The Bear renewed for a fifth season

The Bear is officially coming back for a fifth season.

The show’s network, FX, confirmed the news today, less than a week after its fourth season premiere, which FX president John Landgraf claimed had “incredibly high viewership”.

The next season will return in 2026. Its first four seasons always dropped in late June, so it’s possible it could keep to a similar schedule.

The show was created by Christopher Storer, who also writes and directs many of the episodes, and is set in Chicago, centred on the character of Carmy, a prodigiously talented young chef who returns home after the unexpected death of his brother.

He inherits the family’s casual eatery with ambitions to turn it into a fine dining establishment, drawing on his experience working in some of the world’s most famous restaurants, including Noma and French Laundry.

As the series progressed, it expanded its focus to give equal time to the ensemble cast of characters, such as Sydney, the up-and-comer chef, Richie, a tempestuous server who discovers his real skills, and Sugar, Carmy’s sister, who runs the admin side.

The series’ first two seasons were widely lauded for their writing, directing and performances, and while reception for the third was more tepid, the fourth appeared to have won back fans.

It’s won a slew of awards and supercharged the careers of Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach.

While the fourth season had been confirmed ahead of time, the network and the filmmakers were less forthcoming about the possibility of a fifth season, and the season four finale left the story at a point that could have served as a series end.

The show also stars Liza Colon-Zayas, Lionel Boyce, Abby Elliot, Matty Matheson and Edwin Lee Gibson, and have featured high profile recurring and guest stars including Jon Bernthal, Jamie Lee Curtis, Oliver Platt, Bob Odenkirk, Gillian Jacobs, John Mulaney, Brie Larson, John Cena, Oliver Colman, Will Poulter and Danielle Deadwyler.

Real-life chefs who have cameo-ed as themselves include Daniel Boulud, René Redzepi and Thomas Keller.