Pakistan, Jan. 11 -- As Tom Sawyer learned when the people of St Petersburg, Missouri gathered to erroneously mourn him, Huck Finn and Joe Harper, funerals are wasted on the dead. Better to say all those nice things to the ones you love while they're still around to hear them.

Last spring, 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' got to briefly play the role of Tom Sawyer and learn the same lesson. For the day in between when Fox cancelled the Andy Samberg/Andre Braugher police comedy and NBC revived it, there was an outpouring of grief the likes of which have rarely been seen for the abrupt end of a series, even one as beloved as this. Testimonials poured in from critics and fans alike, in a tone suggesting not just disbelief, but the reassessment of a joy...