ABC Orders The Rookie Spinoff to Series, Plus Gina Rodriguez Comedy and Hilary Swank Drama

ABC is enlisting a spinoff of The Rookie, as well as bringing back a couple of familiar faces on new shows.

The network has handed series orders to three shows for next season, led by The Rookie: Feds, an offshoot of the Nathan Fillion-led ABC procedural, TVLine has learned. Niecy Nash-Betts will star as Simone Clark, the oldest rookie in the FBI Academy; the character made her debut in a two-part backdoor pilot that aired on The Rookie earlier this season. (TVLine readers gave Part 1 an average grade of “B,” while the conclusion earned a “B-‘: 76 percent said they would definitely or maybe watch the spinoff, if ordered to series.) Frankie Faison (The Wire) and Felix Solis (Ozark) round out the cast.

Also coming to ABC next season: Not Dead Yet, a comedy starring Jane the Virgin alum Gina Rodriguez as Nell, “a broke and newly single self-described disaster,” per the official description. When she’s forced to take a job writing obituaries, “Nell starts getting life advice from an unlikely source.” The cast also includes Joshua Banday (Upload) and Angela Gibbs (Hacks, On My Block).

Plus, ABC ordered Alaska, a drama starring Oscar winner Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry, Million Dollar Baby) as a disgraced reporter who moves from New York to join a daily newspaper in Anchorage, Alaska “on a journey to find both personal and professional redemption.” Jeff Perry (Scandal), Matt Malloy (Six Feet Under) and Meredith Holzman (Law & Order: SVU) lead the supporting cast; Tom McCarthy (Spotlight) will serve as creator and executive producer.

Earlier on Friday, ABC renewed five of its veteran shows: dramas Big Sky (for Season 3) and A Million Little Things (for Season 5), and comedies The Conners (for Season 5), Home Economics (for Season 3) and The Wonder Years (for Season 2). To find out what else has been renewed and cancelled for next season, check out TVLine’s handy-dandy Renewal Scorecard.

Which of these three ABC newcomers will you be adding to your watch list? Hit the comments and share your first impressions.

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