Netflix has officially renewed Virgin River for season 6. Per Deadline, the renewal was announced on Wednesday during Netflix’s first upfront presentation. It’s an early renewal, as season 5 still has yet to premiere on Netflix, not due to start streaming until this fall, a bit later than what was previously expected. With that said, it’s still not a shocker for Virgin River to score a renewal for another season, given its continued popularity with Netflix subscribers. It’s been one of the most successful shows on the streamer, as its fourth season alone had more than 277 million hours streamed within its first 28 days.
The upcoming fifth season also will be coming after a big change was made behind the scenes. For the first four seasons, series creator Sue Tenney served as showrunner, but she has exited that position ahead of season 5. Patrick Sean Smith would fill in starting with the fifth season, but the powers that be at Netflix have promised that the change in showrunners will not have a negative effect on the show for the viewers.
“Season 5 is going to continue to stay true to what fans have loved about the show from the beginning; it feels like a community that we all belong to and that we’re all a part of, it’s very comforting, it gives you hope, and I think all of that is stuff that people can’t get enough of these days,” Netflix’s Jinny Howe said to Deadline last year when the change was made, teasing that the show could also go beyond the fifth season. “I think we definitely see more longevity and growth with the show. As long as the audience asks for it and shows up — and I think we see with season 4 that the fandom is very strong and growing in many places as well — it feels like based on what we’re seeing with season 4 and the anticipation for season 5 that there is a lot more storytelling to offer us.”
Virgin River Gets an Early Renewal
Virgin River is based on the original novel series by Robyn Carr. The show follows Mel Monroe, a woman who responds to an ad to work as a midwife and nurse practitioner in the remote town of Virgin River in Northern California. Starting fresh somewhere entirely new turns out to be not as simple as she had expected. Alexandra Breckenridge stars, playing the role of Mel, while other cast members include Martin Henderson, Colin Lawrence, Jenny Cooper, Lauren Hammersley, Annette O’Toole, Tim Matheson, and Sarah Dugdale.
Carr also serves as an executive producer on the Netflix series adaptation. She joins fellow exec producers Sue Tenney, Christopher E. Perry, Roma Roth, Jocelyn Freid, and Amy Palmer Robertson. Ian Hay and Sally Dixon produced.
You can find the first four seasons of Virgin River streaming on Netflix. The fifth season is set to debut this fall. No word yet on when season 6 is expected to hit the streaming service.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
