‘This Is Us’ will return for a sixth and final season in January 2021. The first trailer for the highly-anticipated season 6 debuted on Thanksgiving. Get ready for all the tears!
All good things must come to an end. This Is Us is going to kick off the new year with a cryfest. After 6 incredible seasons watching the Pearsons, the family’s swan song has arrived.
Since we’re talking about This Is Us, you can expect an emotional roller coaster in the final season. Filming is already underway, and the first trailer dropped on Thanksgiving. HollywoodLife has all the latest news about This Is Us season 6.
Milo Ventimiglia and Mandy Moore as Jack and Rebecca. (NBC)
Will ‘This Is Us’ Return In 2021?
No, This Is Us will not return in 2021. Season 6 will premiere January 6, 2022, on NBC. Season 5 ended in May 2021. The show had already been renewed for season 6. NBC revealed that This Is Us wouldn’t return for its sixth and final season until midseason, which meant a 2022 premiere date. Even though this means a long hiatus, NBC said that the final season would be a “largely uninterrupted run.” The final season will consist of 18 episodes.
‘This Is Us’ Season 6 Trailer
The season 6 trailer begins with Rebecca coming to terms with her future. “I’m losing my memory. Sometimes I think about what my very last memory will be before the candle goes out,” she says.
Mandy Moore as Rebecca in the season 6 trailer for ‘This Is Us.’ (NBC)
Rebecca adds later on, “I don’t know how much longer I have before things get worse… I’m not worried about forgetting about the big stuff. It’s the little things I’m not ready to let go of.”
The video mostly includes memorable Pearson family moments over the past 5 seasons. Chrissy Metz’s Kate sings a touching rendition of “Time After Time.” During the performance, Phillip looks longingly at Kate by her side. As we all know, these two end up getting married!
‘This Is Us’ Cast’s Big Bonuses
The main cast of This Is Us is really cashing in for this final season. The core adult cast, which includes Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, Chrissy Metz, Justin Hartley, Susan Kelechi Watson, Chris Sullivan, and Jon Huertas, reportedly asked for pay raises ahead of season 6, according to Deadline. 20th Television and NBC reportedly agreed to a whopping $2 million cash bonus after negotiations for the 7 original cast members and a $1 million cash bonus for Jon. Jon, who plays Miguel, was a recurring cast member in season 1 before being bumped to a series regular in season 2.
Jon’s castmates and This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman reportedly fought for him to get parity, but their attempt was not successful. The 7 cast members who got $2 million bonuses reportedly offered to combine their money and split it with Jon in an effort to all make the same amount, but he declined their offer.
‘This Is Us’ So Far
This Is Us follows the Pearson family at various points in their lives. Over the course of the season, we’ve learned so much about the Pearsons. Season 2 revealed that Jack died of a heart attack after saving his family in the house fire. In season 5, Randall discovered that his birth mother had died.
Kate and Toby welcomed little Jack in season 3 and adopted a daughter named Hailey in season 5, while Kevin and Madison had twins in season 5. In the present day, Rebecca learned she had mild cognitive impairment, which was likely due to Alzheimer’s.
Chrissy Metz and Chris Sullivan as Kate and Toby. (NBC)
Season 5 ended with another flash forward, this time to about 4 years in the future. Kate and Toby had gotten a divorce in that time jump, and she was now marrying Phillip, her old boss. Madison and Kevin didn’t get married in the present day, but they were friendly after the 4-year time jump. At the wedding, there was a notecard that read “Big Three Homes: A Pearson Family Construction Company.” There was also a glimpse of a profile about Randall that had the headline of “Rising Star.”
Is Season 6 The Final Season?
Yes, This Is Us season 6 will be the Emmy-winning show’s last season. When NBC announced that This Is Us wouldn’t return until midseason, the network also officially announced that season 6 would be the final season of This Is Us.
Whoever casually first said “All good things must come to an end” never had to end their favorite thing. While sad to have just 1 season left, also grateful to NBC for letting us end the show how, and when, we always intended.
We’ll work hard to stick the landing. #ThisIsUs
— Dan Fogelman (@Dan_Fogelman) May 14, 2021
After the news was confirmed, creator Dan Fogelman wrote on Twitter: “Whoever casually first said ‘All good things must come to an end’ never had to end their favorite thing,” he said at the time. “While sad to have just 1 season left, also grateful to NBC for letting us end the show how, and when, we always intended. We’ll work hard to stick the landing.”
Dan has always been vocal about wanting to end the show after 6 seasons. “We never set out to make a television series that was going to last 18 seasons, so we have a very direct plan. I have script pages I have written. We have a plan for what we’re going to do, and I know what the plan is,” he told THR in April 2019.
In January 2020, he told the Los Angeles Times: “I think by the time we’re in our sixth season, you’ll have a lot of the information about what’s happened to this family, and what will be left is some resolution. I think when the show eventually comes to an end, I think in the best way, it’ll be very quiet and normal. That’s always been the plan because, at the end of the day, it’s a story about this kind of regular family.”
