NBC Cancelling Fan-Favorite Show After Fifth Season
The world of television is often filled with beginnings and endings, as existing shows get hit with cancellations somewhat regularly. On Monday, we learned the latest series to get that axe — the medical drama New Amsterdam. The NBC series is officially confirmed to be ending after its upcoming fifth season, which will air during the 2022-2023 television season. New Amsterdam is poised to end with an abbreviated fifth and final season, airing a total of 13 episodes. This will bring the grand total number of episodes for the series to 92 episodes.
New Amsterdam follows Dr. Max Goodwin (Ryan Eggold) as he becomes the medical director of one of the United States' oldest public hospitals, aiming to reform the neglected facility by tearing up its bureaucracy to provide exceptional care to patients. The series also stars Janet Montgomery, Freema Agyeman, Jocko Sims, Tyler Labine, and Anupam Kher.
"The story of Max Goodwin, and his never-ending commitment to patients at New Amsterdam, has been inspiring," Lisa Katz, President, Scripted Programming, NBCUniversal Television & Streaming, said in a statement. "We're so grateful to David Schulner, Peter Horton, and our cast and crew for their incredible dedication, talent and collaboration."
"When I first read the pilot script for New Amsterdam, I knew we had a winner. We cheered Max's disruption of the status quo and applauded when he asked his patients the simple yet profound question, 'How can I help?'," Erin Underhill, President, Universal Television, added. "Over the last four seasons, David, Peter and our incredible cast have tackled important and thought-provoking stories that have touched on the human condition, but also made us laugh and imbued hope. We're so proud of this series and are indebted to everyone involved in bringing New Amsterdam to life. Bravo!"
Since its debut in 2018, New Amsterdam has developed a legion of fans for its take on the medical world, particularly with positive representation of disabled characters. The series' narrative also took on a whole new meaning amid the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
"I, like a lot of you, grew up in a time of stakes," director and executive producer Peter Horton explained during the ATX Festival in 2020. "There was the Vietnam War. There was the Cold War, all the assassinations, Watergate, and storytelling in that time really reflected that reality. Storytellers needed to speak to that time because the stakes were so high. We happen to be a show uniquely situated for this particular situation. [The series is based on] the Bellevue Hospital, which is at the epicenter of the COVID outbreak, so we are telling stories from the very epicenter of the situation we find ourselves in."
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