High-octane kitchen drama The Bear is ending after its fifth season, according to reports and its recurring guest star, Jamie Lee Curtis.
Deadline reported that sources have confirmed the Emmy-winning comedy drama would end after its fifth season, marking a natural end after Jeremy Allen-White’s character Carmy Berzatto tells his colleagues that he’s leaving the restaurant and signing over his stake at the end of season four.
The Independent has contacted FX for comment.
Curtis, meanwhile, alluded to a possible ending in a recent Instagram post showing herself and co-star Abby Elliott from the set of season five, writing in the caption: “FINISHED STRONG!”
She continued: “Surrounded by an extraordinary crew and group of writers and producers and scene partners on the show that Chris Storer created, completing the story of this extraordinary family that we have all fallen in love with.”
In a new interview with Access Hollywood, Curtis was quizzed on whether she had accidentally announced something that wasn’t public knowledge.
“Everybody’s confirmed the show is ending,” Curtis said. “I don’t understand why that’s such a [big deal]. Unless I’m gonna get a call from all the people saying, ‘You just told [everyone],’ I think everybody understood that it was the last season of the show. If it isn’t, then I’ve completely blown it.”
The series, which follows White’s fine-dining chef who returns to Chicago to run his family’s struggling sandwich shop, premiered to huge acclaim in 2022, receiving Emmys in the Outstanding Comedy Series category in 2023 with White, Ayo Edebiri, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Storer all winning individual awards.
Liza Colón-Zayas won for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2024 and Curtis, who has appeared occasionally as Carmy and Natalie’s mother Donna Berzatto since season two, won Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.
Initially beloved as a dark comedy set in the frenetic and deeply stressful world of chefs, the most recent seasons of The Bear have received more lukewarm reviews.
In his three-star analysis of season four, The Independent’s Nick Hilton said that the series felt “trapped in a loop of its own creation.”
He pointed out that the show was “throwing so much out there that, inevitably, not everything will land.”
“Even the self-contained bottle episodes — such as the season finale — feel like they are trying too hard,” Hilton wrote. “The Bear works best when it is honest and funny and chaotic to the point of farce.”
After White’s character left the kitchen at the end of season four, the fifth instalment is expected to follow Carmy as he explores life away from his family business and leaves it in the hands of his sister Natalie (Elliott), alongside chefs Sydney (Edebiri) and Richie (Moss-Bachrach).
© Independent Digital News & Media Ltd