Justin Hartley and Sterling K. Brown as Kevin and Randall. (NBC)
Sterling K. Brown told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY that he fully supports Dan’s artistic vision for the show to end with 6 seasons. “I’m sad because it’s been a wonderful job, a wonderful journey, a wonderful character with a wonderful group of people. But I’m also excited that Dan and our producers and writers get a chance to fulfill the artistic vision, which they saw from the beginning,” Sterling told HollywoodLife. “I don’t think they wanted to leave it open-ended. I think they wanted to build to a very specific conclusion because Dan comes from writing films and whatnot. I think with a movie, you have a beginning, a middle, and an end. I think from the beginning of his conception of This Is Us, there was a beginning, a middle, and an end. I find nothing more satisfying than when the creator gets a chance to fulfill their artistic vision, and it doesn’t get compromised. That’s the kind of people that I want to work with. It’s the kind of stories that I want to tell. I’m really happy that This Is Us falls into that category. I know that so many people are like, I would have watched this show for years and years and years, but I always think it’s best to leave them wanting more than wondering why they’re still sticking around. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
‘This Is Us’ Season 6 Cast & Crew
All of the core Pearsons will be back: Milo Ventimiglia as Jack Pearson, Mandy Moore as Rebecca Pearson, Sterling K. Brown as Randall Pearson, Justin Hartley as Kevin Pearson, Chrissy Metz as Kate Pearson, and Susan Kelechi Watson as Beth Pearson.
Additional cast members expected to return include Caitlin Thompson as Madison, Jon Huertas as Miguel, Griffin Dunne as Nick, Eris Baker as Tess, Faith Herman as Annie, Lyric Ross as Deja, Mackenzie Hancsicsak as young Kate, Lonnie Chavis as young Randall, Parker Bates as young Kevin, Hannah Zeile as teen Kate, Logan Shroyer as teen Kevin, Niles Fitch as teen Randall, and Rachel Hilson as teen Beth.
Given the way This Is Us season 5 ended, it’s almost a sure thing that we’ll see Chris Geere’s Phillip back for the final season. After all, he was seen about to get married to Kate in the finale!
On October 1, Sterling posted an Instagram photo that confirmed Ron Cephas Jones would be reprising the role of William, Randall’s biological father, in a final season flashback. “It’s always a good day with a little @cephasjaz Love you, man! #ThisIsUs,” Sterling captioned the photo.
Ron shared the same adorable father-son photo on his Instagram page and wrote, “Haha!!! Today So wonderful Working again with my Brother Sun (SON). Flashback for final Season.#sterlingkbrown. This Cats out the Bag.”WILLIAM” will be back on the scene.So many to Thank but that’s a later post. So Blessed! So Grateful! So much LoveandLight.”
Filming kicked off on September 9, 2021. Dan Fogelman posted a behind-the-scenes photo of Milo and Mandy filming a scene.
Last first day. Feeling feelings. #ThisIsUs pic.twitter.com/EEafDL7irV
— Dan Fogelman (@Dan_Fogelman) September 9, 2021
Mandy also shared a sweet photo with Milo on the set of season 6. “Mom and Dad. Day 1, season 6 in the can. Here we go…” she wrote.
Mom and Dad. Day 1, season 6 in the can. Here we go…. #thisisus pic.twitter.com/1oGWAw8s14
— Mandy Moore (@TheMandyMoore) September 9, 2021
‘This Is Us’ Season 6 Spoilers
Dan revealed to EW that Phillip will have a major role in the final season. “Well, that’s going to be a big journey for us in season 6,” the creator said. “I think we wanted somebody who had a very different energy than Toby. We’ve been big fans of the actor. Why the character is a really good question and we have the answer for that, but we haven’t told you a lot about him yet, so there’s not much I can say.”
Chris Geere as Phillip. (NBC)
Getting “inside” of Miguel and Rebecca’s relationship will be a “big season 6 story,” Dan teased to Deadline. The final season will explore “how they came together, then how they separated, then how they found their way back to each other. We’ve only seen it in brief in like the second season of the show, so this is a real opportunity for us to explore new territory at the very end of our show.”
As for Kevin, who didn’t end up getting married to Madison, after all, Dan noted that his story “has a lot more chapters to be written, and we have our endgame in mind. We always have, for the character. Not every person needs to wind up betrothed; not every person needs to find love in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, and we’ll see what happens to Kevin. We have our plan.”
However, Dan did admit to EW that Kevin and Sophie’s relationship doesn’t feel “resolved” yet. Alexandra Breckinridge revealed to Us Weekly that she “did do a scene where they did old makeup, but I don’t think it made it to the show.” It could still be possible that Sophie pops up in the final season. In the last few years, Alexandra hasn’t been able to return to the show as easily because of Virgin River scheduling conflicts.
“Every time they’ve asked me to come back in the past, I’m like, I hope that I’m in the house at the end of the show and you see me in, like, old makeup and everybody’s like, ‘What? Oh, my gosh!’ And like, you’re not sure if she’s just there because their mom is in hospice or if they’re together. I really hope that happens,” she told Us Weekly.
‘This Is Us’ Series Finale
This Is Us season 6 will culminate in the final episode of the series, which will air in 2022. While we still don’t know if that flash-forward to Kevin’s house will be the final scene of the series, it will be a pivotal moment for the Pearsons.
Dan Fogelman has “always had a plan” for the show. In May 2018, Dan revealed at a For Your Consideration event that he had “actually already shot pieces of the final scene of the series.”
Milo Ventimiglia as Jack Pearson. (NBC)
Since we’re talking about This Is Us here, you better grab those tissues before watching the series finale. Milo Ventimiglia admitted that the final episode will probably “wreck” fans. “I think it’s wonderful. I think it’s incredibly satisfying. I think it’s beautiful,” he told Us Weekly in October 2021. “I was just on set with Dan about two weeks ago and he was talking about some things that I didn’t know about the end. I was there with Mandy. We just kind of looked at each other, like, one, excited to get into it, and two, incredibly devastated as human beings because this is probably gonna wreck people in the most heartfelt way. It’s beautiful. I’m so excited.”
