Better Things is coming back to FX for Season 5.
Better Things is a comedy-drama series starring Pamela Adlon as Sam Fox. Sam is a single mother raising her three kids alone in Los Angeles, where she works as an actress.
The series premiered on FX in September 2016 to favorable audience response and positive critical reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it scored a critics’ approval rating of 95 percent (based on 57 reviews) and an audience approval rating of 84 percent (based on 640 user reviews).
Better Things won a Peabody Award in 2016, and Adlon, who also created the series with Louis C.K., was nominated in 2017 and 2018 for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress.
The 10-episode Better Things Season 4 ended on a positive note on April 30, with Sam taking a bank loan to pay off her debt to her ex-husband Xander (Matthew Glave).
Since then, fans have been looking forward to the next season and awaiting updates on the future of the show on FX.
Here is everything we know about Better Things Season 5.
- Updated on December 24, 2021 – Release Date Announced
This article provides everything that is known about Better Things Season 5 and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s dig down into what is known so far.
Is there going to be a Season 5 of Better Things?
Deadline first reported on May 26, 2020, that FX had renewed Better Things for Season 5.
Variety also reported in July that FX had renewed the series for Season 5 and signed an overall deal with Adlon covering scripted and unscripted shows.
The overall deal meant that any project Adlon does would be exclusively for FX and other divisions of Walt Disney TV.
The renewal of Better Things for Season 5 came despite decreasing ratings and viewership.
Better Things Season 4 averaged a 0.11 rating in the 18-49 demo and 294,000 viewers per episode, compared with Season 3, which averaged a 0.12 rating and 334,000 viewers.
The series also ranked low among FX Shows in the 2019-2020 season. It ranked No. 14 out of 15 shows on the network, outranking only Breeders.
Despite the decreasing ratings, the renewal of the show for Season 5 did not come entirely as a surprise to fans, after Season 4 was nominated for two TCA Awards.
On Rotten Tomatoes, Better Things Season 4 scored a 100 percent approval rating (based on 13 critical reviews) and an audience approval rating of 86 percent (based on 35 user responses).
FX’s renewal statement also gave glowing praises to Better Things Season 4, describing it as the “best yet.”
According to Eric Shrier, president of FX Productions:
“The most recent season of ‘Better Things’ was its best yet and we’re excited about what’s to come in season five, as well as all of the future projects we are working on together.”
Release date latest: When is Better Things Season 5 likely to come out?
In July 2020, Hollywood Reporter and other sources reported that Better Things Season 5 was expected to return in 2021. However, it became uncertain if the show would be able to make an early 2021 return date.
The last two seasons of Better Things, Seasons 3 and 4, premiered in early February 2019 and March 2020, respectively.
Going by the premiere dates for Seasons 3 and 4, many fans had expected that the series would return for Season 5 in early 2021.
However, the coronavirus pandemic is expected to cause a delay in the 2021 premiere date.
When TVLine asked Adlon back in April (days before the Season 4 finale aired on FX) about her plans for Season 5, she was dismissive. Adlon said that due to the uncertainties caused by the coronavirus pandemic she wasn’t thinking about Season 5 yet.
When the coronavirus pandemic started in March, Adlon was working on Season 4 post-production. She said that she wasn’t thinking about Better Things Season 5 while she was working on Season 4.
But after finishing work on Season 4 in April, Adlon said she wasn’t planning to start writing Season 5 anytime soon because the coronavirus pandemic made the future of the show on FX uncertain.
” I really don’t give a f**k about Season 5 until we finish corona because I don’t know what’s going to happen. I can’t imagine writing a whole season for Better Things and then never producing it. That would be heartbreaking.”
Deadline reported that Better Things Season 5 was coming in 2022.
Better Things Season 5 will premiere on FX on Monday, February 28, 2022.
“While it’s bittersweet to present the finale of Pamela’s masterpiece, we adore the upcoming season and think fans will love the episodes as much as we do,” FX Chairman John Landgraf said. “Our thanks to Pamela, the extraordinary cast, the crew and everyone who worked on Better Things for putting an exclamation point on this brilliant, original, radically humanistic series.”
Better Things Season 5 cast updates
The Season 4 main cast is expected to return for Season 5.
That means Pamela Adlon will return as Sam Fox, Mikey Madison as Max Fox, Hannah Alligood as Frankie Fox, and Olivia Edward as Duke Fox.
Celia Imrie is also expected to return as Phyllis.
Better Things Season 5 plot
Season 4 ended with Sam paying off her debt to Xander by taking out a loan. A bit later, viewers saw her enjoying a swim in the pool with Phil and Rich.
The closing scene showed Max, Frankie, and Duke at the beach, looking at the sunset. They turn to look at the camera with the ocean behind them.
Better Things’ ending season focuses on “the road ahead” for Sam Fox (Adlon), so devoted to her life as a working actor and single mother as she navigates three coming-of-age daughters, the challenges of her chosen career and her mother’s increasing signs of aging — as well as her own.
As each of the Fox women head into the next phase of their life, they are inspired to re-evaluate themselves, learn from the past and find their own direction.
Better Things Season 5 will premiere on FX on Monday, February 28, 2022.