The Rookie (TV series)
The Rookie is an American police procedural crime drama television series created for ABC by Alexi Hawley. The series follows John Nolan, a man in his forties, who becomes the oldest rookie at the Los Angeles Police Department. The series is produced by ABC Studios and Entertainment One; it is based on real-life Los Angeles Police Department officer William Norcross, who moved to Los Angeles in 2015 and joined the department in his mid-40s. The series stars Nathan Fillion, Alyssa Diaz, Richard T. Jones, Titus Makin Jr., Mercedes Mason, Melissa O'Neil, Afton Williamson, Mekia Cox , Shawn Ashmore and Eric Winter. "The Rookie" premiered on October 16, 2018. The first season ran until April 16, 2019. The second season ran from September 29, 2019, to May 10, 2020. The third season ran from January 3 to May 16, 2021. In May 2021, the series was renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on September 26, 2021. A pilot for an FBI spin-off was ordered in February 2022. In March 2022, the series was renewed for a fifth season. Premise. The series follows John Nolan, a forty year old newly divorced man from Pennsylvania, who, after  inadvertently helping police officers during a bank robbery, moves to Los Angeles to pursue a new career as a police officer in the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). After graduating from the Police Academy as the oldest rookie on the force, Nolan must navigate the dangerous, unpredictable nature of his job and is determined to make it in his new career despite the challenges. Series lead Nathan Fillion stated during an interview that the drama was inspired by a true story as the LAPD is one of just two agencies that accepts new officers over the age of 37. The  man whose story inspired the premise of the show was later revealed to be Bill Norcross, who continues to serve in the LAPD and also as executive producer on "The Rookie". Production. Development. On October 26, 2017, ABC announced a straight-to-series order for "The Rookie", starring "Castle" star Nathan Fillion, and written by "Castle" executive producer and co-showrunner Alexi Hawley. Fillion and Hawley serve as executive producers, along with Mark Gordon, Nicholas Pepper, Michelle Chapman, and Jon Steinberg. The series is produced by ABC Studios and The Mark Gordon Company, and premiered on October 16, 2018. On  November 5, 2018, "The Rookie" was picked up for full season of 20 episodes. On May 10, 2019, ABC renewed the series for a second season which premiered on September 29, 2019. On October 28, 2019, the series received a full season order of 20 episodes for the second season. On May 21, 2020, ABC renewed the series for a third season which premiered on January 3, 2021. On May 14, 2021, ABC renewed the series for a fourth season, which premiered on September 26, 2021. On March 30, 2022, ABC renewed the series for a fifth season. Casting. With  the series order in October 2017, Fillion was cast as John Nolan. On February 7, 2018, Afton Williamson and Eric Winter were cast as Talia Bishop and Tim Bradford, respectively. They were shortly followed by Melissa O'Neil as Lucy Chen, Richard T. Jones as Sergeant Wade Grey, Titus Makin as Jackson West, Alyssa Diaz as Angela Lopez, and Mercedes Mason as Captain Zoe Andersen. On August 4, 2019, it was announced that Williamson would not be returning for the second season due to the alleged racial discrimination, sexual harassment, and sexual assault she suffered during the first season. On October  2, 2019, Mekia Cox joined the cast as a new series regular, Nyla Harper, for the second season. Filming. In January 2018, Liz Friedlander signed on to direct and executive produce the pilot. Production on the pilot began on March 7, 2018, with filming taking place in Los Angeles, Oxnard, Burbank and New York City. On April 15, 2021, police received a call of a possible shooting while filming was taking place between Hartford Avenue and West 5th Street in Los Angeles. Three gunshots were heard by various eyewitnesses and the production crew confirmed no one from the show was  injured during the incident. Filming in the area was shut down as a result of the reports but filming continued at other already scheduled locations. Following the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on October 21, 2021, on the set of the film "Rust", live weapons were banned from "The Rookie" while filming. Prior to the ban, the series occasionally used quarter or half rounds on large outdoor set pieces. Showrunner Alexi Hawley stated that "any risk is too much risk" and explained that, going forward, only airsoft guns would be used, with muzzle flashes being added in post production using  computer-generated imagery. On-set misconduct and harassment allegations. On July 26, 2019, "TVLine" reported that Afton Williamson, who portrays Talia Bishop, would not be returning for the second season. While the outlet initially claimed that the split was amicable, Williamson, in a lengthy Instagram post, stated that she had left the series due to having "experienced racial discrimination/racially charged inappropriate comments from the hair department." Williamson also alleged that she was sexually harassed by guest star Demetrius Grosse, who portrays Kevin Wolfe in a recurring role, as well as an incident of bullying that escalated into sexual assault  at a party; the head of the hair department was identified as Sallie Ciganovich. Williamson claimed that she had gone to the showrunners multiple times with these allegations, but was ignored. Everyone involved in the allegations denied them. An investigation was commissioned through the law firm Mitchell Sillerberg and Knupp along with a third-party firm, EXTTI, which conducted nearly 400 hours of interviews and examined video and other evidence. The results of the investigation were published on September 17, 2019, which found that the allegations made by Williamson had no merit and could not be proven. Williamson stood by  her claims, calling the results of the investigation "heartbreaking" and postulated that the producers had lied to cover up the truth of what happened. Release. Broadcast. "The Rookie" is broadcast in the United States on ABC. The first season aired on Tuesday, while the second season aired on Sunday. "The Rookie" has been licensed in more than 180 countries and territories. Home media. The first season was released on DVD in Region1 on August27, 2019, and in Region4 (Australia) on January22, 2020. Potential spin-off. On February 8, 2022, ABC ordered a pilot for a planned FBI spin-off of  the series starring Niecy Nash. It will be introduced in a two-episode backdoor pilot during the fourth season. On March 9, 2022, Kat Foster and Felix Solis joined the cast of the spin-off. Also that month, Frankie Faison joined the cast. Reception. Critical response. The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 68% approval rating with an average rating of 6.33/10 based on 22 reviews for the first season. The website's consensus reads, "Nathan Fillion's reliably likable presence makes "The Rookie" worth tuning in, even if the show around him isn't particularly memorable." Metacritic, which  uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 64 out of 100 based on 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".