"This Is Us" is preparing to say goodbye.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, season six will be the drama's last, and NBC is preparing to make the official announcement on Friday when the network reveals its 2021-2022 schedule. While the news might feel like a surprise for one of the biggest shows on network TV, the end has always been on the horizon.
Creator Dan Fogelman has long claimed he had the series finale planned out, and revealed all the way back in 2018 that some scenes from the series finale had already been shot.
"We have a story to tell and we want to do this the right way," he said on an FYC panel for the show. Based on reactions from the cast, Milo Ventimiglia knew about the plan for the series finale and Chris Sullivan did not.
NBC renewed the series for seasons four, five and six back in 2019, and sources told THR at that point that season six would likely be the last. Fogelman had also previously called season three the "midpoint" of the series, so the writing has been on the wall for a long time.
The show has also been giving us hints of a future that now feel like a potential series finale. We know that in about 10 years, the Pearsons gather at Kevin's (Justin Hartley) home to visit with Rebecca (Mandy Moore), who appears to be very sick. We've spent the last two seasons slowly learning how the family gets to that point, as Rebecca deals with the early stages of Alzheimer's and Kevin begins building his family and getting acquainted with his uncle Nicky (Griffin Dunne).
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Presumably, the final season will take us all the way to that future gathering.
NBC had no comment on the THR report.
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"This Is Us" airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on NBC.
(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
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