‘The Rookie: Feds’ Canceled, ‘The Good Lawyer’ Not Moving Forward at ABC

The Rookie: Feds has been canceled after one season, and ABC isn’t moving forward with its The Good Doctor spinoff series, The Good Lawyer.

The Rookie spinoff series, which premiered on Tuesday, September 27, has been in TV limbo for six months, awaiting news one way or the other. 

“In mid-July — sensing that the WGA strike and then-new actors’ strike would complicate matters — ABC and its sister studio put a contractual hold on Feds‘ primary cast for a potential Season 2,” according to TV Line. ABC renewed The Rookie for Season 6, which will include its landmark 100th episode, in April 2023.

After a historic fight for fair deals, the Writers Guild of America’s strike ended at 12:01 am PT on Wednesday, September 27, and SAG-AFTRA’s strike ended at 12:01 am PT on Thursday, November 9, after reaching tentative deals with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

Niecy Nash-Betts first made her debut as Simone Clark, the oldest rookie in the FBI Academy, on The Rookie Season 4 Episode 19, “Simone,” and The Rookie Season 4 Episode 20, “Enervo.”

The Rookie: Feds also starred Frankie R. Faison as Christopher “Cutty” Clark, James Lesure as Carter Hope, Britt Robertson as Laura Stensen, Felix Solis as Special Agent Matthew Garza, and Kevin Zegers as Brendon Acres.

The ABC show came from co-creators, co-showrunners, and executive producers Alexi Hawley and Terence Paul Winter, with Mark Gordon, Niecy Nash-Betts, Nathan Fillion, Michelle Chapman, Bill Norcross, Corey Miller, Michael Goi, and Bibby Dunn executive producing.

Entertainment One (eOne) is the lead studio and international distributor of The Rookie: Feds, a co-production with ABC Signature, a part of Disney Television Studios.

Additionally, Variety reports that ABC has scrapped plans to advance with The Good Lawyer, starring Kennedy McMann and Felicity Huffman. The Good Doctor introduced both characters on Season 6 Episode 13, “The Good Lawyer,” on March 13, 2023.

On the episode that aired eight months ago, Freddie Highmore’s Dr. Shaun Murphy meets McMann’s Joni DeGroot, “an aspiring attorney whose struggles with obsessive compulsive disorder kept her from practicing law,” when he needs help to clear his name in a malpractice lawsuit, per TV Line.

David Shore and Liz Friedman wrote the backdoor pilot that also introduced Joni’s “own, Glassman-like mentor Janet,” portrayed by Huffman. Sony Pictures Television and ABC Signature produced The Good Lawyer.

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The Rookie: Feds Season 1 is streaming on Hulu.

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