ABC Announces Early Renewal of the Popular Summer Drama Series, "Rookie Blue"

ABC and Global Television jointly announced today the renewal of the summer's popular drama series, "Rookie Blue," for a fourth season.

On average, ABC's "Rookie Blue" is the No. 1 series among Adults 18-49 in Thursday's 10 o'clock hour this summer to date. The ABC drama is growing its overall audience by 4% over the comparable telecasts of last summer. In fact, "Rookie Blue" topped its year-ago premiere (on 6/23/11) by 5% to open its 3rd season with its most-watched telecast since August 2010 - since 8/19/10. For the 2nd summer in a row, "Rookie Blue" stands as the No. 1 drama on the major networks in Adults 18-49.

The fourth season of the series is currently in development and will move into production in Toronto later this summer.

"Rookie Blue" is executive-produced by award-winning Tassie Cameron ("Flashpoint"), Ilana Frank ("The Eleventh Hour," "Would Be Kings"), David Wellington ("The Eleventh Hour," "Would Be Kings") and John Morayniss. "Rookie Blue" is a production of ICF Film Inc. and leading indie studio and distributor Entertainment One.

"Rookie Blue" is a one-hour, original dramatic series that provides a candid look at the personal and professional lives of five rookie cops as they navigate their first years on the beat. Now in their third year on the job, these rookies have learned to overcome the sophomore curse -- that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. With a little more experience under their belts, they're starting to realize that not only is the uniform shaping their professional identity, but it has also started to mold them as people. How can they stay true to themselves - maintaining their individuality and compassion - along the way? This year, the rookies of 15 Division are going to have to learn to be careful what they wish for - and they are going to learn it the hard way.

Shot entirely on location in Toronto, "Rookie Blue" stars Missy Peregrym ("Heroes,""Reaper") as Andy McNally, Gregory Smith ("Everwood") as Dov Epstein, Charlotte Sullivan ("The Kennedys") as Gail Peck, Enuka Okuma ("24") as Traci Nash, Travis Milne ("Leslie, My Name is Evil") as Chris Diaz, Peter Mooney ("Camelot," ABC's Family/Global's "Falcon Beach") as Nick Collins and Ben Bass ("The Eleventh Hour") as Sam Swarek. Also starring in the series is Melanie Nicholls-King as Noelle Williams, Matt Gordon as Oliver Shaw, Noam Jenkins as Detective Jerry Barber and Lyriq Bent as Frank Best.

"Rookie Blue" airs Thursdays at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. In Thursday's June 28 episode, "Girls' Night Out," all hell breaks loose on Traci's first day as detective when a carload of young women from a bachelorette party slams into another vehicle, apparently killing the driver. When the police discover that the driver of the parked car was dead before the accident, Traci realizes that her "rookie" handling of the car crash may have compromised the pending homicide investigation. Meanwhile, as Gail and Chris work together on the case, Chris not only realizes he still has feelings for Gail but that he also has competition. Finally, when Traci and Andy uncover a secret the bride is desperately trying to keep, it's a race to find the murderer before he strikes again.

"Rookie Blue" is available on ABC.com the day after airing on the network for users to watch online.

For more information on "Rookie Blue," please visit ABC.com.