ABC Renews "The Rookie"
by Peter White
May 21, 2020


"The Rookie" returns for season 3 on ABC.

https://deadline.com/2020/05/abc-renewals-stumptown-mixed-ish-2020-21-season-a-million-little-things-the-conners-the-goldbergs-the-rookie-the-bachelor-dancing-with-the-stars-renewed-1202940807/

LAPD cop show The Rookie to address police brutality in Season 3 (https://deadline.com/2020/06/abc-the-rookie-police-brutality-season-3-1202961047/)

ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke tells Deadline that in wake of the George Floyd police brutality protests, The Rookie creator Alexi Hawley has brought in a number of experts to discuss the issues around policing in America in 2020. “Alexi Hawley is a really thoughtful ally and partner and has been in the writers’ room for some time, already planning to address the current conversation going on around police work,” she said. “I’m impressed with his thoughtfulness and leadership about hearing and adapting the current conversations to the storylines. It’s a diverse writers room and I’m hearing that the conversations going on in that room are inspired and give me hope that that show will address and not ignore the conversations around policing.”

The Rookie creator promises a "warts and all" portrayal of the LAPD and police brutality in Season 3 (https://deadline.com/2020/12/the-rookie-alexi-hawley-season-3-police-brutality-nathan-fillion-1234619226/)

During a panel today, creator Alexi Hawley said the police killing of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests last summer "gave us a rare opportunity to really get into a lot of different topics. To talk about so many different aspects of policing – from stuff that happens on the streets to the stuff that happens on the stations, warts and all of the LAPD and policing in general, how hard it is to fire a bad cop, to make change in the system.” To ensure The Rookie properly tackled race and police brutality, The Rookie enlisted Arisha Hatch of Color of Change, which released a report earlier this year (https://colorofchange.org/press_release/normalizing-injustice-new-landmark-study-by-color-of-change-reveals-how-crime-tv-shows-distort-understanding-of-race-and-the-criminal-justice-system/) on TV's pro-police bias, to help with the new season. ALSO: Brandon Routh is joining The Rookie as a polarizing veteran officer (https://deadline.com/2020/12/brandon-routh-cast-abc-the-rookie-recurring-season-2eason-3-1234636786/).