How The Rookie Landed the Dropout Kids

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During its eight seasons, the TV show The Rookie has consistently broken the mold of typical police dramas. Last April, the show featured hosts Shane Madej and Ryan Bergara from the paranormal series Ghost Files, presenting an entire episode as a documentary. This week, however, the producers took an even more unexpected approach, teaming up with Sam Reich, the CEO of Dropout, and four of his co-stars from the comedy show Game Changer.

Crossovers between TV shows usually happen to promote other programs owned by the same company. For example, NBC might have characters from its Chicago dramas face a big crisis together, or CBS could have people from The Young and the Restless appear on its newer soap opera, Beyond the Gates. So, when fans of Rookie and Dropout saw this week’s crossover, they might have assumed it was a similar marketing move. However, Rookie’s creator, Alexi Hawley, says the idea was much simpler: he was just a big fan of Dropout and wanted to collaborate with them. He reached out to Sam, Dropout’s creator, with the idea, even admitting they didn’t know each other, and asked if a crossover was possible.

According to Hawley, Reich was immediately interested in the idea. While he couldn’t speak for all the performers, he believed they might be on board. They then discussed Hawley’s concept: bringing the unpredictable energy of improv comedians from Dropout together with the serious world of the police in The Rookie. Hawley envisioned it being funny to see Nathan Fillion, known for his ability to play a straight man, try to get statements from the comedians. He feels the show thrives on unexpected moments, which is a key to its success as a police procedural – anything can happen whenever the characters step out of their cars.

The episode, aptly named “Fun and Games,” was fully written by newcomer Madeleine Coghlan, not the usual Dropout team. However, according to Sam Hawley, they still left room for improvisation during filming. He explains they wanted to give everyone a chance to be playful, and Madeleine’s background in improv, along with her connections to improv performers, made her the ideal writer for the task. Hawley describes the final episode as “a joy” and “more fun than I thought possible.”

Reich was surprised when Hawley first suggested they do Rookie, initially thinking it was a joke. He explained to Vulture that he couldn’t picture how Dropout would fit into a typical network TV show. Once he was sure it wasn’t another prank, the idea of playing themselves on national television felt both strange and thrilling. Many of them had acting experience before improv, and they were eager to showcase that skill on a large platform. However, Reich also believed Rookie was a chance to attract new viewers to Dropout. He noted that network television reaches a similarly large audience as Dropout, but one that isn’t already familiar with their content.

Sam Reich admitted he knew Rookie existed but hadn’t actually watched it before Senator Hawley contacted him. He quickly caught up by watching several episodes, wanting to be prepared as a performer. Though the Dropout team didn’t write the episode or its story, Reich felt reassured knowing Alexi Hawley was a fan, believing their world would be treated with respect. He appreciated that the writers captured their style and voices. He was also very impressed that, even though Game Changer wasn’t being filmed at the time, the Rookie team painstakingly recreated the Game Changer set in detail in their own studio.

According to Hawley, his growing enjoyment of Dropout was the main reason for the crossover, but he also hopes the episode will appeal to a key part of Rookie’s audience: younger viewers from Gen Alpha and Gen Z. Despite the belief that people under 40 don’t watch traditional network TV, Rookie has become increasingly popular in recent seasons, largely due to a growing number of younger viewers.

In 2025, the show was the most-watched linear TV program among teenagers, according to Nielsen. Last year, it ranked as the tenth most popular show across all U.S. streaming platforms, with viewers watching over 22 billion minutes of content—an impressive feat considering it has fewer episodes than long-running hits like Law & Order and NCIS. Remarkably, as the show enters its ninth year, it’s attracting its largest overall audience since its first season in 2018. Creator Noah Hawley attributes much of this success to clips shared on platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts. He adds that he himself discovered the streaming service Dropout through these short-form videos, and believes this is how many younger viewers find content, making a crossover event a natural fit.

It’s common for fans of smaller, independent creators to react negatively when those creators collaborate with large, mainstream brands. As my colleague Jesse David Fox pointed out last year, Dropout’s audience is largely young, progressive, very active online, and intensely loyal to the platform’s performers. So, it wasn’t surprising that when Reich announced a Rookie episode on Dropout last month, many fans protested, viewing the collaboration as a clash between Dropout’s progressive values and what they consider to be a police-positive portrayal in the network drama.

When asked about criticisms of the show’s genre, Hawley didn’t disagree with those views. He explained that he and his team focus on being aware of current events and how they relate to the show. “We’ve always known being a police show comes with scrutiny, especially now,” he said. “We try to understand the real-world issues we’re portraying and build from there.”

Reich hasn’t said much publicly about the criticism surrounding appearances on platforms like X, but he did address it in a video and to Vulture. He explained that being on Rookie was a great chance to be on a major TV show, and he didn’t want to miss it. He also emphasized that this opportunity came about because of their dedicated fans. He acknowledged that with a large and passionate audience, some people are bound to be disappointed sometimes, but assured that they always consider feedback and believe their decisions will ultimately benefit Dropout’s long-term health and success.

Reich also mentioned he and his Dropout team filmed a short cameo for the show Rookie, which might appear later this season. He said there aren’t currently any plans for Rookie actors to join Dropout, but hinted that the Rookie cast, particularly Nathan, is incredibly talented at improv. In fact, he joked that they did so much improv on set it was almost reckless!

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2026-03-04 00:55