That sound you hear is fans of NBC’s The Night Shift breathing a sigh of relief. Variety has confirmed that NBC has renewed the medical drama for a fourth season.
“Week after week The Night Shift tells incredibly engaging and emotional stories that draw us into a unique world. We are delighted to renew the show for an exciting fourth season and look forward to continue working with such a great cast and executive producing team,” Jennifer Salke, president of NBC Entertainment, said.
Shortly after the news was released, co-creator and executive producer Gabe Sachs took to Twitter to announce the renewal news and to thank viewers for their patience in waiting for news about the renewal. Fans of the show had to wait about three months for renewal news on the show, as the show’s third season finale aired on Aug. 31.
The writers of the show certainly have a lot to think about for the fourth season as the season three finale acted as if it could be the series finale as the show had yet to be picked up. The ER ended up being saved, but at a price. Paul’s (Robert Bailey Jr.) father ended up buying the hospital but fired Topher (Ken Leung) as a way to start fresh. Most of the night shift employees ended up quitting to show that if Topher wasn’t there, they wouldn’t be there.
Scott (Scott Wolf) also sent Annie (Sarah Jane Morris) off to rehab after finding pills that had gone missing, despite her claims that the pills weren’t hers. And, off at the Turkey/Syria border, Syd (Jennifer Beals) and TC (Eoin Macken) were about to leave the camp where they were helping refugees, only for a bomb to go off. The last shot of the episode was a close up of TC and the viewers were left wondering whether he was dead or alive.
TV by the Numbers reported that the show averaged a 1.0 rating in the 18 to 49 demographic for its third season and said that the rating grew to a 1.5 when DVR viewing was factored in. While those are lower numbers than what gets renewed in the fall and midseason schedules, summer numbers are typically lower. The show was also the highest rated show in the 10 p.m. Wednesday night timeslot, which is the timeslot the show aired during in the summer.
The Night Shift will most likely air its fourth season in the summer of 2017. The show’s first and third seasons aired in the summer, whereas season two aired as a midseason replacement in February 2015.