The Rookie is the latest ABC drama to get some good news in the 2024 TV schedule, following the renewals for 9-1-1 and Grey's Anatomy. The Nathan Fillion-led cop show is officially returning for a seventh season. After members of the ensemble cast celebrated the news shortly after it broke, the leading man took a bit longer, but his message was lovely once he shared it.
The delays from the WGA writers strike and cancellation of The Rookie: Feds – which Nathan Fillion said was "sobering" news to him – obviously didn't harm The Rookie's future on ABC. On Instagram, Fillion shared his response to the Season 7 renewal:
It’s a good feeling to have work. It’s even better to be able to take pride in that work. If you are among those who are enjoying The Rookie, we owe you our thanks. Thank you, for having excellent taste in entertainment. Season 7, here we come. (And let’s not forget ABC! Thanks for being so supportive!)
While Nathan Fillion obviously has experienced long-running TV success in his career between the eight seasons of Castle and six seasons of The Rookie so far, he certainly knows the feeling of losing work too early after the cancellation of Firefly back in the day. The star not only thanked the fans who have been watching The Rookie for more than 100 episodes now, but also the folks at ABC who have supported the show.
And ABC certainly has good reason to show that support. Accounting to Variety, Live+35 ratings data (a.k.a. totals after 35 days of delayed viewing) from the network total 11.9 million viewers for the Season 6 premiere across platforms, which is the highest since 2018. After 35 days, the rating for the premiere is a 2.9 in the 18-49 age demographic.
Nathan Fillion's post has gotten plenty of attention, including from former co-stars. Brandon Routh, who recurred in Season 3 as a polarizing character, posted in the comments:
🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼
Sometimes, emojis say what words cannot! 9-1-1: Lone Star's Gina Torres also hit the comment section with a callback to their mutual Firefly days:
Congrats to My Captain Tight Pants!! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽😍
The Castle cast was represented in the comments section as well, with Seamus Dever added some hand clapping emojis and Jon Huertas writing:
Yup! 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Some more current Rookie cast members also commented, with Fillion's on-screen wife Jenna Dewan writing:
Yesssss to this 👏👏👏
Shawn Ashmore chimed in with "Yay buddy!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥" and Flula Borg wrote:
a very much big congratulation to you and thank you for letting me skip trace!
None of the good news and excitement is to say that everything in the story of Season 6 is happy for the characters of The Rookie... or fans, for that matter! The Chenford breakup put a stop – or at least a hold – on the fan-favorite romance between Lucy Chen and Tim Bradford. Still, the renewal means that the show has time to (hopefully) repair that relationship in the long run, since there may not be time in what's left of the abbreviated Season 6.
The Rookie is currently on a brief break between episodes, with the next not airing until Tuesday, April 30 at 9 p.m. ET on ABC. In the meantime, you can always revisit earlier episodes with a Hulu subscription streaming now.
