This Is Us may be one of NBC‘s most popular shows, but the series is set to come to a close at the end of Season 6. This means that fans only have about 20 episodes left of the highs and heartbreaks of the Pearson family.
Why This Is Us is ending on NBC
This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman has been hinting that the show would end around Season 6 for years.
In a 2019 Hollywood Reporter interview, after the Season 3 finale had aired, he said: “Our characters are all finding themselves as we near what I like to consider kind of our midpoint of the TV series. They’re at some real crossroads… where you find the characters right now, you’re in the middle of their story. If you were in the movie theater, you’d be at the moment where you’re about an hour into the movie wondering what’s going to happen.”
In a second Hollywood Reporter article around the same time, Fogelman clarified these comments. He said: “I talk about being at the midpoint of the series, I’m talking about the characters’ stories, and the arcs. I mean, my writers and I have carefully mapped out a plan for the rest of the television series that goes well beyond next season.”
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Soon after that, the show was renewed for three seasons at once, taking it up to Season 6. However, it has been decided not to take the show past that point. This is a decision that may have been made some time ago—when Hollywood Reporter announced the three-season renewal in 2019, they said it was likely to end after the sixth season.
At the time of that three-season renewal, NBC scripted programming presidents Lisa Katz and Tracey Pakosta released a statement reading: “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.”
The show is going out on a high ratings-wise. Per TV Series Finale, the show is the most watched scripted show on NBC among the 18-to-49 demographic, key to primetime advertisers. It is the only scripted show on the network to get more than a 1 rating among the demographic, meaning that one percent of all TV viewers in that demographic watch the show.
The show has a total average viewing audience of 5.7 million people per episode in its current season. This makes it the fourth most watched scripted series by total viewers, behind the three Chicago shows (Med, Fire and PD).
Though the show has lost some viewers in its current season, losing 18 percent of total viewers and 29 percent of viewers within the 18-to-49 demographic, the show remains a hit with a steady audience, meaning that it is the rare network show to be able to go out on a high.
The show is currently in its fifth season, which is set to end on May 25. The sixth and final season is then expected to run from fall 2021 until May 2022.
All episodes of This Is Us so far (Seasons 1 to 5) are streaming now on Hulu.