Spring has arrived in the 2022-2023 TV season, which means that the fates of some of network television’s most notable shows are being decided. Now, ABC has some wonderful news for viewers who have already been won over by freshman series Will Trent: the show will officially be back for Season 2. After arriving to the network early in the new year, more episodes beyond the upcoming finale are guaranteed, and star Ramón Rodriguez already had something to say about the good news.
Ramón Rodriguez is actually both star and producer on Will Trent, and tasked with playing his own version of a character who has appeared in a number of popular books. In response to the news that he’ll get to continue playing Will in a second season, the actor said in a statement (via TVLine):
We’re so thankful to our ABC and Hulu fans for joining us on this wild ride and watching Will Trent. When we set out to bring the series to television screens, we wanted to do justice to the gritty, thrilling world that Karin Slaughter created with her bestselling book series. Liz Heldens, Dan Thomsen and the creative team have developed complex and nuanced characters that people are relating to on a human level — and it hasn’t hurt having our little star, Betty [a Chihuahua played by Bluebell], on the call sheet. We’re so excited for the opportunity to dive deeper into these stories with Season 2.
The star credited Liz Heldens and Dan Thomsen for creating the show, as well as author Karin Slaughter for building the world and the characters on the page before they could be adapted for television. Slaughter has had plenty of good things to say about the adaptation, including getting “super honest” about the ABC series’ casting actors who don’t match the book descriptions and the portrayal of Will and Faith’s partnership. Previously, showrunner Dan Thomsen credited the star for how he and Erika Christensen built the complicated Will/Angie relationship.
Interestingly, Ramón Rodriguez also was sure to express his gratitude to Hulu fans as well as ABC viewers, which suggests that the show is doing well with Hulu subscribers. And could anybody argue that Betty isn’t a breakout star of Season 1? The renewal came just hours before a new episode was scheduled to air, coming off of a couple of weeks of reruns. Only three episodes are left of the first season, so the news should come as a relief for fans as the finale approaches in just a few weeks.
The news also comes just a day after ABC announced that The Rookie had also been renewed for the 2023-2024 TV season, with Nathan Fillion sharing his thoughts on his show getting Season 6. The two crime dramas join Abbott Elementary and Grey’s Anatomy as the scripted series returning to ABC, although several other unscripted shows have been renewed, including (unsurprisingly) The Bachelor.
Will Trent getting another season isn’t shocking, despite the show not being among ABC’s earliest wave of renewals. TVLine goes on to report that Ramón Rodriguez’s show has become the network’s most-watched show in the 10 p.m. ET time slot on Tuesdays since Big Sky debuted in the fall of the 2020-2021 TV season.
It’s easy to understand why the network would be pleased with the numbers, as Will Trent boosted that time slot by 25% in the key 18-49 age demographic and 143% in total viewers compared to the same span of time last season. The show currently averages 6.1 million viewers and a rating of 0.6 in 18-49, in Live+7 totals (a.k.a. the number of viewers after seven days of delayed viewing). Those numbers place it behind only The Rookie and Grey’s Anatomy on ABC, and ties it with The Good Doctor, the latter of which has not yet been renewed.
For now, you can continue looking forward to new episodes of Will Trent on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC. The show’s success is even more impressive in light of the competitive time slot in which it airs, against FBI: Most Wanted on CBS. You can also revisit earlier episodes of the first season of Ramón Rodriguez’s show streaming with Hulu, and find some summer hiatus viewing options on our 2023 TV premiere schedule.
