NBC has moved up the Season 5 premiere date for “This Is Us” to Oct. 27, the network announced Wednesday.
The family drama was initially scheduled to debut in November, but the announcement of the date change was made Wednesday during the season finale of “America’s Got Talent.” It will be one of the network’s first scripted dramas to return with new episodes this fall, following the returns of “The Voice,” “Superstore” and the social distancing comedy “Connecting…” next month.
The 20th Television-produced series is set to begin filming on Thursday.
Series creator Dan Fogelman tweeted last month that the new episodes would address COVID “in present day” and incorporate the pandemic into the planned storylines for the season.
“We’ve decided to attack things head on,” he wrote. “Very proud of @ThisIsUsWriters – Same planned ending. Same route to get there.”
The end of “This Is Us” Season 4 took place in the spring of 2020, right before the pandemic hit and included a far off time jump to decades into the future — but also one to Aug. 31, 2020, where a small group of the Pearson family were all alone together in a cabin — which could easily be worked into a story about how the Pearsons are living through COVID-19 just like the rest of us at that point in time.
The series stars Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, Chrissy Metz, Justin Hartley, Chris Sullivan and Susan Kelechi Watson. Dan Fogelman, Isaac Aptaker, Elizabeth Berger, John Requa, Glenn Ficarra, Ken Olin, Charlie Gogolak and Jess Rosenthal executive produce.
The series is coming off five Emmy nominations for its fourth season, with guest star Ron Cephas Jones taking home his second award for his role on the series on Sunday.