The Rookie is an American police procedural television series created by Alexi Hawley for ABC. The series stars Nathan Fillion, Alyssa Diaz, Richard T. Jones, Titus Makin Jr., Mercedes Mason, Melissa O'Neil, Eric Winter, Afton Williamson, Mekia Cox, Shawn Ashmore, Jenna Dewan, Tru Valentino, Lisseth Chavez, and Deric Augustine. It follows John Nolan, a man in his 40s, who becomes the oldest at the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). It is based on real-life LAPD officer William Norcross, who moved to Los Angeles in 2015 and joined the department in his mid-40s.
Produced by 20th Television and Lionsgate Television, The Rookie premiered on October 16, 2018. In April 2024, the series was renewed for a seventh season, which premiered on January 7, 2025. In April 2025, the series was renewed for an eighth season, which premiered on January 6, 2026. A spin-off series, , aired from 2022 to 2023 and followed the oldest rookie in the Federal Bureau of Investigation. That series was cancelled after one season. Another spin-off series is in development under the working title The Rookie: North.
Premise
The series follows John Nolan, a 40-year-old newly divorced man from
Pennsylvania, whonine months after helping police officers during a bank robbery in his hometown, Foxburgmoves to
Los Angeles to pursue a new career as a police officer in the LAPD. After graduating from the police academy as the oldest rookie on the force, Nolan must navigate the dangerous, unpredictable nature of his job. He is determined to make it in his new career despite the challenges.
During an interview, series lead Nathan Fillion said that the drama was inspired by a true story, as the LAPD is one of just two agencies that accepts new officers over the age of 37 years old.
Episodes
Cast and characters
Overview
Main
-
Nathan Fillion as Jonathan "John" Nolan: The oldest rookie at the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), he is assigned to the Mid-Wilshire Division.
-
Alyssa Diaz as Angela Lopez: An LAPD officer, she is assigned as the training officer to Jackson West. She marries Wesley Evers and becomes a detective and mother of 2 in the later seasons.
-
Richard T. Jones as Wade Grey: A sergeant (later lieutenant), watch commander at the Mid-Wilshire Station, Grey initially believes Nolan may be changing careers because of a midlife crisis and doubts he is suitable for police work, but later comes to recognize him as a capable and competent police officer and friend. Grey served in the Army before joining the LAPD. He has a daughter who is attending college in New York City. He later takes a job in the FBI as senior liaison.
-
Titus Makin Jr. as Jackson West (seasons 1–3):
-
Mercedes Mason as Zoe Andersen (season 1; guest season 3): Nolan's confident and irreverent commanding officer.
-
Melissa O'Neil as Lucy Chen: An ambitious rookie, she struggles to prove herself to Tim Bradford, her training officer. Her parents are who remain opposed to her choice of career. She later qualifies to become an undercover officer and starts dating Tim, and becomes a temporary training officer, and a sergeant afterwards.
-
Afton Williamson as Talia Bishop (season 1): A newly promoted training officer, her first assignment is Nolan. Ambitious, she tries hard to make detective and hopes to eventually work her way up to chief of police. She leaves the LAPD between the first and second seasons after information from her past she withheld is brought to light and threatens to stall her career. She then joins the ATF for a fresh start.
-
Eric Winter as Timothy "Tim" Bradford: A strict, no-nonsense training officer, he is assigned Lucy as a rookie and gives her a hard time, but treats her fairly. He used to be a Marine squad leader who served in Iraq and Afghanistan before joining the LAPD. He later becomes a sergeant and watch commander.
-
Mekia Cox as Nyla Harper (season 2–present): Nolan's second training officer, a tough, experienced detective who is leaving behind four years of undercover work so she can return to patrol. After training Nolan and Aaron, marrying James Murray, and giving birth to a daughter named Leah, she returns to being a detective and is partnered with Angela Lopez.
