The Rookie: Feds Cancelled By ABC Months After Season 1 Finale, But Is That The End Of Niecy Nash's Simone Clark?
The first season of The Rookie: Feds came to an end back in May, and the entertainment industry was at a standstill over the months that followed due to the WGA writers strike followed by the SAG-AFTRA actors strike. Fans had to wait more than six months to find out if Simone Clark and Co. would get a second season, and the news finally broke on the same day that the actors strike ended. Niecy Nash's The Rookie spinoff has been cancelled after one season.
In addition to ABC cancelling The Rookie: Feds, Deadline reports that The Good Lawyer isn't moving forward as a spinoff of The Good Doctor. That's less of a blow, however, as The Good Lawyer didn't get further than a backdoor pilot, whereas Niecy Nash's show went from backdoor pilot to a 22-episode season with some crossovers with The Rookie. While the Season 1 finale – which is now the series finale – didn't end on a cliffhanger, it did feel like it was missing something. Fortunately, the cancellation doesn't have to mean that we've seen the last of Nash as Simone Clark.
The Rookie was renewed back in April, with weeks left before the bloody Season 5 finale that set up some serious problems for Season 6. There was no crossover with Feds, and John Nolan and Co. presumably have their plates full to start the sixth season (with or without Nathan Fillion's Tom Selleck-worthy mustache), but I'm hoping that The Rookie delivers some closure for Simone and the other Feds characters.
Niecy Nash, who previously said that she felt good about the future of Feds, could definitely fit right into The Rookie as a guest star in Season 6. The actress even already opened up about what she wanted to happen for Simone in a second season. While all of her wishes almost certainly couldn't come true as a guest star as opposed to leading lady of her own show, the end of Feds doesn't have to mean the end of Nash in the Rookie universe.
If The Rookie and Feds were a little more similar, I might even pitch the idea of Niecy Nash joining the original series as a regular cast member, but it's hard to imagine the show finding a way to continue Simone's journey as a rookie FBI agent while also telling the stories of Chenford, Lopez, Nolan, and all the rest.
Interestingly, The Rookie was on the list of shows expected to begin production in late November for the 2024 TV schedule; surely there's time to plan a special episode or two to bring Nash back as Simone to finish her story a little more than the Season 1 finale of Feds, right? I hope so, anyway!
If you're still mourning the spinoff and aren't quite ready to move on and start hoping to see Niecy Nash reprise her role on The Rookie, you can always revisit the full first season of The Rookie: Feds streaming with a Hulu subscription. Nathan Fillion's series is available on the streamer as well, so you can also check out all the Rookie crossovers with Feds as well.
