You might recognize these two guys. They’re part of the supporting cast of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, a show I regularly watch and generally enjoy, except when these two guys are on.

There’s nothing wrong with the actors. They were picked to fill two roles and they pull them off perfectly well. What drives me nuts are the Big Laffs that the writers go for whenever these two are on the screen.

These two are tools, idiots, fools. They can’t detect their way out of a paper bag. The only thing they work at is plotting new ways not to work. They’re the dead-weight office buffoons, running out the clock until retirement.

They also appear to be the oldest cops by far (with the possible exception of the chief) in a precinct filled with remarkably young, attractive, (mostly) smart, accomplished officers. And I will bet you right now that the writers of this show are all — or almost all — under 40.

Look, I understand that this is a comedy, and a comedy often uses stereotypes and caricatures for effect, but a person my age sees these guys and paints a different picture than the writers presumably intended. I see the kind of picture that makes women cringe when they see a stupid male-written commercial that supports half a dozen female cliches, or that heavy people see whenever someone’s weight is used as a tool for physical comedy. Others may laugh, but it’s painful for some, because it betrays a certain ignorance or worse.

People used to yuk it up at Amos ‘n’ Andy. Seemingly every gay character on television for a long time had an affected voice and a floppy wrist. Wives were troublemakers (and homemakers). Convenience store employees were all Indian or Pakistani.

We got past — or at least, are getting past — all of that. We grew out of it. Here’s hoping that the writers on Brooklyn Nine-Nine grow past the soft bigotry they lay out when they write scenes with these two characters.

I’m not holding my breath.