One of ABC’s most successful procedural shows, The Rookie, now has another spin-off in the works at the network, but the track record for the franchise casts doubt on its success. The initial Rookie spin-off, The Rookie: Feds, aired in 2022, but only lasted one season before it was canceled. The Rookie and The Rookie: Feds both follow characters looking for their second act and joining law enforcement in middle age. While The Rookie is entering season 7, The Rookie: Feds struggled to capitalize on its parent show.
All is not lost for The Rookie universe, but it’s key that this new show learns from previous mistakes. The new The Rookie spinoff is set in Washington, where it will follow another older rookie cop, reminiscent of other procedural universes where each show takes place in a different city. While that’s typical, it’s important for the new spin-off to acknowledge the mistakes The Rookie: Feds made in order to avoid the same one-season fate and have a success story closer to The Rookie season 7.
The New Show Needs To Be Able To Stand Alone, Not Relying Only On The Rookie Fans
The Second Spin-Off Shouldn’t Use Another Backdoor Pilot
In order for this new The Rookie spin-off to really hold its own, it needs to reach and stand out to a wider audience. The Rookie: Feds didn’t get a normal one-episode pilot; instead, it got a backdoor pilot in The Rookie. The problem with a backdoor pilot is that the only viewers who were exposed to it were fans of The Rookie. While appealing to a built-in demographic can help a spin-off get off the ground, it is not enough to keep a show running. The pilot episode is crucial to getting an audience on board, and limiting it to only those watching The Rookie is exactly that: limiting.
Rather than doing the same, the new show needs to have its own standalone pilot in order to reach people who haven’t seen The Rookie. The new spin-off not being directly connected to the parent show may reach an audience that may not have liked the original show. It’s also important that the advertisements for the spin-off are shown outside The Rookie episodes. The Rookie fanbase will already know about the new show, so it’s important that the spin-off spends its energy targeting new demographics.
The Spin-Off Should Keep The Core Elements Of The Rookie That Work
The Character Dynamics Are Key
One staple aspect of The Rookie that works really well is that it follows an ensemble of characters in law enforcement in L.A. A wider cast allows for characters of different backgrounds and contrasting work ethics to come together. Having this variety of characters is important for the spin-off because some of the original show’s humor comes from, for example, watching noble John Nolan interact with slacker Smitty. An ensemble cast also gives the audience more chances to relate to and cheer on the characters, which keeps them watching each week.
An ensemble cast also gives the audience more chances to relate to and cheer on the characters, which keeps them watching each week.
Having these kinds of characters only works if there is a location where they would realistically interact with one another. The Rookie: Feds taking place in the FBI makes it harder to get the characters into silly shenanigans since they are held to a higher standard. Having the spin-off take place in another city’s precinct will allow more off-beat characters to naturally exist together. This second chance for a Rookie spin-off could allow it to capture the magic The Rookie had while avoiding the mistakes of The Rookie: Feds.
