Prior to dropping the cancellation axe on some of its game shows, which is never a fortunate situation, ABC unveiled some truly excellent news for the cast, crew and fanbase of the drama The Rookie. Currently in the midst of expanding its universe in Season 4, The Rookie earned an early Season 5 renewal, saving all involved from worrying about the future as the summer hiatus gets closer. The news wasn’t entirely surprising in and of itself, since the Nathan Fillion-starring series hasn’t been knocking at death’s door or anything, but considering no shows ever feel truly safe these days, the show’s stars are extremely grateful to know they’ll be back in front of audiences throughout the 2022-2023 season.
Following the announcement going public, the stuntman-appreciating Nathan Fillion took to Instagram to share a heartfelt and thankful reaction to the news, lest anyone think The Rookie is just a work-for-hire gig to the former Castle star. Check out his post below.
Speaking to the fans that keep coming back, The Rookie is one of those shows that doesn’t appear to be doing extremely well when only looking at its Sunday night numbers. But its delayed viewing viewership is among the most impressive, percentage wise, and when those totals are taken into account, its audience and demo rating tend to double, if not more so. Now that networks are more open to judging a show’s longer-term audience growth, that kind of success could indeed keep The Rookie on the air for several more seasons at least.
Nathan Fillion (whose post earned a congratulation comment from former co-star Harold Perrineau) definitely wasn’t the only Rookie cast member to share their happiness on social media. Lucy Chen took to Twitter to share a podcast’s congratulatory post, hyping up another season of romantic-ish situations for her character and Eric Winter’s Bradford.
#chenford fam for life! https://t.co/koYofKMtaK pic.twitter.com/8o07KkaSIeMarch 31, 2022
Speaking of Eric Winter, he also shared some love on Twitter with the following message:
We are back in action.. love seeing an early pick up! Congrats to the entire family and our amazing fans!
Speaking of complication-infused couplings, a lot of The Rookie fans likely want to see where Nolan and Bailey will be in a year's time, and now we know that could happen, assuming nothing too drastic happens in the meantime. While nothing is set in stone, of course, at least star Jenna Dewan is pumped about the renewal.
!!!!! 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳 https://t.co/OFsxgqJmd5March 31, 2022
You can bet Nyla Harper will be around to take care of business in Season 5, and actress Mekia Cox shared the following message on Instagram, which also gave props to everyone else's dedicated efforts behind the scenes.
- Look who’ll be back for a Season 5!!!!! 👀 AAYYYEEE!!!! 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾
Love this cast and crew. Congrats on all your hard work!! ❤️❤️❤️ - Mekia Cox
Shawn Ashmore is as excited as anyone to keep the Rookie train going with a new season on ABC. Here's how he put it on Instagram:
So excited for season 5 of @therookieabc! Couldn’t be happier to be back with this great group:)
And finally, we have Rookie recurrer Brent Huff, who gave creator Alexi Hawley a shout out with his Twitter post.
- A HUGE congrats to Alexi Hawley and the amazing cast, producers, writers, directors and crew on being picked up by ABC for season 5!!! #TheRookie #therookieabc @therookie
With a new spinoff on the way later this year, The Rookie airs on ABC on Sunday nights at 10:00 p.m. ET. To see what else is hitting the small screen soon, head to our 2022 TV premiere schedule!
