This is it, This Is Us, fans. At NBC’s Television Critics Association panel Wednesday afternoon, a special panel for the breakout hit of the season took place, where The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that NBC has renewed the show for not only a second season, but a third season as well.
Each of the subsequent seasons will have 18 episodes each, the same amount of episodes the first season will have.
“We all got our wish that this is a hit show. This Is Us is as good as anything we’ve ever had. We’re thrilled to renew it for two seasons and there’s no doubt it will have a long life on NBC. On behalf of everyone at NBC, we’re grateful for the artistry of the cast, crew, and producers assembled by our gifted creator, Dan Fogelman. In a world where there are literally hundreds of television dramas, we’re proud to have one of the very best that is also one of the highest-rated. And a special thanks to our partners at 20th Century Fox Television who supplied us with this incredible show,” Jennifer Salke, NBC Entertainment President, said.
Dan Fogelman, the creator of the show, also spoke at the TCA panel and talked about the future of the show and how many seasons he thinks the show will have. “I know where the show goes; I have a number of seasons in my brain and we’ll see as we get there. In success, people will want more and in failure, they’ll want less. I know where the series goes for multiple seasons, but in terms of overriding numbers, I don’t know,” Fogelman said.
After the panel, Fogelman took to Twitter to post a reaction from the cast when Salke told them they were getting two more seasons.
Next up for the show will revolve around what exactly happened to Jack. Viewers know that he died at some point, but that’s all they know. Fogelman said Tuesday’s upcoming episode will start to give fans more answers.
Meanwhile, Entertainment Weekly has reported that Katie Couric and Brian Tyree Henry will be guest starring later on in the season. Couric will be starring as herself and will be interviewing Kevin (Justin Hartley). Henry will be portraying a cousin of William when he was younger.
Throughout the show’s run, it has yet to dip below a 2.0 rating in the 18 to 49 demographic (the lowest rated episode so far scored a 2.3 rating when it was up against one of the games in the World Series), according to TV by the Numbers, and is averaging a 2.6 rating in the same day ratings with about 9.5 million viewers. Those numbers increase when DVR viewing is factored in and averages about a 4.6 rating and 14.63 million viewers.
The most recent episode, which aired on Jan. 17, was in-line with the season’s average ratings, scoring a 2.6 rating and 9.53 million viewers, according to TV by the Numbers.
This Is Us airs Tuesday nights at 9 on NBC. There’s six more episodes left of the first season and it’s scheduled to air its first season finale Feb. 28.