‘The Good Doctor’ Season 7 Set for Big Change

The ABC medical drama is set to have just 10 episodes for the upcoming season.

November 7, 2023, 2:59pm

THE GOOD DOCTOR – "Old Friends" – Dr. Jared Kalu (Chuku Modu) makes a surprise return to San Jose's St. Bonaventure Hospital with his billionaire patient. Meanwhile, Park must treat the man his wife had an affair with and try to find a way to forgive him. MONDAY, MARCH 6 (10:01-11:00 p.m. EST), on ABC. (ABC/Jeff Weddell)<br>NOAH GALVIN, HILL HARPER, FREDDIE HIGHMORE

The Good Doctor may not be scrubbing in just yet, but details have been released about the ABC medical drama’s upcoming seventh season. TVLine reports that the series will likely be getting a 10-episode order. Grey’s Anatomy, Station 19, and The Rookie are also expected to be getting only 10 episodes. It’s possible that production could start as early as December, but that’s all dependent on the SAG-AFTRA strike. As of now, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight as the union and the studios are still on different sides for some major issues.

The episode count is not the only big change that Season 7 will see. Brandon Larracuente exited in the Season 6 finale. The actor portrayed Dr. Danny Perez only beginning with the second episode of the season, and fans learned quite a lot about him. Dr. Perez was a recovering addict, but after getting into a car accident in the finale, he was administered fentanyl, and his sobriety was bumped back down to Day 1. He made the tough decision to return home for his recovery. While his departure is definitely sad, he did have an open ending so it’s always possible that he will return to St. Bonaventure in the future.

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Many shows are getting an average 10-13 episodes for the upcoming season with the hopes to start sometime after the Thanksgiving holiday. Again, that all depends on the SAG-AFTRA strike. It should be interesting to see how The Good Doctor does with only 10 episodes. It’s hard to pack so much in with just 10 episodes, but it seems this will be the norm for the upcoming seasons for most shows.

Meanwhile, news has yet to come about potential spinoff, . Starring Nancy Drew‘s Kennedy McMann as a lawyer with OCD and Felicity Huffman, the series had its backdoor pilot during Season 6 when Shaun hired McMann’s Joni after he’s sued for malpractice. The legal drama is the only pilot still in contention at ABC, and it’s unknown when the network could be making a decision on it.

It will still be a while until The Good Doctor comes back. The 10-episode order may be a disappointment, but it’s not so much of a surprise because of the strikes. Considering the amount of shows that have been getting canceled or pulled from schedules lately, the 10 episodes are definitely a lot better than nothing.