No joke: Gotham renewed for final season by Fox

Gotham type TV Show network Fox genre Crime

Superhero

Bruce Wayne just had his closest call yet.

Gotham scored a last-minute renewal from Fox on Sunday. The DC Comics-inspired drama series will be back for a fifth season. But here’s the rub: This will be the show’s final season and will focus on Bruce Wayne’s transformation into the caped crusader.

“The fifth and final season will wrap up this unique origin story of the great DC Comics Super-Villains and vigilantes, which revealed an entirely new chapter that has never been told,” Fox says.

Gotham was considered a likely goner last week, or perhaps to move to DC’s streaming service. Gotham has only been averaging 3.7 million viewers and 1.2 in the 18-49 demo and wasn’t expected to squeak into another year.

The network did not say how many episodes are in the order. Gotham has had 22 episodes every year, but given how narrowly it was renewed, and for a final season, a shorter run would not surprise.

Fox has its upfront presentation to advertisers on Monday, an annual event that’s traditionally a deadline for deciding whether to renew or cancel shows.

The moves follow another less-than-likely renewal on Sunday, for Lethal Weapon, only with American Pie actor Seann William Scott replacing Clayne Crawford.

There was also slew of Fox cancellations last week, including The Exorcist, Lucifer, Brooklyn Nine-Nine (which was rescued by NBC), The Mick and The Last Man on Earth.

There are still a couple bubble shows that have not yet learned their fates yet — NBC’s Timeless being a big one.