The doctors are scrubbing out for good. ABC’s hit medical show, The Good Doctor, is ending after Season 7. The upcoming final season will be returning in February 2024 following production delays from the now-resolved Hollywood strikes.
The Good Doctor premiered on ABC in 2017 and has consistently ranked as the number one series in the Monday 10 p.m. slot in the adults 18-49 demographic, according to ABC. However, the series averaged 6.24 million viewers for Season 6, down from 7.05 million viewers for Season 5, per Nielsen’s seven-day ratings.
The show starred Freddie Highmore as Dr. Shaun Murphy, a gifted and autistic surgical resident at the San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital. Chuku Modu, Richard Schiff, Will Yun Lee, Fiona Gubelmann, Christina Chang, Paige Spara, Bria Samoné Henderson, and Noah Galvin also star in the now-canceled series.
“Playing Dr. Shaun Murphy has been an immense privilege and one of the most remarkable and rewarding experiences of my life,” Highmore said in a statement, per Variety. “I will always be grateful to David, Liz, and Erin as well as the hugely talented – and lovely – cast, writers, and crew who made this show possible. Caring deeply is what got us here. Thank you to Sony and ABC, and to everyone who has watched along at home. With love from Vancouver… tequila, stat!”
Although the series had six successful seasons, executive producers and showrunners David Shore and Liz Feldman, and executive producer Erin Gunn, felt that it was “time to say goodbye.”
“We are incredibly proud of the work we’ve done and the message we’ve been privileged to be a part of. We look forward to giving our fantastic fans, the truly extraordinary Freddie Highmore, the rest of our talented actors (and friends), and the best crew in the business the series ending that you all deserve. Thank you, Sony; thank you, ABC; thank you all,” the executives said in a statement.
In November, ABC canceled The Good Doctor spinoff The Good Lawyer before the show began. The series earned a backdoor pilot order last year and was set to star Kennedy McMann and Felicity Huffman. At the same time, ABC also shut down The Rookie: Feds spinoff after one season. (Hopefully spinoffs will have a better year in 2024.)
The news of The Good Doctor’s cancelation comes after the major networks axed numerous primetime shows. ABCs firefighter spinoff Station 19 will end with its upcoming season, as well as the CBS shows like Blue Bloods, Young Sheldon, SWAT, and Bob Hearts Abishola. Meanwhile, NBC canceled La Brea and the Magnum P.I. reboot.
