This Is Us is set to end after its upcoming sixth season, and here's why the show won't be continuing. This announcement came on May 12, 2021, almost five years after the award-winning drama series first premiered on NBC and two years after it was renewed for three forthcoming seasons following season 3. The fifth season began on October 27, 2020, and was shortened to 16 episodes compared to the typical 18 for each season. Production delays related to the pandemic also halted filming earlier this year, resulting in the postponement of the season's final few episodes. Now, once This Is Us season 5 finishes, the storylines are set to wrap up in one final season.
This Is Us follows the joys and struggles of the Pearson family – parents Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) and Rebecca (Mandy Moore) and their three kids known as the "Big Three": Kate (Chrissy Metz) and Kevin (Justin Hartley), who were the two surviving babies from a triplet pregnancy, and their adopted brother, Randall (Sterling K. Brown). While the plot mainly takes place in the present with the three navigating life as adults in different cities, each episode features flashbacks to the past, usually to one specific time per episode and often focusing on This Is Us parents Jack and Rebecca. The show has achieved remarkable critical acclaim and garnered an enormous fanbase after more than 10 million viewers tuned in to the pilot episode. It's also expected to remain one of NBC's top-rated dramas among total viewers and the crucial adults 18-49 category even in its final season (via The Hollywood Reporter).
While the upcoming ending for This Is Us is a heartbreaking thought for audiences and one that comes as a surprise considering how successful the series is, it turns out that this had been the plan for quite some time. Creator and executive producer Dan Fogelman said in 2019 after the season 3 finale of This Is Us aired that the series was at its midpoint. "I think we’re roughly in the middle of where the television series is going to go," he said. "We never set out to make a television series that was going to last 18 seasons, and so we have a very direct plan. But yeah, I think where you find the characters right now, you’re in the middle of their story. If you were in the movie theater, you’d be at the moment where you’re about an hour into the movie wondering what’s going to happen."
Shortly after Fogelman noted the midpoint for the series, the drama was renewed for another three seasons, making season 6 the inevitable end that he hinted at. With that end in mind, Fogelman has focused on keeping the script on a set path to the Pearson family's final destination. But regardless of this timeline, and the apparent complications from the pandemic, it made sense for Fogelman and his team to anticipate a conclusion for This Is Us given the current state of TV. In this recent era of competitive streaming services and on-demand viewing, it's a rare feat for any show to subsist in a traditional broadcast format for so long – let alone a show that remained so successful and broke through the awards circuit. Having the opportunity to end on a rewarding note and tie together all the loose plot details is one that the producers certainly aren't taking for granted.
The sixth season is expected to air beginning this fall and to wrap up in May 2022. The final episodes of the show will likely explore any new developments from the end of This Is Us season 5 and tie together all the intersecting storylines between the past, present, and future. For audiences who want to prepare for the emotional saga's big ending, all episodes of This Is Us so far are available for streaming on Hulu.