‘This Is Us’ sets Season 5 premiere date

So what have the Pearsons been up to in quarantine? Fans will find out sooner than they previously thought now that NBC has confirmed This Is Us’s official fifth season premiere date. And nope, no one has to wait until next year because the show is indeed coming back this fall.Yup, fall. Despite productions everywhere being shut down or postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, This Is Us has finally managed to figure out its schedule and it will return to homes everywhere on Tuesday, November 10. (At time of press, CTV had yet to confirm Season 5 premiere dates.) And, because everyone will have been waiting for entirely too long for new episodes by that point, the premiere will be a supersized, two-hour event.

It’s official... the Pearsons are coming home on 11/10. Tune in for a very special two hour @NBCThisisUs season premiere ?? @nbc pic.twitter.com/b0W5QRKSYC

— Chrissy Metz (@ChrissyMetz) August 28, 2020

While most of the big plot details have been kept under wraps (as per usual with this top-secret show), fans do know that the series is tackling the pandemic head-on. Creator Dan Fogelman confirmed as much in mid-August when he vaguely answered a few questions on Twitter. He also confirmed that despite the delays and (massive) change in the world, the writers are still working towards that “same planned [series] ending” they’ve been teasing all along.In May, Sterling K. Brown (you know, that Emmy-winning actor who plays Randall) did give a few season five teasers for fans in quarantine who needed something to tide them over. Among them were the tidbits that fans will learn more about Rebecca (Mandy Moore) and Miguel’s (Jon Huertas) backstory, that Madison (Caitlin Thompson) will drop a baby bomb bigger than twins on Kevin (Justin Hartley), and the story will go even deeper into Toby (Chris Sullivan) and Kate’s (Chrissy Metz) journey to adopt. As for Randall? Brown also teased a big “exploration of past” that he compared to the first season’s “Memphis” episode, when he and William (Ron Cephas Jones) took that memorable road trip.[video_embed id='2012607']RELATED: Sterling K. Brown talks about power of representation on TV[/video_embed]There are also historical clues as to what to expect when the show returns. Typically a new season picks up with The Big Three’s birthday, but this year fans have already had a sneak peek at the big day thanks to a memorable flash forward from season four. In it, Kevin and Kate are celebrating their big 4-0 with Rebecca, whose memory has obviously faded significantly. When she asks where Randall is, Kevin reminds her that they’re no longer speaking.It was unclear at the time why the brothers—who have done a lot of relationship repairing these past four years—aren’t on good terms. But by the fourth season finale their epic blowout gave fans a pretty good indication of why they may no longer be in each other’s lives. Meanwhile, Fogelman teased in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that fans will soon learn who Kevin’s fiancée is (it might not be Madison), Rebecca will have a challenging time during the trial in St. Louis, and everyone can expect more of those time jumps that the show is kind of famous for. “The plan is to kind of tilt into different timelines that go past our present day a little bit more as we move forward. More of that is coming, and not just in that deep, deep future where Jack Jr. lives,” he told the publication.One thing's for sure; whatever goes down, fans should take it all in since season five is the second-to-last in the series, as the show still plans to ending with a sixth season."I'm very excited about the uplift and, I would call it almost a rebirth, that comes next season," Fogelman also teased to THR. That includes “a lot of new beginnings” and, as always, “something big” in the long-ago written premiere. In other words? Get those tissues and lemonade ready.Other popular shows have been given premiere dates, including American Ninja Warrior (September 7); The Masked Singer (September 23); Supermarket Sweep (October 18) and Law & Order: SVU (November 13).[video_embed id='2023378']Before you go: ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Andre Braugher on what needs to change about police shows[/video_embed]