The Rookie will return for its ninth season on Wednesday, January 6, 2027, at 9/8c on ABC. Nathan Fillion announced the date at New York Comic Con on Sunday. It will be followed at 10/9c by the series premiere of the spinoff The Rookie: North, headlined by Jay Ellis, Deadline reports. Both shows stream on Hulu the next day.
The Season 9 premiere is a two-parter. A sizzle reel shown at the panel suggested the season picks up with John Nolan and the team on a mission to rescue LAPD officers Tim Bradford (Eric Winter) and Lucy Chen (Melissa O'Neil), who were kidnapped in the Season 8 finale cliffhanger. That finale aired on May 4.
The panel also announced guest stars. Troian Bellisario, who directed the Season 8 episode "The Thinker," will play Nolan's new rookie, Stephanie Monroe, a single mom of two who is rebuilding her life. Andy Allo will guest star in North as Brooke, a first-year ER resident who forms a connection with Ellis's rookie police officer, Give Me My Remote reports.
North is set in the Pacific Northwest and shoots in Vancouver, while The Rookie is set and filmed in Los Angeles. The move to Wednesdays is the show's eighth time-period change, Deadline notes, and the show will run in a block with its spinoff. Production on Season 9 began on July 21, according to showrunner Alexi Hawley, who described the premiere script as fun, romantic and emotional with a lot of action.
- Deadline: 'The Rookie' Season 9 & Spinoff 'North' Get Premiere Dates, Teaser & Guest Stars
- CBR: The Rookie Continues 3-Season Trend With New ABC Return Date
- Give Me My Remote: ABC Sets THE ROOKIE Season 9, THE ROOKIE: NORTH Series Premiere Date
- Collider: ABC's 'The Rookie' Confirms 2027 Return With New Filming Update