-
Shawn Ashmore as Wesley Evers (season 3–present; recurring seasons 1–2): A defense lawyer with whom Lopez initially clashes, but later starts dating. The two eventually marry and have a son named Jackson, or "Jack", and a daughter named Emmy. He later takes a job as an assistant district attorney, and later runs, then loses the race for the Los Angeles County District Attorney office.
-
Jenna Dewan as Bailey Nune (season 4–present;
-
Tru Valentino as Aaron Thorsen (seasons 5–6; recurring season 4; guest season 8): A new rookie who was involved in a French murder case in which he was found not guilty. He comes from a wealthy background and was an internet celebrity before his arrest and trial. He transfers to the Hollywood Division for a fresh start following the scandal caused by corrupt police psychologist Blair London.
-
Lisseth Chavez as Celina Juarez (season 6–present;
-
Deric Augustine as Miles Penn (season 8; recurring season 7): One of the newest rookies in the LAPD. He spent two years with the Sugar Land Police Department in Texas after being injured out of a football career in college. He is assigned Tim, then Nolan, and then Harper as his training officer.
Recurring
-
Mircea Monroe as Isabel Bradford (season 1; guest season 5): Tim Bradford's ex-wife. She is a former undercover narcotics officer who developed a drug addiction as a result of her work. Tim breaks up with her to give her time to recover. She later reappears in season 5, after becoming sober, so she and Lucy can go undercover together.
-
Sara Rue as Nell Forester (seasons 1–2; guest seasons 4, 6): A dispatcher for the LAPD. Tim bribes her to get the best calls. She is later revealed to be dating Elroy Basso.
-
Currie Graham as Ben McRee (season 1; guest season 3): Nolan's friend since their school days. He lets Nolan stay in his mansion as a house guest until Nolan moves out. He leaves Los Angeles after being assaulted by a mugger who steals his car.
-
Sarah Shahi as Jessica Russo (seasons 1–2): A former FBI hostage negotiator. She now runs her own security firm and is a published author. She later takes a job with the Department of Homeland Security while briefly dating Nolan. They break up when she realizes he is not ready to have more kids.
-
Demetrius Grosse as Kevin Wolfe (season 1): A detective who is assigned to Isabel's case.
-
Michelle Bernard as DeSantos (seasons 1–2): A veteran police officer at the LAPD station.
-
David DeSantos as Elijah Vestri (season 1): A detective who is assigned to Isabel's case.
-
Zayne Emory as Henry Nolan (seasons 1–3; guest seasons 4, 6): John Nolan's son. He is a freshman in college but drops out to go work for Ben McRee's foundation. He becomes engaged to his girlfriend, Abigail in the second season.
-
Michael Beach as Percy West (seasons 1, 3; guest season 6): Jackson's father, the commander of Internal Affairs. Oscar Hutchinson accuses him to Jackson of being a dirty cop back in the old days, causing a momentary rift between him and Jackson.
-
Brent Huff as Quigley Smitty: A well-intentioned yet lazy police officer who does the bare minimum. He lives in "Shangri-La", a trailer community parked across the street from Mid-Wilshire. He was the station's union representative for years before being voted out and replaced by Nolan in season 4.
-
Jasmine Mathews as Rachel Hall (seasons 2, 7): Lucy Chen's friend from college. She gets romantically involved with Tim Bradford before taking a job in New York.
-
Michael Trucco as Sean Del Monte: An assistant district attorney who assigns Nolan and Tim to a protective detail. He later decides to run for district attorney but drops out after his son's life is threatened.
-
Angel Parker as Luna Grey (seasons 1, 3–present): Wade Grey's wife and mother of their daughter Dominique.
-
Matthew Glave as Oscar Hutchinson: A prisoner who escapes from a prison bus crash. He is later apprehended by Lopez and Jackson. Oscar eventually helps the precinct officers as an informant on several cases involving former prisoners, even helping Nolan and Harper save the warden's life. He later escapes prison.
