Ever since Castle, ABC’s hugely popular police procedural, went off the air two years ago, star Nathan Fillion has been keeping busy with regular television roles in Santa Clarita Diet, Modern Family and Big Mouth. This week, he returns with a new lead in The Rookie, and yes, it’s another police procedural. Here’s what you need to know ahead of The Rookie premiere.
What is The Rookie about?
Created by Alexi Hawley, who also worked with Fillion on Castle, the new series follows John Nolan (Fillion), a newly divorced many from smalltown Pennsylvania who decides to make a big change to his life. Said change comes in the form of moving across the country to Los Angeles and joining the ranks of the city’s police department as its oldest-ever rookie.
The Rookie cast
Joining Nolan’s second chance, albeit reluctantly, is a group of fellow rookie cops and their training officers, many of whom see the newest recruit’s efforts to start anew as a potentially dangerous midlife crisis. Nolan’s training officer in particular, the newly promoted Talia Bishop (Afton Williamson), is none too pleased to be working with an older, slower man. Neither is Wade Grey (Richard T. Jones), an overbearing police sergeant who constantly butts heads with the recruit.
As run-of-the-mill as Hawley and Fillion’s new series might sound, however, ABC has been fully supporting the endeavor from day one. One year prior, the network ordered The Rookie to series without having seen a pilot. This may indicate just how good the pair’s original pitch was. That, or Hawley and Fillion’s attachment to the project probably made ABC jump through hoops to grab it before someone else did. Besides, Castle regularly garnered huge ratings for them.
In either case, The Rookie premiere is sure to attract plenty of eyeballs to ABC. And yes, Fillion’s undeniable charm and humor will surely be a big part of its initial drawl, but the series may very well endear itself to viewers for its more dramatic effects.
Based on a true story, The Rookie suggests that Nolan’s quest to become a bona fide member of the Los Angeles Police Department won’t devolve into a weekly collection of procedural gags. The character’s efforts to reinvent himself are ripe with narrative possibilities, for one, but that’s not where Hawley and company will solely be resting their laurels.
As early trailers have indicated, the show will also utilize a combination of body camera cinematography (with allusions to current police practices and abuses) and real-world situations to elevate what it is that Nolan (and the audience at home cheering him on) is going through. Whether or not these and other of Hawley’s tricks prove effective in the long run remains to be seen, but with Fillion leading The Rookie, it will most likely succeed.
When is The Rookie premiere?
The Rookie premiere is set for Tuesday, Oct. 16, at 10 p.m. on ABC.
How to watch The Rookie premiere
The Rookie premiere will first air on ABC, and can also be streamed live on the ABC app via iOS, Android, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Android TV, Roku and Samsung Tizen. You can the show’s debut live on Hulu Live TV and YouTube TV if you are subscribed to those services.
You can also watch reruns of The Rookie premiere as well as subsequent episodes on Hulu beginning Wednesday, Oct. 17.
The Rookie trailer
