‘The Rookie’ Season 6 Will Be Its Shortest Ever

Season 6 of the procedural will be getting just 10 episodes.

November 7, 2023, 5:44pm

THE ROOKIE – "Daddy Cop" – In the midst of a heatwave and a citywide blackout, Officer John Nolan and Aaron follow increasingly large leads after they discover criminals hiding at the station. While on duty, Officer Chen makes an alarming discovery after being called to a scene where a pungent smell has wreaked havoc. Meanwhile, Lucy and Harper scheme to get Tim out of his new job and into a more exciting position on an all-new episode of "The Rookie," TUESDAY, JAN. 24 (10:00-11:00 p.m. EST), on ABC. (ABC/Gilles Mingasson)<br>ARJAY SMITH, MEKIA COX, MELISSA O'NEIL, ALYSSA DIAZ, JENNA DEWAN, NATHAN FILLION

The upcoming season of is going to be its shortest season yet. The series has been on hiatus due to the strikes, but with the WGA strike ending, shows were able to start up productions again for the writers’ rooms. Although the SAG-AFTRA strike is still ongoing, that isn’t stopping networks from creating plans for highly-anticipated new seasons. According to TVLine, the procedural is expected to get only 10 episodes for Season 6, along with fellow ABC dramas Grey’s Anatomy, Station 19, and The Good Doctor.

Season 6 will mark the shortest season of The Rookie ever. Season 3 only had 14 episodes due to starting late because of COVID, but other than that, the episode orders have been either 20 for the first two seasons or 22 for the previous two seasons. One good thing to come out of the upcoming season, though, is that while the season will be short, it will still be marking a big milestone. The second episode of the season will be The Rookie‘s 100th episode, so at least fans can still look forward to that.

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Season 5 of . After getting ambushed, Tru Valentino’s Aaron Thorsen was shot and was in critical condition. By the episode’s end, there was a code blue called, and fans were left wondering what happened. On the bright side, Alyssa Diaz’s Angela Lopez and Shawn Ashmore’s Wesley Evers welcomed their baby girl. It was an emotional roller coaster for the characters and fans. Season 6 will likely be the same way, and with only 10 episodes, who knows what all will be included.

Meanwhile, fans are still waiting on news for The Rookie: Feds. The Niecy Nash-Betts-led spinoff has yet to be renewed for a second season or canceled. Following ABC’s cancellation of in September, it was expected that the network could be making an announcement on Feds soon. As of now, there’s no telling when ABC will make a decision on the series and which way they are leaning.

It will be hard for The Rookie to pack so much in with just 10 episodes, but hopefully, nothing is too rushed, like Aaron’s storyline. It will be interesting to see how it turns out, as it’s definitely better than nothing. Fans will just have to tune in when The Rookie returns for Season 6 in 2024.