-
Harold Perrineau as Nicholas "Nick" Armstrong (season 2; guest season 3): A new night detective recently reassigned to Mid-Wilshire. Initially a role model for Nolan, he is later revealed to be a dirty cop working for a crime family.
-
Daniel Lissing as Sterling Freeman (season 2; guest season 3): A celebrity actor starring in a popular police procedural show. He briefly becomes Jackson's boyfriend before he is revealed to be a former Australian criminal named Skipper Young.
-
Ali Larter as Dr. Grace Sawyer (season 2): A doctor at Shaw Memorial Hospital and Nolan's former college girlfriend with whom he briefly reconciles. They end things after she decides to give her marriage another try for her son.
-
Enver Gjokaj as Donovan Town (seasons 2, 4): Harper's ex-husband who initially has full custody of their daughter Lila. He later agrees to split custody for Lila's sake following Harper's decision to leave undercover work.
-
Carsyn Rose as Lila Town (seasons 2, 4; guest seasons 5, 8): Harper's daughter from her marriage to Donovan.
-
Madeleine Coghlan as Abigail Tierney (seasons 2–3; guest season 7): Henry Nolan's ex-fiancée. She has a criminal record for arson despite it being retaliation against her ex for revenge porn.
-
Annie Wersching as Rosalind Dyer (seasons 2, 5; guest season 3): A serial killer. She was arrested by Nick Armstrong, which led to her conviction for multiple murders. Rosalind later escapes prison.
-
Jeff Pierre as Emmett Lang (season 2): A firefighter who is a friend of Tim Bradford's. He briefly dates Lucy.
-
Hrach Titizian as Ruben Derian (season 2; guest season 3): A member of the Derian crime family.
-
Brandon Routh as Doug Stanton (season 3): Jackson's new training officer after Lopez is promoted to detective. He has immoral ethics and is prone to racial profiling.
-
Arjay Smith as James Murray (season 3–present): A local resident in the neighborhood where Nolan and Harper are assigned to community outreach. He and Harper date and eventually marry.
-
Toks Olagundoye as Fiona Ryan (season 3): A professor in ethics and criminal justice. Nolan attends her night classes to finish school and qualify as a training officer. She is also a well-known activist in civil rights and police reform. She has authored a book about racial inequality in the justice system.
-
Dylan Conrique as Tamara Colins (season 3–7): A homeless and orphaned high school student who steals Lucy's car. Lucy ultimately decides not to press charges and they later become roommates and close friends.
-
Camille Guaty as Sandra "La Fiera" de la Cruz (season 3; guest season 4): A Guatemalan businesswoman and drug lord who initially makes gestures of friendship to Lopez. She kidnapped Lopez after her son, Diego was killed by a rival gang, hoping to steal the baby. Her plan failed and she was shot dead by Angela Lopez.
-
Brandon Jay McLaren as Elijah Stone (seasons 4–5; guest season 8): A crime boss who forces Wesley onto his payroll in exchange for information on how to retrieve Lopez from Guatemala. He is later arrested after several encounters with the LAPD.
-
Gigi Zumbado as Abril Rodas (seasons 4–5): A vengeful hitwoman working for La Fiera as her right-hand woman and trusted enforcer.
-
Kanoa Goo as Chris Sanford (seasons 4–5): A deputy district attorney and Lucy Chen's ex-boyfriend.
-
Flula Borg as "Skip Tracer" Randy Spitz (season 4–present): A German bounty hunter and skiptrace. He occasionally works with the LAPD, first with Harper and eventually with Nolan in particular. He is eccentric and fails to understand personal boundaries.
-
Peyton List as Genny Bradford (seasons 4-5, 7-present): Tim Bradford's younger sister.
-
Steve Kazee as Jason Wyler (season 4; guest seasons 6–7): Bailey's psychologically abusive ex-husband.
