Everything You Need to Know About This ROOKIE Spinoff

Published: January 16, 2026

By Kayla DeKraker

If you love ABC’s hit police procedural THE ROOKIE, get ready for its exciting new spin-off!

ABC will expand THE ROOKIE universe with a fresh new series titled THE ROOKIE: NORTH.

This is the second ROOKIE spin-off; the first was THE ROOKIE: FEDS, which aired for one season in 2022.

Now in its eight season, THE ROOKIE follows John Nolan, played by Nathan Fillion, a middle-aged man chasing a dream of becoming a police officer later in life. THE ROOKIE: NORTH will take on that same theme, focusing on another older rookie.

Per its official logline, the offshoot follows Alex Holland, played by Jay Ellis, “who believed his mid-life wasn’t worthy of a crisis. But after a violent home invasion ignites a dormant purpose, Alex battles a lifetime of failed commitments by joining the Pierce County Police Department as its oldest rookie. Policing from the urban coast to the rural forest where backup isn’t just 5-minutes away, Alex must prove to his skeptical training officer, his fellow rookies, and himself, that he’s finally found something worthy of the fight.”

ABC greenlit NORTH in November.

“I think ultimately, what I got excited about was, I think every patrol cop show versus a procedural has really been big-city oriented, New York, Boston, Chicago, LA, so I like the idea that this place is a bigger slice of America, where people live,” creator Alexi Hawley said of the new show. “The county that they’re policing does include Tacoma, so there is some urban but at the same time, it’s also the suburbs and the exurbs, and it’s also the meth lab in the woods, and a National Park, and there’s a military base. That sort of county is really interesting.”

Hawley thinks fans will find that very different setting — the flagship’s Los Angeles location compared to NORTH’s more rural vibes — intriguing.

Would you watch a ROOKIE spin-off?

“I thought it would just immediately set the show apart visually and then thematically,” he explained. “I think our lead, the character that Jay plays, is a guy who never really found something he’s passionate about before this. And part of that has to do with a tragedy in his past, which we get into a little bit. So that was a little bit of a different way in, it is a guy who’s a little more lost. I think Nathan’s character was a successful professional, obviously blue collar or whatever, he was just a little lost after his divorce and everything. But this is just a little different.”

Ellis celebrated his role in NORTH on Instagram.

“Yes, I’m the newest officer,” he began in the post. “No, I still don’t know where my locker is. And also does anyone know where I can get bulk ice for my soon to be daily ice bath for my knees and back? Thank you @alexihawley and @nathanfillion for the welcome to #TheRookieABC family.”