The Rookie is going international with its new season, and that season picks up exactly when we expected it to. ABC has announced its midseason return dates, and there’s a lot coming back in January.
It was disappointing to hear that The Rookie season 8 would be held until 2026, but that also wasn’t surprising. After all, the straight run for season 7 in 2025 was a great boost for the show, because consistency is key when it comes to loyal followers.
So, it wasn’t surprising to hear that ABC wanted to do the same thing with season 8. Now we have a lot to look forward to.
The Rookie season 8 premieres just as we expected it to
Just like with The Rookie season 7, we’ll kick off the new year in style. The Rookie season 8 will premiere on Tuesday, Jan. 6, and it will take the last timeslot of the night. Will Trent and High Potential will air before it, creating a night of quirky crime dramedy that worked so well to kickoff 2025. Of course, ABC was going to do it again.
After a few weeks, The Rookie did move to the 9/8c timeslot. That was because High Potential aired its season finale earlier than everything else, but we’re not going to see that happen as early this time. While the first season only had 13 episodes, the second season will have 18, so there are still 11 episodes to air. It will mean eventually The Rookie is sure to move forward an hour, but that’s not been discussed just yet.
While the plan was to not have any breaks, we are interested in ABC’s plans with the Winter Olympics. It seems a little shortsighted to go up against the Winter Olympic Games, which will air on NBC, but is it possible that the Tuesday shows have enough loyal followers to do it? We could see a short break here.
The Rookie is going international
The first teaser promo is out for The Rookie season 8, and it tells us one thing: the show is going international. For the first time, the team is heading to Europe to work on a mission with the Feds. Bradford would like Nolan to do his own best — not Nolan’s best, but Bradford’s best! — as they tackle these dangerous criminals.
Is it possible that all of this is linked to Monica, who managed to make a deal to secure her release? She was certainly confident in walking past Nolan and others at the end of The Rookie season 7, but it looks like there will be something she does in Europe to take her down once more.
The Rookie season 8 premieres on Tuesday, Jan. 6 at 10/9c on ABC.
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