-
Bridget Regan as Monica Stevens (season 5–present): A lawyer and criminal mastermind who has represented many criminals in Los Angeles. She is first introduced as Elijah's new lawyer and Wesley's ex-fiancée.
-
Nisalda Gonzalez as Daylin Morales (season 5): The girlfriend of Abril Rodas and first lieutenant of the Malos Dorales under her leadership.
-
Danielle Campbell as Blair London (season 6): An LAPD psychiatrist who is assigned to help many officers, including Aaron Thorsen.
-
Patrick Keleher as Seth Ridley (season 7–present): A nervous rookie who is a pathological liar and good friends with Miles. He creates several false, self-serving narratives, notably faking a cancer relapse. After saving Nolan during a shootout at the cost of a below-knee amputation, he leaves the force.
-
Zander Hawley as Rodge Bronson (season 7–present; guest seasons 5–6): A musician Nolan runs into while responding to a call. He writes and sings humorous songs about his encounters with Nolan. He begins dating Celina in season 7.
-
Seth Gabel as Liam Glasser (season 7-present): A vending machine supplier who Harper suspects of being a serial killer.
-
Necar Zadegan as Vivian Eckert (seasons 7-8): An ambitious ADA who Wesley runs against in the race for District Attorney of Los Angeles.
-
Sean Patrick Thomas as Malcolm Walsh (season 8): The defense counsel lawyer for Liam Glasser. Wesley suspects he is unethical and engaging in criminal behavior to get his client acquitted.
-
Charles Michael Davis as Dr. Oliver Ashton (season 8): A doctor at St. Stephens Hospital who Luna admits to Wade that she is having emotional feelings for.
Notable guests
-
Danny Nucci as Sanford Motta: An arrogant assault detective who looks down on rookies.
-
Shawn Christian as Jeremy Hawke: Nolan's former training officer at the academy who goes rogue.
-
Joelle Carter as Megan Mitchell: Jeremy's ex-wife who is fighting with him over custody of their son Logan.
-
Niko Nicotera as Carson Miller: Isabel's former boyfriend and a drug dealer.
-
Jose Pablo Cantillo as Franco DeSantis: A drug dealer who steals money from a drug bust after being tipped off.
-
Beau Garrett as Denise: A woman who Nolan rescues on Valentine's Day who has an unhealthy obsession with him.
-
Sean Maher as Caleb Jost: A prisoner who escapes from a prison bus crash, but is later apprehended by Nolan, Talia, and Jessica.
-
Mario Lopez as himself: A celebrity pulled over by Tim and Lucy for running a stop sign who tries to talk his way out of a ticket as part of an integrity test by Internal Affairs.
-
Joel McHale as Brad Hayes: A former border patrol officer who smuggles people for a cartel and is under the protective detail of Tim and Nolan.
-
Jim Lau as Patrick Chen: Lucy Chen's father, who is injured by one of his patients and forced to go the hospital. He later has an argument with Lucy regarding the LAPD's handling of mental health cases.
-
will.i.am as himself: A celebrity who appears when a silent alarm is tripped at his residence, caused by a man who accidentally parachuted into the wrong yard and became stuck in a tree.
-
Stephen Lang as Trent Williams: The LAPD chief of police. He administers the oral exam to Nolan, Lucy, and Jackson during their midterm exam.
-
Felicia Day as Dr. Morgan: A CDC task-force specialist in infectious diseases.
-
Mark Cuban as himself: A celebrity who appears when Nolan and Grey respond to a disturbance at his restaurant.
-
Mitch Pileggi as Rex: A bounty hunter and retired LAPD officer. He is good friends with Tim.
-
Seamus Dever as Chaz Bachman: A lawyer who is arrested by Nolan and Lopez for buying drugs.
-
Jon Huertas as Alejandro Mejia / Cesar Ojeda: An undercover DHS agent who is compromised and nearly killed by two assailants seeking information from him.
