Niecy Nash-Betts is speaking out about the shocking cancellation of The Rookie: Feds.
As previously reported, the ABC procedural was canceled before a planned second season.
The cancellation news broke six months after the conclusion of The Rookie: Feds Season 1, and now, the actress is speaking out about the decision.
Nash took to Instagram in the aftermath of the cancellation, sharing a video filled with behind-the-scenes moments from her time on the series.
Of course, the clip also includes many of the star’s costars.
“When cast & crew becomes family, the journey NEVER ends…. See y’all on the other side,” she captioned the video.
The actress revealed all 22 episodes of the series will remain on Hulu and indicated that the series was a casualty of the strike.
When The Rookie: Feds debuted last fall on ABC, it struggled to match up to The Rookie’s success.
As the season progressed, the show found its footing and the TV ratings improved when it was shifted to air out of the parent series.
By the time The Rookie: Feds Season 1 Episode 22 aired, there was enthusiasm from fans for more episodes.
Sadly, ABC opted to keep the show on the bubble until the resolution of both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
With the strikes both lasting months, there was always a risk that ABC would have too much content on deck for early 2024.
None of the network’s planned scripted series for the fall could air, so heading into 2024, we have the likes of The Good Doctor, The Rookie, Grey’s Anatomy, Station 19, 9-1-1, and Will Trent on deck.
When marginally-rated shows are off the air for extended periods of time, there’s always that worry that the viewers won’t return.
That likely factored in ABC’s decision to cancel The Rookie: Feds.
There was an audience for the series, but continuing the momentum from airing the series with The Rookie would be difficult.
While we may see some characters from The Rookie: Feds on the parent series to help wrap things up, it may not be for a while.
According to reports, we’re looking at around 10 episodes for The Rookie Season 6.
With such a large ensemble, serving all of The Rookie’s characters will be difficult, never mind any of the spinoff’s cast.
As a result, we shouldn’t hold out for any crossovers during the upcoming season, but maybe we’ll be rewarded with some snippets about Simone and her team in passing.
That’s about all we can hope for at this stage.
The cast of The Rookie: Feds also included Frankie Faison, James Lesure, Britt Robertson, Felix Solis, and Kevin Zegers.
ABC also nixed the planned Good Doctor spinoff.
The Good Lawyer was set to star Kennedy McMann and Felicity Huffman as lawyers.
They were both introduced on The Good Doctor Season 6 Episode 16, with the episode securing decent viewership and a warm response from fans.
Had ABC not been struggling with too many shows due to the strikes, there’s a good chance it would have been on the network’s 2023-24 schedule alongside The Rookie: Feds.
Related: The Rookie Season 6: Everything We Know
Kaitlin Olson’s High Potential drama, which was initially on track for the current season, has been postponed to fall 2024 with a series order.
We expect most other broadcast networks to make controversial decisions as production plans for returning series are ironed out in the coming weeks.
What are your thoughts on Niecy’s response to her show cancellation?
Do you think it was the wrong decision?
Hit the comments below.
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Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on X.
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