Grace and Frankie fans are looking forward to Season 7 of the popular sitcom series billed as the 16-episode final outing for the long-running Netflix Original series.
The series will end with Season 7, following a successful run during which it received multiple Emmy and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations and a Golden Globe nomination for actress Lily Tomlin.
However, since production on the upcoming season — which started in January 2020 — stopped in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, fans have been wondering when it will resume and whether there is still going be a seventh season of Grace and Frankie on Netflix.
Here are the answers to your questions about Grace and Frankie Season 7, including release date, casting updates, plot, and more.
Is there going to be a Season 7 of Grace and Frankie?
The good news is that there is going to be Grace and Frankie Season 7 on Netflix.
The bad news for diehard fans of the series is that Season 7 will be the final outing for the fun-loving ladies — Grace and Frankie — portrayed by Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.
Netflix renewed Grace and Frankie for Season 7 on September 4, 2019, ahead of the January 15, 2020 release date for the 13-episode Season 6.
Production on the upcoming season, including filming in Los Angeles, began in January 2020, soon after Season 6 landed on the platform.
However, Netflix shut down production on Grace and Frankie Season 7 in March, alongside production on several other Netflix shows, such as Stranger Things Season 4 and The Witcher Season 2.
And since then, there has been no news about when production on the highly-anticipated final season of the much-loved series swill resume.
Partly as a gesture to reassure fans that Season 7 is coming, the cast and production crew got together on April 9 for a live table read of an episode from the upcoming season (see below).
Nearly 300,000 Grace and Frankie fans watched the live stream table read organized in support of Meals on Wheels. Fans responded by donating to the charity organization, and the overwhelming response temporarily crashed the Meals on Wheels website.
Release date latest: When is Grace and Franki Season 7 likely to come out?
Since Season 4, all previous seasons of Grace and Frankie premiered in January of consecutive years, so fans hoped that Season 7 would premiere in January 2021.
However, it isn’t likely that fans will see a new season in January 2021 after Netflix halted production on the upcoming season back in March.
We don’t know yet when production on Grace and Frankie Season 7 will resume, so it is difficult to speculate on when a new batch of episodes will arrive on Netflix.
Everything depends on how soon coronavirus pandemic restrictions end.
Fans can only keep their fingers crossed regarding a mid or late 2021 release date for Season 7.
How many episodes will there be in Grace and Frankie Season 7?
All previous seasons of Grace and Frankie featured 13 episodes. However, Variety reported back in September 2019 that Season 7 will have 16 episodes.
A final season of 16 episodes will bring the entire series to 94 episodes, the longest-running Netflix Original series.
Grace and Frankie Season 7 cast updates
According to Deadline, the entire main cast of Grace and Frankie will return for Season 7.
This cast includes Jane Fonda (as Grace), Lily Tomlin (as Frankie), Sam Waterston (Sol Bergstein), Martin Sheen (Robert Hanson), June Diane Raphael (Brianna Hanson), Brooklyn Decker (Mallory Hanson), Baron Vaughn (Nwabudike “Bud” Bergstein), and Ethan Embry (Coyote Bergstein).
Show creators Marta Kauffman and Howard J. Morris will return as showrunners.
Kauffman and Morris will also executive produce with Fonda, Tomlin, Paula Weinstein, Robbie Tollin, John Hoffman, David Ellison (Skydance Television), Dana Goldberg, and Marcy Ross, according to Deadline.
What is Grace and Frankie about?
Grace and Frankie follows the titular characters, Grace, a retired cosmetics business executive, and Frankie, a retired art teacher.
They bond after their husbands, Robert and Sol — successful divorce lawyers based in San Diego, California — revealed they were gay and left them to start a same-sex relationship with each other.
The common misfortune brings the two former frenemies together as they struggle to build new lives for themselves, post-divorce.
In Season 4, they get into trouble after they hit a police car while driving a mobile scooter under the influence of alcohol.
Grace and Frankie Season 7 plot
Not much has been revealed about the plot for the upcoming season, but show creator Kauffman offered tantalizing clues an interview with Good Housekeeping back in January 2020.
She revealed that fans would find Season 7 much different than previous seasons of the series:
“I can’t say too much, but we’re going to be dealing with Robert, Sol, Grace, and Frankie in a way that we haven’t seen before.”
“You know, my hope is that [Grace and Frankie] inspires people to realize that just because one phase of your life ends doesn’t mean that another one doesn’t begin—and it can be better than the previous phases,” she added.
While her comments don’t tell us much about what to expect, it hints, at least, that fans can expect that Grace and Frankie Season 7 will have a good ending that offers satisfying closure on the series.
I love this show. Never much of a TV person, I found myself so excited about two shows, and NEVER DID I EVER think that would happen. Grace and Frankie and Schitt’s Creek (I’m so sad it’s ended) my two favorite things to watch.
Now, the Levy’s just need to start a new show.