-
Lauren Tom as Mrs. Chen: Lucy Chen's mother, who comes to stay at her apartment briefly after having an argument with Lucy's father.
-
Eric Weddle as himself: An NFL player who appeared during a Los Angeles Rams junior football camp. He was a high school football adversary of Tim's.
-
Robert Woods as himself: An NFL player who appeared during a Los Angeles Rams junior football camp.
-
Alan Tudyk as Elroy Basso: An employee of the LAPD who helps clean up crime scenes. He and Nolan later apprehend a group of criminals when they return to the scene of a crime they committed. He is later seen to be in a relationship with Nell Forester.
-
Michael Cassidy as Caleb Wright: A man Lucy meets at a bar who later turns out to be a serial killer and Rosalind Dyer's associate.
-
Pete Davidson as Pete Nolan: John Nolan's half-brother who he meets following their father's death.
-
Seth Green as Jordan Neil: A man who steals Nolan's identity, causing his credit score to go down.
-
Greg Grunberg as Larry "Badger" Macer: A former LAPD officer who was released after he misfired his gun during his first roll call. He is now a sergeant with the railroad police.
-
Roselyn Sánchez as Valerie Castillo: An ambitious reporter.
-
Ryan Seacrest, Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie as themselves: The host and judges of American Idol.
-
Bailey Chase as Michael Banks: A DEA agent who assists Nolan and Harper during a drug raid.
-
Don Swayze as Sharp: A prison guard at the California Correctional Facility who assists Nolan and Harper during a riot.
-
Hannah Kasulka as Erin Cole: A rookie officer who is later revealed to be a dirty cop working for the Derians, but is shot dead by Armstrong.
-
Christopher O'Shea as Chris Rios: A rookie officer who is fatally shot by Serj Derian, leaving Jackson devastated as the two had been close friends.
-
Armin Shimerman as Judge Paloma: The on-call judge who approves the warrant for Nolan's arrest during the third season.
-
Frances Fisher as Evelyn Nolan: John Nolan's overbearing and manipulative mother.
-
Frankie Muniz as Corey Harris: A former child actor who now runs a cult.
-
Skyler Samuels as Charlotte Luster: Corey's childhood co-star and friend.
-
Rainn Wilson as himself: A celebrity who owns the mummified body of Charlie Chaplin and is interviewed by a true crime documentary.
-
Molly Quinn as Ashley: The daughter of prisoner Oscar Hutchinson who is a person of interest in a kidnapping case.
-
Katy O'Brian as Katie Barnes: A new rookie in the LAPD who is a war veteran. Tim is assigned as her training officer, but she later resigns from the job.
-
Emily Deschanel as Sarah Nolan: Nolan's ex-wife and mother to their son Henry.
-
Kyle Secor as Sam Taggart: A DEA special agent assigned to the La Fiera case.
-
Joshua Malina as Max: A man with ties to U.S. intelligence.
-
Tricia Helfer as Claire Ivey: A master thief who Angela Lopez was after for five years but was unable to capture.
-
Kathryn Prescott as Katerina Antonov / Linda Charles: A Russian FSB case officer who went rogue and was planning to kill all the men involved in a drone strike that killed her brother.
-
Piper Curda as Billie Park: A drug mule who was arrested by Jackson and Lucy when she attempts to flee during a rolling stop.
-
Peter Onorati as Jerry McGrady: A police officer who rides his final shift with Tim before finally retiring after 43 years of service.
-
Helena Mattsson as Ashley McGrady: Jerry McGrady's daughter. She is a lifeguard who has a brief relationship with Tim.
-
James Remar as Tom Bradford: Tim and Genny Bradford's alcoholic and abusive father.
-
Tamala Jones as Yvonne Thorsen: Aaron Thorsen's wealthy mother. She is trying to publicize his life as a police officer.
-
Thomas Dekker as Jeffrey Boyle / Eli Reynolds: An acolyte of Rosalind Dyer.
