The Shield creator and executive producer Shawn Ryan had announced in May that he was unsure if he would be doing another season of the show that stars Michael Chiklis as tough cop Vic Mackey. After weeks of wondering, fans can now rest easy. There will actually be two new seasons of the gritty FX show. Well, sort of.
Ryan has confessed, “The writers and I weren’t quite ready to step away from these characters just yet. We asked FX for an additional 13 episodes to conclude the show properly and, as always, the network graciously let us do what we thought was best for the show.”
As a result, the ten Shield episodes that are currently in production, which many expected to be part of the current season (season five), will now be delayed until 2007 and called season six. Season five guest Forest Whitaker (as Internal Affairs detective Jon Kavanaugh) will appear in some of the season six episodes.
Then, production will begin on the final 13 Shield episodes (season seven) in the summer of 2007 and will be released presumably in late 2007/early 2008. The two final seasons will bring the episode count of the FX original and award-winning series to a total of 88.
Said FX president John Landgraf, “It has been the privilege of everyone at FX to work with Shawn Ryan, Michael Chiklis and their colleagues on The Shield. It has always been our intent to have the show exit television as it entered, as one of the best drama series ever. We’re thrilled Shawn has come up with a great way to end the series and that it will require one final season for his vision to reach completion.”
So, will that be the end of Mackey’s rule-breaking exploits? Could there be TV-movies? Hard to say. The series is FX’s first original series and has proven to be very popular, attracting a high-viewership (especially considering it’s only available to cable and satellite subscribers) as well as multiple award nominations and wins. With that in mind, I can’t help wondering if we might see Shield stories, in some form, for a long time to come.
Side note: For an interesting story on how Michael Chiklis got the role of Vic Mackey, click here. 
Nothing lasts forvever not even if their is great rateings. I hate to see the show end but thats life another great show 24 is rumored to becomeing to its end as well.
I never post comments on blogs, but the Shield is worth it. This is the best show on T.V. FX should run it until Michael Chiklis can’t walk!
I am 52 years old and have been watching television for a “long time”. THE SHIELD, in my humble opinion, is the BEST COP SHOW ever produced. The day this show stops running will be a sad one indeed. All I can do is pray and hope that a large amount of people will make a GREAT BIG NOISE about this show and KEEP IT ON THE AIR!
I have been stuck at home for a month with my dog who broke his leg, a friend turned me on to the shield,Wow is all I can say, What A Great Show I’m up to season 5 third disc, Fx did something right with this show, I just can’t believe I did’nt even know about it till just recently, so glad I do now, Great way to spend my time stuck at home!!!!!!!
Vic Mackey is awesome, I think he could beat up Walker Texas Ranger and Indiana Jones. It will be a shame if he stops being on tv. i watched season 1 8 times so far. i remember most of what he says in every episode. I got a vic mackey shirt i wear all the time. go vic go!!
The Shield is the Greatest Police show ever on tv/cable!!! We look forward to season 7!!! season 8 would be great too! 🙂 But as all great things have to come too a end sadly.. So I know Mike Chiklis and all the cast and crew and all, will do a awesome job!! Thank You for all the Past Shields, for the the greatest police show EVER!!! Sincerely, Falcon
I am a Fan from Europe/Germany. I am a hugh fan of the series. This is the best series ever to be on TV. Though only Seasons 1-3 aired in german pay-Tv, i have watched all Seasons from Season 2-6 in the original and only the first one in german language. NOTE THAT EVERYBODY I HAVE SHOWN THE SHIELD (of all ages) GOT ADDICTED TO THE SHIELD. So the Shield has to continue, wether as TV Show or as Kind of Cinema oder maybe better as TV-Movies about 2-3 Hours long. There are other good series like nip/tuck oder Prison… Read more »
The shield is the best cop show ever produced hands down. Being a cop myself I can also admit to how realistic it actually is. Not so much the strike team shenanigans but the overall feel of the show. However, there is no way the strike team can continue to keep getting away with all of the madness they have and the show stay realistic. I understand we all watch television as a means of escape from our mundane lives but……how long did you think Vic could Rob Peter to pay Paul? It has to end. I would like to… Read more »
Vic Mackey. The second anti-heroe next to Tony Soprano. The greatest cop show to ever hit TV. This show was made for its time. SO AMAZING!!! Come on, it had two leading guest stars.
LOOK, I KNOW EVERYONE WANTS THE SHIELD TO STAY ON T.V. FOREVER! THE SAD TRUTH IS THAT IT IS ENDING WITH SEASON 7 AND NO AMOUNT OF BOYCOTTING OR WHATEVER IS GOING TO HELP CHANGE THAT! THE SHIELD, I AGREE, IS ONE OF THE MOST INNOVATIVE, CAPTIVATING SHOWS THAT HAS HIT THE “AIRWAVES” IN A LONG TIME, AND IT JUST PLAIN ROCKS!! LIKE ONE SAID UP ABOVE, ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END, AND BESIDES, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE THE BEST OF THE SHIELD CONSTANTLY RUNNING IN SINDICATE, OR HAVE IT DRAGGED OUT TO THE POINT THAT IT… Read more »
this show is the BEST, I love watching. I watch it everytime it comes on. I used to have DISH and got rid of it but I had to wait until The Shield season was over so I could get Cable to replace it so I wouldn’t miss NIP/TUCK, my next fav.
I hate to see it go.
From a french fan of the shield : Keep the serie going on!!!! We need some great drama as this one….why the f…ck some sh*tty series as prison break are still on whereas a show this good is to be canceled….hope we ll go for an 8th and 9th n 10th ….seasons
Viva the Shield!!
I’ve read from a source that there are a multitude of reasons for The Shield’s unfortunate demise. The one that seems to hold the most truth is that Shawn Ryan (The Producer) has a huge workload handling both “The Shield” and “The Unit” and that combined with the passing of the late Scott Brazil is making it so that he is always busy and that one of the two shows would have to go.
Hey I am a Shield fan from Japan.
It’s sucks that it’s ending but thanks for the great 5 years of awesome show!
Chiklis announced on Leno last night that he has begun filming the LAST season of The Shield. I was devasted when he said it. I had to rewind it to make sure I heard it correctly.
There has never been, and never will be, a show this good. There’s so much garbage that goes on and on forever and then this show is wrapping up after 7 seasons. It’s just wrong.
Please FX, keep this show going. How’s this for a compromise: Keep it on for one year less than we had to deal with Sipowitz!