“The Bear” is coming to an end, according to reporting from Deadline, which says the upcoming fifth season of FX’s Chicago-based kitchen dramedy will be the last.While fans had speculated this could be the final season, chatter grew after recurring guest star Jamie Lee Curtis posted a picture on Instagram on Feb. 17 with Abby Elliott, who plays her on-screen daughter, and a caption that starts with: "FINISHED STRONG!” On a red carpet this week, Curtis doubled down, telling Entertainment Tonight, “It is the end of the show, everybody knows it's the end of the show. I'm not breaking any news to anybody.”FX has not confirmed the series is ending. In recent weeks, the show has been spotted across town, with filming notices using the alias “The Fugitive” posted in Ukrainian Village and outside Armitage Alehouse in Lincoln Park. (It’s not the first time the highly popular show has tried to conceal its identity.) The latest season is expected to drop in June, just as the others have done consecutively since 2022.Over five seasons, the show put a spotlight on Chicago’s dining scene and made stars out of its ensemble of actors, which includes Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Liza Colón-Zayas, Lionel Boyce and Matty Matheson. It also featured cameos from the likes of Bob Odenkirk, John Mulaney, Olivia Colman and plenty of real-life Chicago chefs. “The Bear” has propelled its cast, including White, Ayo Edebiri and Ebon Moss-Bachrach to stardom.Chris Pizzello/Invision/Associated Press As the show filmed across town, spotting the actors in the wild became a hobby for local fans, with stars seen both in and out of character on city streets, at Wrigley Field and inside restaurants like Kasama.Created by suburban native Christopher Storer, the plot follows Carmy Berzatto (White) as he returns home to Chicago to take over his family’s Italian beef stand and turn it into a fine dining destination.After the 2022 premiere of the show’s chaotic, fast-paced first season (which drew heavily on Chicago actors in the supporting cast), Chicago seemed divided on whether the show accurately portrayed the city. After all, Carmy had a 773 tattoo, which some local viewers felt implausible. But, Chicago also served as a central character of the show. Long, beautiful aerial shots of the CTA and the lakefront, plus a soundtrack that featured local music and talents like Lin Brehmer, served as a love letter to the city’s beautiful grittiness.“It really couldn’t be made anywhere else; it just wouldn’t be the same project,” Jonah Zeiger, then-head of the Chicago Film Office, told WBEZ in 2024. The fifth season of “The Bear” is expected to drop in June.Courtesy of Chuck Hodes/FX In the second season, Chicago’s real-world restaurant scene stepped into the spotlight. The third episode of that season featured chef Sydney (Edebiri) on a food tour across town, with stops at Avec, Pizza Lobo, Giant, Lao Peng You and Margie’s Candies.As the show hit its stride, the second season broke a record for the most-ever Emmy nominations by a comedy series, with 23 nominations (to date, the show has amassed 49 Emmy nominations and 21 wins).The series’ third season ended with some serious screen time for local chefs, including Grant Achatz of Alinea, Genie Kwon of Kasama and Anna Posey of Elske. The scene brought together chefs for a final service at a fictionalized version of Ever, shot in the dining room of chef Curtis Duffy’s real Chicago restaurant of the same name.“‘The Bear’ gets it right,” Duffy told WBEZ/Sun-Times in 2025. “There is some drama in there, and it sells, but, for the most part, they do get it right. They've studied a lot of the front of the house, the back of the house, the conversations behind the scenes, all of those are very real and relevant to someone who's in the business.” Related Discover the dozen Chicago restaurants with cameos in season three of ‘The Bear’ Where is ‘The Bear’ filming? Finding the set is Chicago’s new favorite spectator sport. Sleuthing the meaning behind the code name used by TV hit ‘The Bear’ ‘The Bear’ is the breakout TV series of summer, thanks to its supporting cast Courtney Kueppers is an arts and culture reporter at WBEZ. ...read more read less