NBC has picked up three episodes of breakout new drama Manifest, bringing the total freshman episode count to 16.

The size of the order, which is below full-season 22 episodes, is not surprising. Shorter-run seasons — between 13 and 18 episodes — have become the norm for heavily serialized broadcast dramas, including NBC’s This Is Us, Fox’s Empire and ABC’s How To Get Away with Murder, whose storytelling needs careful planning and execution.

NBC plans to run original episodes of Manifest continuously in the first quarter of 2019 without any repeats. The missing plane drama joins fellow new NBC drama series New Amsterdam, which also received a back order. For the medical procedural, it was a Back 9 for a full-season 22-episodes.

Manifest is the highest rated new series this fall in adults 18-49 and total viewers. So far, it has averaged a 3.9 rating in adults 18-49 and 17.2 million viewers in L+7. Counting all entertainment programs on broadcast and cable, Manifest ranks #4 in L+7 adult 18-49 averages behind only This Is Us, The Walking Dead and The Big Bang Theory and #2 in total viewers behind only “Big Bang.” Adding in alternate platform viewing raises the Manifest L+7 18-49 rating to a 5.1.

Manifest stars Melissa Roxburgh, Josh Dallas, Athena Karkanis, J.R. Ramirez, Luna Blaise, Jack Messina and Parveen Kaur. It joins

Jeff Rake writes and executive produces. David Frankel directed and executive produced the pilot. Robert Zemeckis, Jack Rapke and Jackie Levine also executive produce. Manifest is produced by Warner Bros. Television, Universal Television, Compari Entertainment and Jeff Rake Productions.