“Our plan has not changed for the show. My plan has not changed,” Fogelman told reporters at a 2020 panel when asked if the unpredictability of 2020 had derailed his plans for the series, specifically its Season 6 ending. While The Hollywood Reporter previously reported that NBC was “optimistic” about the series possibly continuing beyond Season 6, Fogelman spoke with reporters last year about bringing the Pearsons’ story to an end. “NBC has given us this gift that’s two consecutive three-season pickups, which we asked for, which has allowed us to really kind of plan out and map out our storytelling in a big-picture way,” he said (via Entertainment Weekly). “That’s when the Pearson story will basically come to a close.” And now it’s all but confirmed that we’ll be saying our goodbyes soon.The Hollywood Reporter just revealed that sources say This Is Us is officially ending after Season 6. NBC plans to announce soon that it will come to an end during the upcoming 2021-22 broadcast season. Showrunner Isaac Aptaker hopes viewers will find the ending of the show “elegant.” Speaking to Deadline in 2019, Aptaker said, “That’s what we’re going for. I would hope that when we reach our ending, people think it’s a really satisfying end place, that makes sense, and it feels like they’ve watched something that is a complete piece of work because that’s really how we’re trying to plan it. Almost like you would a book, or a super-long movie. We’ve had this end in mind for a long time, so we’re able to plan for it, and try to make it feel like it’s a whole, as opposed to a series that’s going to go endlessly.” Season 5 of This Is Us premiered in October 2020. Production for the new episodes officially began in September after being delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The global health crisis, as well as the Black Lives Matter movement, have been addressed in the current season. “We were one of the few productions that was able to finish before quarantining took place. But it would be irresponsible of us to not address what’s transpired in the world since,” Sterling K. Brown, who plays Randall Pearson, told Parade. Although COVID-19 and BLM have been incorporated, they haven’t changed the overall storyline. Brown explained, “We’re not abandoning our storyline, we’re just adapting the same way that the world has had to adapt to what’s transpired.” He added, “So you’re still going to see two brothers who are not really on the best of terms at the beginning of the season. You’re still going to see our mother who is dealing with dementia, the possibility of early-onset Alzheimer’s. It’s still the Pearsons and they’re still dealing with the things that they were dealing with in season four, and they’re also dealing with things that the world is dealing with right now.” Next, This Is Us quotes!
