First episode

“Pilot”Season 1, Episode 1, aired September 17, 2013

Role

Main cast

Network

FOX

Occupation

NYPD detective, 99th Precinct

Show run

2013 to 2021Moved from FOX to NBC for its last three seasons.

Also known as

Hitchcock, Detective Hitchcock

Michael Hitchcock has been at the 99th Precinct longer than almost anyone and has spent most of that time avoiding work. Played by Dirk Blocker, he and his best friend Scully are the squad's beloved, wing-loving comic relief.

On Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Michael Hitchcock's story runs through Norm Scully (Best Friend and Partner), Terry Jeffords (Sergeant), Raymond Holt (Captain), Jake Peralta (Colleague), and Amy Santiago.

Who is Michael Hitchcock?

Hitchcock is one of the two oldest detectives at the 99th Precinct and the longtime partner of Norm Scully. The two have been best friends for more than 30 years and seem to share a single brain. Hitchcock has been at the 99th roughly twenty years longer than Terry, and he has very little to show for it beyond seniority.

He has a long list of ex-wives, a questionable van he sometimes lives in, and a habit of making the squad deeply uncomfortable with his crude remarks. He happily takes paperwork over field work and does his best to avoid anything that requires running.

Personality and comedy

Hitchcock's comedy is built on shamelessness. He says the gross thing out loud, eats whatever is nearby, and seems genuinely unaware of how he comes across. Paired with Scully, he forms a double act of slow, sweaty incompetence that the show uses as a running punchline and a palate cleanser between bigger storylines.

The show also lets him surprise people. Hitchcock and Scully occasionally crack a case or make a thoughtful decision, and when they do, the rest of the squad is stunned. Hitchcock also holds the precinct's all-time record for closed cases, mostly because he has been there so long.

Key storylines

In season six, Jake and Charles dig into a 1980s case and discover that young Hitchcock and Scully were once strapping, sharp detectives who helped bring down a notorious mafia boss with the help of a secret informant. Their decline began, the story goes, when they discovered the wings at their favorite restaurant, Wing Slutz.

In the final season, Hitchcock appears to have retired during the pandemic and moved to Brazil, keeping in touch over video calls. The series finale reveals that he never left at all: he had been living in his van, and he pops up to win the final Halloween-style heist and claim the title of champion.

Behind the scenes and legacy

Dirk Blocker plays Hitchcock opposite Joel McKinnon Miller as Scully, and the two actors moved up the credits together. Both were credited as recurring in season one, as starring cast in seasons two through five, and as main cast from season six until the end of the series.

Blocker is the son of Dan Blocker, who played Hoss Cartwright on Bonanza, and he first appeared on screen alongside his father in a 1964 commercial. Hitchcock appears in every episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine except six, and his season eight absence, mostly limited to video calls, set up the finale's surprise return.

Michael Hitchcock: frequently asked questions

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