The fifth season finale of the NBC family drama This is Us will air on May 25 due to a shortened season. Originally set to be eighteen episodes long, the series was forced to shorten down the season to sixteen because of the COVID-19 pandemic, as reported by Entertainment Weekly.
Every previous season of This is Us has clocked in at eighteen episodes in length, but, in these unprecedented times, the production had to cut down season five. This has been an all too common trend for the past season of television, as the pandemic has wreaked havoc on scheduling and delays. The current season of This is Us has reflected the uncertainty of the times, with it taking various hiatuses of being off the air for several weeks at a time.
Season five began to air this past fall with just four episodes making it to air. It then took a long hiatus before airing nine episodes within the past fifteen weeks. Now that the season is shorter than expected with the finale dropping on May 25, the series is taking another hiatus in preparation for its upcoming last batch of episodes.
After airing its thirteenth episode of the season, entitled “Brotherly Love” on Tuesday, April 13, This is Us will be going off the air for a month before returning on May 11. Then, it will air its last three episodes with the finale premiering on Monday, May 25 at 10 pm E.T.
This is Us is created by Don Fogelman (Galavant). The series stars Mandy Moore (A Walk to Remember), Milo Ventimiglia (Gilmore Girlss), Sterling K. Brown (Waves), Chrissy Metz (American Horror Story), Justin Hartley (Smallville), Susan Kelechi Watson (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood) and Chris Sullivan (Stranger Things).
Watch the teaser trailer for the final three episodes below: