According to Deadline, NBC has just ordered an eighth season of The Blacklist marking the second time in as many years the drama has received an early renewal. The announcement was made by NBC executives during a celebration of the series’ 150th episode with cast and crew in New York. The trade notes that, at this time, there are no plans for the show to end after Season 8.
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The network also announced that Season 7 will resume on Friday, March 20 at 8 p.m. with two back-to-back episodes.
The renewal was anticipated, as NBC had already closed new deals with the original cast members whose contracts were expiring, namely stars James Spader and Megan Boone. Additionally, the show continues to pull in strong ratings and serves as a major profit generator for Sony TV thanks to strong international sales and a burgeoning Netflix deal.
“Congratulations to our incredible cast, producers and crew, all of whom continue to reach excellence week in and week out,” said Lisa Katz and Tracey Pakosta, Co-Presidents of Scripted Programming, NBC Entertainment. “We couldn’t be more excited to continue Red and Liz’s story into season eight.”
For decades, ex-government agent Raymond “Red” Reddington has been one of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives. After brokering shadowy deals for criminals across the globe for years, he’s now mysteriously surrendered to the FBI with an explosive offer: he will help them catch an entire “blacklist” of politicians, mobsters, spies and international terrorists but only under the condition that he works exclusively with Elizabeth “Liz” Keen, an FBI profiler fresh out of Quantico. Red will teach Liz to think like a criminal and “see the bigger picture”… whether she wants to or not.
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The series, which premiered on September 23, 2013, returned for its latest season on October 4, 2019.
