The Rookie: Feds

Cast and characters

Niecy Nash-Betts portrays Simone Clark, a former Washington, D.C. school counselor who, at age 48, achieved her lifelong goal of becoming an FBI special agent. After her first day in the Los Angeles Field Office's Background Check Unit, she was assigned to SSA Garza's Special Investigative Unit, with SA Carter Hope as her training agent. Frankie Faison plays Christopher "Cutty" Clark, Simone's father, who was wrongfully convicted when she was nine and spent eight years in prison before exoneration.

A leader of the Black Lives Matter movement, he initially disapproves of her career but later reconciles. James Lesure is Carter Hope, a career FBI special agent serving as Simone's training agent; he is often annoyed by her unorthodox methods but grows to respect them. He is pursuing a divorce and seeks a promotion to New Orleans to be near his children. Britt Robertson plays Laura Stensen, a former FBI Behavioral Science Unit member now in Garza's unit, who serves as Garza's confidant and training agent for Brendon Acres.

She took leave after finding her fiancé with her best friend. Felix Solis portrays Matthew "Matt" Garza, a supervisory special agent leading the Special Investigative Unit, which his superiors plan to scrap if it fails; he also deals with health issues. Kevin Zegers is Brendon Acres, a former award-winning actor on the series Vampire Cop who joins the FBI as a special agent, with Laura Stensen as his training agent. Michelle Nuñez appears as Elena Flores, the unit's tech analyst and Garza's niece.

Production

On February 8, 2022, ABC announced development of a spin-off of The Rookie centered on the FBI, to be introduced through a two-episode backdoor pilot in the parent series. The network sought to expand its franchises after losing Black-ish, aiming to compete with NBC's Chicago and Law & Order franchises and CBS's FBI and NCIS franchises. On May 13, 2022, the series was ordered under the title The Rookie: Feds. Alexi Hawley co-created the series with Terence Paul Winter, executive producing alongside Michelle Chapman, Bill Norcross, Corey Miller, star Niecy Nash, and The Rookie star Nathan Fillion.

ABC Signature and Entertainment One served as production companies, with Entertainment One handling international distribution. On October 21, 2022, the series received a full season order of 22 episodes. ABC canceled the series on November 9, 2023, after one season. Niecy Nash-Betts was cast first as Simone Clark.

Kat Foster and Felix Solis were cast in March 2022 as Casey Fox and Matthew Garza, though Foster's character did not progress past the backdoor pilot. Britt Robertson was cast in June 2022 as Laura Stensen, followed by Kevin Zegers as Brendon Acres and James Lesure as Carter Hope. Guest stars included Jessica Betts, Tom Arnold, Eric Roberts, and Deniz Akdeniz. Nathan Fillion and Alyssa Diaz appeared in the premiere as their characters from The Rookie.

Release

ABC scheduled the series for Tuesdays at 10:00 p.m. ET, following Bachelor in Paradise, for the 2022–23 television season.

ABC Entertainment President Craig Erwich defended not pairing it with The Rookie, stating they wanted to keep The Rookie in its Sunday timeslot and believed Bachelor in Paradise would be a strong lead-in; he noted crossovers remained possible. The series aired from September 27, 2022, to May 2, 2023. It was later added to Disney+ in Australia and New Zealand and selected territories on November 1, 2025, following the earlier addition of The Rookie, due to both shows being produced by Disney's ABC Signature and a licensing agreement with Lionsgate.