ABC is sending John Nolan to a new night. The network announced at New York Comic Con that The Rookie will return for its ninth season on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2027 at 9 PM, a new night and a new time period for Nathan Fillion’s hit procedural. A date teaser dropped alongside the news, reminding fans that the season opens with the team racing to find Tim and Lucy after their abduction at the end of season 8.
The same night belongs to the spinoff. The Rookie: North premieres at 10 PM, immediately following the mothership, and both shows stream on Hulu the day after they air. Jay Ellis leads the spinoff as Alex Holland, a late-blooming rookie joining the Pierce County Police Department in the Pacific Northwest, with Chris Sullivan, Karen Fukuhara, Froy Gutierrez, Janet Montgomery, Mya Lowe and Malik Watson rounding out the cast.
The franchise is stacking its deck for the launch. Troian Bellisario, who directed the season 8 episode The Thinker, joins season 9 as a guest star playing Nolan’s new rookie, a single mother of two rebuilding her life, showrunner Alexi Hawley said at the panel. Felix Solis is also set to cross over from The Rookie: Fed into the new series.