Gotham Renewed For Fifth And Final Season At Fox

Gotham is getting a heroic send-off. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox has renewed the DC Comics series for a fifth and final season, giving the show the chance to conclude the story of how a young Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz) becomes Batman.

The O.C.'s Ben McKenzie stars in Gotham as a younger version of James Gordon, who would later go on to become Commissioner Gordon. The series, which comes from The Mentalist's Bruno Heller, also stars Donal Logue, Morena Baccarin, Sean Pertwee, Robin Lord Taylor, Erin Richards, Camren Bicondova, Cory Michael Smith, Jessica Lucas, Chris Chalk, Drew Powell, Alexander Siddig, and Crystal Reed.

THR sources say that the season is expected to be shorter than a full 22 episodes, likely coming in around 13, the number the show needs in order to reach 100 episodes and syndication. Producers Warner Bros. Television did not comment on the final season's exact episode amount, but they did have this to say about the season: "The fifth and final season will wrap up this unique origin story of the great DC Comics Super-villains and vigilantes, which revealed an entirely new chapter that has never been told." (via Deadline)

Gotham was a strong ratings performer in its first season, but it has been falling since, averaging a 1.4 rating in the key 18 to 49 demo in its fifth season, compared to a 1.9 in its fourth. The series does do better when factoring in multi-platform viewership, averaging 5.8 million viewers in multi-platform viewers, up 115 percent from its live plus same day numbers.

Gotham joins fellow renewed Fox dramas Empire, Star, The Gifted, 911, and The Resident. Fox is also bringing back its Lethal Weapon series with Seann William Scott replacing the show's embattled former star Clayne Crawford. Fox's returning comedies include Family Guy, Bob's Burgers, The Simpsons, and Tim Allen's Last Man Standing, which the network revived after its ABC cancellation last year. 

The network has pulled the plug on Brooklyn Nine-Nine (which would go on to earn a pick-up at NBC), The Exorcist, Lucifer, The Last Man on Earth, The Mick, and New Girl, which was also given an abbreviated final season run. Still waiting to hear back are the comedies Ghosted and L.A. to Vegas, both of which are considered possibilities for renewal.