-
Kelly Clarkson as herself
-
Kyle Schmid as Noah Foster: An undercover detective who was a classmate of Lucy's.
-
Preeti Desai as Charlie Bristow: A private security agent hired by Wesley.
-
Lance Bass as himself
-
Jake Tapper as himself
-
David Dastmalchian as Ray Watkins: A former member of Tim's army squad who betrayed him in the past.
-
Neil Hopkins as Eric Ramsey: An enigmatic businessman and criminal.
-
Jimmy Gonzales as Malvado: A hitman who is trying to kill Jason Wyler.
-
Noel Fisher as Harrison Novak: A serial killer.
-
Maria Zhang as Kylie Thomas: A friend of James who is being targeted by the Sixth Street Devils gang.
-
Cooper Manning as himself
-
Beckett Hawley as Dash: A teenager who is skilled with cameras and drones.
-
Sela Ward as Joy Bradford: Tim and Genny's mother, from whom he concealed his divorce from Isabel and relationship with Lucy.
Crossover characters
-
Niecy Nash as Simone Clark (seasons 4–5): A trainee FBI agent who has the same priorities as John Nolan and is the protagonist of .
-
James Lesure as Carter Hope (seasons 5–7): Simone's training agent.
-
Britt Robertson as Laura Stensen (seasons 5–7): Simone's FBI colleague.
-
Felix Solis as Matthew "Matt" Garza (seasons 4–present): An FBI Special Agent in Charge and team leader.
-
Kevin Zegers as Brendan Acres (seasons 5–7), Simone's friend and FBI colleague.
-
Devika Bhise as Antoinette Benneteau (season 7): An FBI agent and Brendan's partner.
-
Michelle Nuñez as Elena Flores (season 8): Garza's niece and the Special Investigative Unit's tech analyst.
-
The cast of Game Changer (Anna Garcia, Vic Michaelis, Zac Oyama, Sam Reich, and Jacob Wysocki) as themselves
Production
Development
On October 26, 2017, ABC announced a straight-to-series order for
The Rookie, starring
Castle star
Nathan Fillion, and written by
Castle executive producer and co-
showrunner Alexi Hawley. Fillion and Hawley serve as executive producers, along with Mark Gordon, Nicholas Pepper, Michelle Chapman, and Jon Steinberg. The series is produced by
ABC Studios and the Mark Gordon Company,
and premiered on October 16, 2018.
On November 5, 2018,
The Rookie was picked up for full season of 20 episodes.
On May 10, 2019, ABC renewed the series for a second season which premiered on September 29, 2019.
On October 28, 2019, the series received a full season order of 20 episodes for the second season.
On May 21, 2020, ABC renewed the series for a third season which premiered on January 3, 2021.
Casting
With the series order in October 2017, Fillion was cast as John Nolan.
On February 7, 2018,
Afton Williamson and
Eric Winter were cast as Talia Bishop and Tim Bradford, respectively.
They were shortly followed by Melissa O'Neil as Lucy Chen,
Richard T. Jones as Sergeant Wade Grey,
Titus Makin Jr. as Jackson West,
as Angela Lopez,
and
Mercedes Mason as Captain Zoe Andersen.
On August 4, 2019, it was announced that Williamson would not be returning for the second season due to the alleged racial discrimination, sexual harassment, and sexual assault she suffered during the first season.
On September 27, 2021, it was announced that Makin Jr. would not be returning to the show due to his personal conviction that the show's portrayal of a Black police officer did not adequately address the realities of police brutality and racial injustice, particularly in the wake of the George Floyd and Breonna Taylor killings.
On December 14, 2023, Lisseth Chavez was promoted to regular for season 6.
Filming
In January 2018,
Liz Friedlander signed on to direct and executive produce the
Television pilot.
Production on the pilot began on March 7, 2018,
with filming taking place in
Los Angeles, Oxnard, Burbank and New York City.
