Brooklyn Nine-Nine had a deep bench of running gags and recurring characters throughout its run. Be it "title of yourtape," or Adrian Pimento, Boyle's unfortunate phrasing, or Cheddar the dog, the amount of rich foibles and weirdos is enough to fill a phone book -- or at least multiple pages on a TV Tropes website. Yet the least frequent one of all is perhaps the best

From the first episode to the last, few running jokes have been more fun than Fred Armisen's Melipnos (as credited on IMDB). He is then known as Mlepclaynos (the "clay" is silent), Mlepnos, Jerry Barfralatistan and Jerry Barkakanatsan. He bookends the series in the very first and very last episodes and only two other episodes in between, yet with his mercurial delivery, he is as memorable as any other recurring character. Although very little screen time was devoted to him, he is maybe the funniest and most interesting side character. More than interesting, he's intriguing. As far as sitcom side characters go, he is up there with the Puddys and Jean-Ralphios

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The recurring unique character is sitcom basics, and when they're a hit with audiences, they tend to get more screen time, often leading to overkill. Overall Brooklyn Nine-Nine was always very good at not overusing side characters. Doug Judy was great, but he only showed up once a year, same with Boyle's lookalike Bill. Even Holt's seemingly ubiquitous husband, Kevin Cozner, only appeared in 18 out of the 153 episodes. And it all began with Jake and Amy going door to door to take witness statements while investigating a murder. The Ardmore Apartments in Roland Park, apartment 3C. This is where the audience first meets Mlepnos

The role of Mlepnos was clearly written for Fred Armisen. From the look on his face when he opens the door to the indistinct accent to the spelling of his name, Mlepnos could have easily fit in with Armisen's SNL coterie of characters. It would have been an odd one-off day player in anyone else's hands. In Armisen's hands, by his second appearance, he became iconic for fans of the series. In over 56 hours of the show, he only appeared in about 2 minutes and 13 seconds. Very few characters on long-running shows can make such a meal out of so little

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Mlepnos Mad A Lot Out Of A Little On Brooklyn Nine-Nine


Mlepnos claimed to be from Leirkrakeegovnia, a country that doesn't exist. But when he and Jake danced and sang together to music, he said it was from his homeland when it was an Estonian song. And the next time he saw Jake, as a musician hired to play Jake and Amy's wedding, he claimed to have never met either of them and offered to sell Jake horse blood. By his final appearance, he was even claiming a different name and said he was from the country of Honolulu. He also calls his violin a guitar, so there's always a question of whether it's a language barrier, a memory issue, or, more likely, something possibly nefarious

Even though Mlepnos only made four quick appearances, Brooklyn Nine-Nine hung enough light over him that he felt far more ubiquitous than he actually was. He is also among the most subtle of the show's running bits and characters. Therewithal, Armisen has that comedic quality to him that shines through nearly anything he does. His comedy has a light touch that is effective as any big swing. In a series flush with gilded comedy, Mlepnos made his short time on Brooklyn Nine-Nine iconic.