'New Girl' to return for a seventh and final season

May 15 (UPI) -- Fox has been renewed New Girl for a seventh and final season.

The final season, which will air this fall, will be shortened to eight episodes, Variety reported, citing sources.

New Girl, which stars Zooey Deschanel, Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield, Lamorne Morris and Hannah Simone, was unable to attract big ratings during Season 6. The series, which represents Fox's longest-running live-action comedy still on the air, first debuted in 2011.

Fox is said to have been interested in an additional season of New Girl as the show has been put into syndication on TBS and MTV, along with appearing on streaming service Netflix.

Season 6 ended with main character Jess (Deschanel), getting back together with Nick (Johnson). Johnson previously shared to The Daily Beast that he wasn't sure if Fox would be renewing New Girl for a new season stating, "Fox won't tell us [whether the show will be renewed]. But we shot a finale where, if this was the end, the core fan base would be OK."

On Twitter, Johnson clarified his comments writing, "Let's be clear. I have no idea if NG is coming back. I was doing an interview for #WinItAll & was asked my guess. We've been told it's 50/50."