The Pearsons' story is continuing on for at least three more seasons at NBC.
No shocker here: The Pearsons will be staying put at NBC for a while.
This Is Us has been given a huge three-season renewal by the network, which has rewarded broadcast television's top-rated drama with a hefty pickup on Sunday ahead of its Upfront presentation, ET has learned. As a result, the series will remain on the air for seasons four, five and six, keeping it at NBC through at least 2022. Each season will feature 18 episodes.
It is unclear whether the sixth season for This Is Us will be its last, though the creative team behind the series has suggested that it could be. "Dan [Fogelman] is a maestro and has a plan with this show," Paul Telegdy, Co-Chairman at NBC Entertainment, told reporters on a press call Sunday morning, when asked whether these next three seasons are it.
Created by Fogelman, This Is Us centers on the Pearsons and their loved ones at various points of the family's history. Led by Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, Justin Hartley, Chrissy Metz and Susan Kelechi Watson, the hour-long family drama debuted in 2016 to near universal acclaim and has become an awards darling, collecting Emmy, SAG Awards and AFI Program of the Year honors.
“In a television landscape with nearly 500 original scripted series, there are very few, if any, that have the critical and cultural impact of This Is Us and we couldn’t be more proud to bring fans three more seasons of a show that so well represents the NBC brand,” said Lisa Katz and Tracey Pakosta, Presidents of Scripted Programming at NBC Entertainment. “A huge thank you and congratulations to our executive producers, cast and crew who reach new heights every week with the show’s inventive and compelling storytelling.”
While ratings have gone down in its most recent season, This Is Us still remains one of NBC's buzziest scripted shows and has spawned a handful of heartwarming, timeline-jumping ensemble family dramas across the networks. This Is Us averaged 13.8 million viewers in live-plus-7, making it the season’s No. 1 entertainment series on any broadcast or cable network in 18-49, as well as the No. 2 drama in total viewers.
With the three-season pickup under its belt, now comes the tall task of answering the questions laid out in the season three finale.
During a February appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Ventimiglia discussed the series possibly ending after a sixth season, following Fogelman and co-showrunner Isaac Aptaker suggesting in a Deadline interview that they were planning to wrap the show up "about three seasons in the future." (A season three episode of This Is Us even featured a piece of dialogue echoing that sentiment when one of the characters said we're "only midway through the story.")
"We never know where we’re going to go. We never know what’s going to happen,” he said at the time. "The show could have a huge spike in season six and everybody wants more beyond that, but I think creatively, they have an idea of what they’d like to do to kind of wrap it up in this nice story."
"At least the audience knows, the fans know, they’re going to get three more seasons, which is nice we can commit,” Ventimiglia added. "It’s not like, will it be on? Won’t it be on? But then beyond that, yeah, maybe there will be more. I don’t know.”
This Is Us returns Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT this fall on NBC.
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