The Rookie would be a fun show even if the only good thing about it was Nathan Fillion. But the rest of the cast, the compelling plotlines, and the sometimes humorous vibe all make it one of the most engaging procedurals. We’ve loved catching up with John Nolan and his colleagues since the show’s premiere on ABC in 2018.
It was tough to wait for The Rookie season 6 and now we won’t see The Rookie season 7 until 2025. While we try our best not to be overly upset about that news, we want to know: is there a spinoff of The Rookie?
The Rookie spinoff, explained
The Rookie has a spinoff called Rookie: Feds, which premiered on ABC on September 27th, 2022. The story revolves around Simone Clark (Niecy Nash-Betts) who, like Nathan Fillion’s beloved character John Fillion, is the oldest yet least-experienced special agent in the FBI.
Unfortunately for The Rookie fans who wanted more, Variety reported in November 2023 that CBS canceled Rookie: Feds. Fans only got to see one season, which consisted of 22 episodes.
While sometimes backdoor pilots are cheesy and just don’t work, fans learned about Rookie: Feds from two episodes of The Rookie. Nolan met Simone in season 4 episode 19, “Simone,” and episode 20, “Enervo.” In a moving scene, Nolan encourages Simone not to let anyone underestimate her.
While some spinoffs aren’t promising at all (we barely remember the awkward Ravenswood set in the Pretty Little Liars universe), we loved watching Simone. The spinoff had so much promise thanks to this strong character and the people in her world. Rookie: Feds also had some great characters in Laura Stensen (Britt Robertson), who was grieving her boyfriend’s betrayal while throwing herself into her work. There was also Simone’s father Cutty Clark (Frankie Faison), who spent Simone’s childhood in prison when he didn’t actually break the law.
In an interview with Goldderby.com, Niecy Nash-Betts said she was happy to be cast in Rookie: Feds because she loved the character and the premise. She explained, “I was like, ‘yes please, and thank you.’ A Black woman joining the FBI, being an equal opportunity lover and really enjoying her second act?”
Why was The Rookie spinoff Rookie: Feds canceled?
Considering how popular The Rookie is, it was shocking to learn that the spinoff Rookie: Feds was canceled. So many more stories about Simone could have been told. It sounds like this was a harsh reality of the 2023 WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Nathan Fillion said, “it made us all more grateful to see how fragile this industry is. It wasn’t anything that The Rookie: Feds did, it was the circumstances of the strike, and it was sobering knowing it could’ve been any of us. A lot of shows didn’t make it through that strike.”
In February 2024, Alexi Hawley said The Rookie spinoff was affected by “the consolidation of the industry, the economic impact of the streaming wars,” according to Deadline. Hawley said that saying the show ended due to the strike doesn’t tell the entire picture.
The cast and crew of Rookie: Feds had a long and difficult wait as in May 2023, when the strike began, they didn’t know what would happen. ABC made their decision in November 2023.
In an interview with TV Line, Nash-Betts shared that she would have enjoyed some Rookie: Feds season 2 storylines about Simone’s love life and how she gets along with her kids. We would have loved to see that too, which makes this cancelation sting even more.