Fans will certainly struggle to say goodbye to the Pearson family

This Is Us Will End After Season 6 with an 'Elegant,' 'Satisfying' Finale, Showrunners Say

Grab the tissues — This Is Us could be over sooner than you’d expect.

In a new interview with Deadline, This Is Us showrunners Isaac Aptaker and Dan Fogelman opened up about the future of the hit NBC drama, saying the series could end after season 6.

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Aptaker said the show, which is currently in its third season, has a finale planned for “about three seasons in the future.”

While this may come as a surprise to fans, Fogelman has had an ending in mind since the very beginning.

“From day one, Dan came in with his master plan for the big picture stuff of the show and said, ‘I think this is where we end up. I think this is what I know. Let’s figure out the rest together.’ So all of the writers and the actors really know everything,” Aptaker said. “We’re all pretty good at keeping secrets by now, it’s been three years, but it’s a total open book for everyone who works on the show, so there are no secrets from each other.”

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Fans will certainly struggle to say goodbye to the Pearson family, but the showrunners are confident that viewers will find the series finale “elegant” and “satisfying.”

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“I would hope that when we reach our ending, people think it’s a really satisfying end place, that makes sense, and it feels like they’ve watched something that is a complete piece of work because that’s really how we’re trying to plan it,” Aptaker added.

Image zoom This Is Us Ron Batzdorff/NBC

Aptaker said they would rather leave viewers wanting more than feeling like the show has gone on too long.