How ‘The Rookie’ grew to become a shock hit with teenagers

A broadcast TV present a couple of middle-aged man who turns into an LAPD cop wouldn’t look like your typical teen magnet.

Yet, The Rookie was the most-streamed present amongst younger individuals underneath 18 throughout all broadcast collection within the 2024-2025 broadcast TV season, based on Nielsen information.

Odd as which will appear, the numbers match showrunner Alexi Hawley’s personal expertise. He says he’s typically approached by dad and mom telling him how a lot their youngsters gravitate to the police procedural.

Recently, he stated, actor Dwayne Johnson visited the Los Angeles set together with his preteen daughter, who loves the Nathan Fillion-led collection, now in its eighth season.

“You’re always surprised in this business at success,” Hawley stated in an interview.

He affords a number of explanations: “A lot of it has to do with the comfort food of the show. Bad things happen on our show a lot, but I think the mix of humour and action and heavy stuff resonates with people.”

Part of it, too, he says, is that the present may be very “clippable”.

The Rookie has 2.8 million followers on TikTok. In the final 12 months, its greatest viewers on the platform had been individuals aged-18-to-24, based on TikTok Studio.

At a time when the published TV enterprise faces steep challenges — together with continued cord-cutting and declining advert {dollars} — the flexibility of The Rookie to captivate younger viewers is noteworthy. And its stars’ embrace of social media, notably TikTok, might need classes for different broadcast exhibits wanting to attract new and youthful eyeballs within the streaming period.

Eric Winter, who performs the intense Sgt. Tim Bradford on The Rookie, is very energetic on the platform, regardless of some preliminary resistance.

“I was anti-TikTok,” he stated. “I was like, ‘I’m never doing it. I’m never gonna have an account. I won’t be seen doing a post or a dance, acting like a fool.’ “And my wife was like, ‘You’re launching a premium rum brand. You’ve got to be out there. You’ve got to be public with it’.”

And he’s seen teen fandom up shut — at publicity occasions youngsters will line as much as get his autograph.

After launching his TikTik about two years in the past, Winter now has about 6.6 million followers, and he’ll put up pranks together with his co-stars from the set or group TikToks.

Even Fillion has gotten in on the motion and has requested Winter for recommendation. Beyond jokes from the set, clips from the present itself have pushed individuals to the collection who could not have in any other case discovered it.Scenes involving the will-they-won’t-they romance between Winter’s character Bradford and co-star Melissa O’Neil’s Sgt. Lucy Chen (collectively recognized to followers as “Chenford”) additionally drive main views, as do shorts with Fillion.

“We have these funny moments, and these little stories that we can do because we’re a patrol show where anything can happen anytime they get out of their car,” Hawley stated. “And I think those translate really well to 30-second, one-minute clips that just bring people to want to watch more.”

It’s form of like film trailers for the brand new technology. While younger viewers can’t watch a whole present by way of social media, the shorter clips are clearly a method of introducing them to the collection — and getting them hooked. Collaborations with YouTube stars additionally helps.

Last season, YouTube personalities Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej visitor starred in an episode of The Rookie by which the pair investigates a haunted psychiatric facility. Hawley realized of Bergara and Madej’s Ghost Files paranormal present by his youngsters.

The predictable format affords one thing else: a reprieve from the chaos of the world, just like older community exhibits like Golden Girls and Modern Family which are additionally well-liked with youthful audiences.

“The world is hard right now,” Hawley stated. “It’s very stressful. There’s something that’s just comforting about putting us on and the number of episodes we have. Our show is an escape for people.” Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service

Seasons One to Seven of The Rookie is offered on Netflix.