On April 15, 2021, police received a call of a possible shooting while filming was taking place between Hartford Avenue and West 5th Street in Los Angeles. Three gunshots were heard by various eyewitnesses, and the production crew confirmed that no one from the show was injured during the incident. Filming in the area was shut down as a result of the reports, but filming continued at other already scheduled locations.
Following the death of cinematographer
Halyna Hutchins on October 21, 2021, on the set of the film
Rust, live weapons were banned from
The Rookie while filming.
Prior to the ban, the series occasionally used quarter or half rounds on large outdoor set pieces.
Alexi Hawley stated that "any risk is too much risk" and explained that, going forward, only
would be used, with
being added in
post production using computer-generated imagery.
In 2025, the show filmed scenes in Prague, Czech Republic for the premiere of season 8.
On-set misconduct and harassment allegations
On July 26, 2019,
TVLine reported that
Afton Williamson, who portrays Talia Bishop, would not be returning for the second season. While the outlet initially claimed that the split was amicable, Williamson, in a lengthy Instagram post, stated that she left the series due to having "experienced racial discrimination/racially charged inappropriate comments from the hair department".
The head of the hair department was identified as Sallie Ciganovich. Williamson also alleged that she was sexually harassed by guest star
Demetrius Grosse, who portrays Kevin Wolfe in a recurring role, as well as an incident of bullying that escalated into sexual assault at a party. Williamson claimed that she had gone to the showrunners multiple times with these allegations, but was ignored.
Everyone involved in the allegations denied them. An investigation was commissioned through the law firm Mitchell Sillerberg and Knupp along with a third-party firm, EXTTI, which conducted nearly 400 hours of interviews and examined video and other evidence.
Release
Broadcast
The Rookie is broadcast in the United States on ABC and repeats are syndicated across 95% of the country.
The first season aired on Tuesday, while the second season aired on Sunday.
The Rookie has been licensed in more than 180 countries and territories.
As of April 1, 2025, the first five seasons of
The Rookie were made available for streaming on Disney+ via the Star content hub in Australia and New Zealand. It is also streaming on
Netflix in most regions and on Paramount+, Crave and
Netflix in Canada.
Syndication
In 2024, reruns of
The Rookie began airing on Lifetime.
Home media
The first season was released on DVD in Region1 on August27, 2019,
and in Region4 (Australia) on January22, 2020.
|
|
|
| 1 | August 27, 2019 | | January 22, 2020 | 20 | 4 |
| 2 | | | February 24, 2021 | 20 | 5 |
| 3 | | | February 16, 2022 | 14 | 4 |
| 4 | | | August 31, 2022 | 22 | 6 |
| 5 | | | February 12, 2025 | 22 | 6 |
| 6 | | | July 2, 2025 | 10 | 3 |
Reception
Critical response
The review aggregation website
Rotten Tomatoes reported a 68% approval rating with an average rating of 6.3/10 based on 22 reviews for Season 1. The website's consensus reads, "Nathan Fillion's reliably likable presence makes
The Rookie worth tuning in, even if the show around him isn't particularly memorable."
, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 64 out of 100 based on 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Ratings
Spin-offs
On February 8, 2022, ABC ordered a pilot for a planned FBI spin-off of the series starring
Niecy Nash. It was introduced in a two-episode
backdoor pilot during Season 4.
On March 9, 2022,
Kat Foster and
Felix Solis joined the cast of the spin-off.
Also that month,
Frankie Faison joined the cast.
On May 13, 2022, ABC gave a series order under the title
The Rookie: Feds.
It was then reported that the series had undergone creative tweaks that cut Foster's character, Special Agent Casey Fox.
In June 2022,
Britt Robertson,
Kevin Zegers and
James Lesure joined the cast as series regulars.
aired from September 27, 2022, to May 2, 2023.
It was canceled on November 9, 2023, after one season as a consequence of the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
On December 5, 2024, it was reported that a second spin-off series was in development.
Notes
External links
