Fans Are Already Hungry For Another 'OITNB' Season

Orange Is the New Black returns with its sixth season on July 27, which means that around 6pm on July 28th, fans will probably find themselves wondering: when does Season 7 of OITNB premiere? The series loves a completely over-the-top cliffhanger, so Season 6 will probably leave us on the cusp of a massive plot twist. But here's the good news: Orange Is the New Black premieres around the same time every year, so we have a pretty good guess as to when it'll return — even though there's no official premiere date yet, and it likely won't be announced until the Season 7 trailer drops sometime next spring.

Orange Is the New Black typically drops in early June, however, this year, the premiere was pushed all the way back to the end of July. One of the reasons for that might be Jenji Kohan's other wildly popular Netflix series GLOW, which also usually drops in June. It's possible that the OITNB showrunner, who also serves as an executive producer on GLOW, spent a little more time getting the latter ready to go this summer, while pushing the former further down the production pipeline. But either way, OITNB is safely returning next season.

Back in February of 2016, the show was granted an impressive three-season pick-up from Netflix, ensuring that the series would continue through Seasons 5, 6, and 7. Kohan famously joked at the time that it was "not quite a political term, but still plenty of time to do some interesting things." She also revealed in that same statement that she'd stay on with the series as its showrunner through the end of its run.

The day before Season 5 dropped last summer, the New York Times asked Kohan if she thought Season 7 would be the end. She replied, "I haven’t made a final decision yet, but I’m leaning toward ending it after seven — although the nature of the show is one that can go on and on because you can bring in new people."

Some have speculated that the creator might hand off the baton to another showrunner while she focuses on other projects, but given her earlier commitment to staying with the series until it ends — and the dubious possibility that the show would even work with an entirely new cast of characters — it makes sense that things would come to a close after next season.

One other interesting thread the show has yet to pull on is the current presidential administration. OITNB shies away from showing real life political leaders because the world of the show is technically in the past. Piper's sentence is only ten months long, after all. But Kohan has been fiddling with the idea of including a reality jump which would put the inmates of Litchfield under a Trump presidency without adding any extra time to their sentences. "We want to address current events and feelings, so we may abandon the timeline," Kohan teased. Given that, there's plenty of material for the writers to explore next season, so we'll just have to sit tight until it's ready.