For a successful seven seasons, The Rookie has kept viewers on the edge of their seats. Tim was struggling to accept the consequences of his own actions and learned to trust people after getting burned in Season 6. There was also a dramatic arc for Nolan and Bailey, the latter played by Jenna Dewan, where Bailey struggled with her abusive past relationship.
With the recent announcement that The Rookie has been renewed by ABC, fans have been very excited. Season 7 was well-received by viewers and ratings were high on streaming services. This led to ABC confirming that John Nolan, Lucy Chen, and other cast members would be returning for Season 8. However, fans might be bummed when they find out how long they will have to wait until it premieres.
Season 8 Of The Rookie Won’t Be Premiering Until January Of Next Year
The Season 7 finale of The Rookie has left fans with a lot of questions and the anticipation is on for Season 8. Viewers were eager to see what major changes were underway at LAPD Mid-Wilshire. Lucy Chen finally became a sergeant, but she got stuck working the night shift. However, Lucy’s on-and-off boyfriend, Tim Bradford, doesn’t seem to mind. He decides to make her an offer when she wakes up after she falls asleep.
John Nolan and Nyla Harper discovered a fugitive tied to LAPD Mid-Wilshire’s well-known enemy, the imprisoned Monica Stevens. However, the unexpected plot twist came when FBI Agent Matthew Garza revealed Monica was let out of jail after she gave the government secretive intel. It’s not known what that intel is, though, and fans can’t help but speculate.
With all the twists and turns, it really does feel like The Rookie is just getting started. Plus, fans have reason to be excited after the show was renewed for another season. However, fans will be disappointed once they find out that Season 8 of The Rookie won’t be premiering in the fall of 2025. In fact, it most likely won’t begin airing until the midseason of 2026. Following the reports about this unfortunate news, Reddit users began airing their grievances online.
“Darn! Now we’re gonna have to wait through the summer through the fall and halfway through the winter before we get rookie S8E1. Looks like I’ll be doing a rewatch of the whole series through the whole time,” a fan commented. “I figured this would be the case but it still sucks,” someone else replied. “I can’t wait a year 😔 Super excited for season 8 though!” another user wrote.
However, TV Line is reporting that there is a reason for the delay. The outlet is reporting that Season 8 of The Rookie and Season 4 of Will Trent will premiere on ABC sometime in January 2026. By this time, the seasons will be “uninterrupted” for 18 episodes once they begin airing. Otherwise, there would be long breaks, as is often the case when shows begin airing in the fall. This also shouldn’t come as a surprise, since Season 7 of The Rookie didn’t begin airing until January 2025.
Still, the show’s seventh season no doubt opened up a world of possibilities as to what could happen next season. Showrunner Alexi Hawley spoke with TV Line and revealed that devoted viewers will feel like the new season will pick up right where things left off.
“I think [The Rookie Season 8 will] be fairly continuous — not literally next day, but within a fairly short amount of time,” Alexi said. “There’s some time-sensitive stuff that we left hanging, that feels like we should [resolve soon] for the audience. I don’t think we should jump forward too far in time.”
