The Rookie season 9 gets release window update – and fans are in for a wait
It seems The Rookie's next season is likely to air around the same time as new spin-off show, The Rookie: North.
With The Rookie season 8 having finished airing in the US, and with episodes still arriving weekly in the UK, we recently got an update on the show's already confirmed ninth season.
Speaking as the series's network, ABC, was laying out its schedule of shows for the autumn, Ari Goldman, SVP, content strategy and scheduling, appeared to confirm that fans will have a wait on their hands, and The Rookie won't arrive until midseason – AKA, early 2027.
Having been a Fall series since its inception, The Rookie moved to be a midseason show with its sixth season in 2024, due to the writers' strike. It then stayed in a similar slot for seasons 7 and 8.
Goldman said of the series: "What we’ve seen the last several years, and we’ve really proven this out with Will Trent and The Rookie back in midseason of 24 and 25, is we want to give viewers a chance to watch these shows with as little interruption as possible across the season.
"So I think when we get to the midseason plans, and you think about the opportunities that we have on the ABC schedule, going from New Year’s Rockin’ Eve to the College Football Playoff, the Grammys, the Oscars and obviously the Super Bowl. I think we have such amazing momentum at the start of 27 to bring the show back in a big way."
Goldman later clarified that The Rookie is likely to air around the same time as The Rookie: North, a new spin-off which was recently ordered to series after a successful pilot. Set in the same universe as the original show, it stars Jay Ellis as Alex Holland, a new rookie in the Pierce County Police Department.
"We haven’t announced our midseason plans, but I think it’s pretty safe to say that there are benefits to pairing shows from these universes together; we’ve seen the strength," Goldman said. "It is simply a rule of audience flow that shows and their spinoffs will have higher compatibility than other pairings.
"I think back to when I started here at ABC the year that we launched Rookie: Feds, and really the benefit of bringing those shows together in midseason was very clear."
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The Rookie: Feds was another spin-off to The Rookie, starring Niecy Nash-Betts. It ran for only one season before being cancelled.
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Authors
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
