‘The Rookie’ Boss Addresses Crossovers With Potential ‘North’ Spinoff With Jay Ellis
Preview
What To Know
- The Rookie creator Alexi Hawley is developing a potential spinoff, The Rookie: North, with Jay Ellis cast as the lead playing the oldest rookie in the Pierce County Police Department.
- Hawley addresses crossovers across the two shows as well as why he’s excited for this possible new series.
The world of The Rookie may be expanding. It all began in 2018 with the current long-running hit starring Nathan Fillion as John Nolan, who decided to switch careers and become an LAPD officer, making him the oldest rookie in the department. Then, for one season, there was The Rookie: Feds, which starred Niecy Nash-Betts as the oldest rookie in the FBI academy. Now, it’s going back to its roots with the potential spinoff, The Rookie: North.
The project has reached the pilot stage and has yet to be picked up to series, but Jay Ellis has been cast as the lead, Alex Holland, who, following home invasion, decides to become a police officer and becomes Pierce County Police Department’s oldest rookie. Alexi Hawley, who is The Rookie‘s creator and showrunner, will executive produce the series and write and direct the pilot.
And so when TV Insider caught up with Hawley to discuss The Rookie Season 8 ahead of its January 6 premiere, we had to ask about the possible spinoff.
When it comes to the potential for crossover, which we saw during Feds‘ run and with characters from that show continuing to appear on The Rookie, “It would be more challenging just because physically, we’re going to shoot at least the pilot up in Vancouver. And probably we would shoot the series there, too, just because of the location is Pacific Northwest, which you can’t do in L.A.,” Hawley admitted.
“But what I’m excited about is it’s going to just feel like a very different show just because of the environment. Most, if not all, cop shows are set in big cities. And so to do something that’s more sort of urban adjacent but also goes all the way into national parks and meth labs in the woods and strip malls and that kind of stuff that just feels not like a city experience, I think, will be really great,” he continued. “And obviously, I mean, it’s a dream to get Jay to do the show. I’m super excited to write for that guy.”
Would you watch The Rookie: North, should it be ordered to series? What would you want to see in it? Let us know in the comments section below.
Watchlist Easy access to only the shows you care about — all in one simple place
Alerts Only important notifications — when a show is returning, when it becomes available to stream, and more.
Special Offers Exclusive products we release related to your favorite shows and streaming services