With two lot of uncertainty in TV right now, including when The Good Doctor will come back to ABC. When does The Good Doctor return for Season 7? Here’s when you might see Shaun and the rest of your favorites again.
The Good Doctor is ABC’s medical drama following Dr. Shaun Murphy, a young autistic surgeon, who relocates from the small town of Casper, Wyoming, to take a job at the esteemed San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital in San Jose, California. Shaun also has savant syndrome, a rare condition in which a person with a developmental condition, such as autism, has an amazing talent or ability, according to the SSM Health Treffert Center, which also notes that savant syndrome can be congenital or acquired later in childhood or adulthood.
The show premiered in September 2017 and wrapped up its sixth season in May 2023. In April 2023, ABC renewed The Good Doctor for Season 7. Under normal circumstances, the upcoming season would premiere in early October 2023… but that’s not the case this year. Why? The writers and actors behind The Good Doctor are not allowed to work union jobs and many of them are at the picket lines supporting SAG-AFTRA and the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA).
For context: On July 13, 2023, the national board of the Hollywood actors’ union SAG-AFTRA approved to strike. The union represents 160,000 television and movie actors. During the strike, actors are not allowed to work union jobs, promote their respective films and shows, attend press junkets and premieres and more. The actors’ strike comes two months after the WGA began their strike on May 2, 2023. The demands requested by the actors and writers are similar: They want better compensation for TV shows and movies, increased residual payments for their work on streaming services and regulations on artificial intelligence.
The Good Doctor actors are voicing their support on social media for the newly launched SAG-AFTRA strike. Christina Chang, who portrays Dr. Audrey Lim on the medical show, recently shared a photo carrying a “SAG-AFTRA On Strike!” sign. “Still going. Until we all get a fair deal, we keep on keepin’ on. @sagaftra @wgawest @wgaeast #sagaftrastrong #strike,” she penned alongside her post.
Daniel Dae Kim, best known for playing Dr. Jackson Han on The Good Doctor, shared multiple photos of his striking efforts with SAG-AFTRA. “A little insight into the @sagaftra strike and why it’s worth supporting. Thank you to @officialfrandrescher, @duncanci, @_justinebateman_ and our entire leadership team for fighting for all of us, especially those who are doing their best to try and make a living doing what we love as actors,” he wrote in one of the posts explaining what actors’ union is fighting for.
So, when does The Good Doctor Season 7 come back and why is it missing from ABC’s fall schedule? Here’s what we know.
When does The Good Doctor return for Season 7?
When does The Good Doctor return for Season 7? We’re not sure, but Season 7 of The Good Doctor will likely receive a mid-season premiere in early 2024. ABC has not yet announced premiere dates for The Good Doctor and its scripted primetime programs, including 9-1-1, Grey’s Anatomy, The Rookie, Will Trent and more.
In May 2023, sources told Variety that the ABC left The Good Doctor and its other scripted programs off the fall lineup because of the writers’ strike (which now includes the actors’ strike too). Typically, primetime shows start production for the upcoming season in the mid-summer to keep on pace for a fall premiere. In previous years, new seasons of The Good Doctor aired in early October. It looks like ABC predicted that production delays were imminent and delayed its scripted shows right off the bat.
Insiders told our sister site that instead, the network invested in “credible strike-proof” content for the fall, including Dancing With the Stars, Bachelor in Paradise, Shark Tank, the new unscripted series The Golden Bachelor and more. They’re also planning to air reruns of the Emmy-winning comedy, Abbott Elementary.
When the new season of The Good Doctor does return to ABC, it could look slightly different than past seasons. For example, seasons could have less episodes due to decreased production times. (When the WGA went on strike from November 2007 to February 2008, shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Bones, Scrubs and Friday Night Lights all experienced episode cuts, according to Movie Web.) Leaders on both sides of the strike say that they’re in it for the long haul – so it’s likely that filming won’t resume for a while.
