How ABC’s ‘The Rookie’ became a surprise hit with teens
A broadcast TV show about a middle-aged guy who becomes an LAPD cop wouldn’t seem like your typical teen magnet.
Yet, the “The Rookie” was the most-streamed show among young people under 18 across all broadcast series in the 2024-2025 broadcast TV season, according to Nielsen data.
Odd as that may seem, the numbers match showrunner Alexi Hawley’s own experience. He says he is often approached by parents telling him how much their kids gravitate to the ABC police procedural.
Recently, he said, actor Dwayne Johnson visited the Los Angeles set with his preteen daughter, who loves the Nathan Fillion-led series, now in its eighth season.
“You’re always surprised in this business at success,” Hawley said in an interview.
He offers multiple 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 humor and action and heavy stuff resonates with people.”
Part of it, too, he says, is that the show is very “clippable.”
“The Rookie,” which is produced by Lionsgate Television and 20th Television and shot in Los Angeles, has 2.8 million followers on TikTok. In the last 12 months, its biggest audience on the platform were people aged 18 to 24, according to TikTok Studio.
At a time when the broadcast TV business faces steep challenges — including continued cord-cutting and declining ad dollars — the ability of “The Rookie” to captivate young viewers is noteworthy. And its stars’ embrace of social media, particularly TikTok, might have lessons for other broadcast shows looking to draw new and younger eyeballs in the streaming era.
Eric Winter, who plays the serious Sgt. Tim Bradford on “The Rookie,” is especially active on the platform, despite some initial resistance.
“I was anti-TikTok,” he said. “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 close — at publicity events kids will line up to get his autograph.
After launching his TikTik about two years ago, Winter now has about 6.6 million followers, and he’ll post pranks with his co-stars from the set or group TikToks.
Even Fillion has gotten in on the action and has asked Winter for advice. Many other cast members are active on the platform as well.
“We’re all trying to outdo each other with TikTok, and it’s grown into its own little beast that drives the eyeballs,” Winter said. “I just started doing a lot of goofy ones that worked.”
Beyond jokes from the set, clips from the show itself have driven people to the series who may not have otherwise found 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 known to fans as “Chenford”) also drive major 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 said. “And I think those translate really well to 30-second, one-minute clips that just bring people to want to watch more.”
It’s kind of like movie trailers for the new generation. While young viewers can’t watch an entire show via social media, the shorter clips are clearly one way of introducing them to the series — and getting them hooked. Collaborations with YouTube stars also help.
Last season, YouTube personalities Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej guest starred in an episode of “The Rookie” in which the pair investigates a haunted psychiatric facility. Hawley learned of Bergara and Madej’s “Ghost Files” paranormal show through his kids.
This year, he’s planning a similar crossover with comedy streamer Dropout.TV.
“Rather than doing crossovers with traditional shows, like other ABC shows, given our growing young fan base, I’m like, ‘Well, what can I pull into our show that younger people relate to more,’” Hawley said.
The predictable format offers something else: a reprieve from the chaos of the world, similar to older network shows like “Golden Girls” and “Modern Family” that are also popular with younger audiences.
“The world is hard right now,” Hawley said. “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.”
Stuff we wrote
Film shoots
Number of the week
Disney-owned 20th Century Studios’ “Avatar: Fire and Ash” cracked the $1-billion mark at the global box office on Sunday. The film is the third Disney film released in 2025 that has crossed $1 billion worldwide, following the animated “Zootopia 2” and the live-action adaptation of “Lilo & Stitch.”
Topping it off, “Avatar: Fire and Ash” is the third of three “Avatar” films to reach $1 billion globally. The James Cameron-directed franchise has now grossed more than $6.35 billion so far.
Finally …
My colleague, Andrew J. Campa, has a fascinating story about how thieves are hacking off the leaves of agave plants — and the theories about why it’s happening.
