FOX has given comic drama Gotham a fifth and final season renewal, it was confirmed today. This takes the show over the 100 episode plateau that should help its streaming and syndication afterlife.
Aided by lead-out The Orville, Gotham had a fairly decent fall considering its move to Thursdays, improving the time slot from last season and keeping its head above water. Following a three-month hiatus, the show was brought back to the schedule with Showtime at the Apollo as a lead-out, a double whammy that accelerated the show’s decline and caused it to notably sink from what MasterChef Junior was doing last season. Despite all this, though, Gotham has a lucrative streaming deal, international cache given its title/content, and comes from a studio in WB that FOX likely wants to keep a relationship with as they transition to a new phase.
It’ll be interesting to see what FOX does with Gotham. Per Deadline, the series will premiere midseason for the first time, but it doesn’t really fit with the direction they’re going and will be headed into a final season next year. Therefore a low-priority slot late in the season wouldn’t be a huge surprise, bar what impact that could have on FOX’s relationship with WB.
As of press time, the lone FOX scripted shows still to have their fates decided are comedies LA to Vegas and Ghosted, both of whom are alive for a possible renewal.
The fourth season finale of Gotham is set to air Thursday, May 17th at 8:00 on FOX.
