<P> The Blacklist is an American crime drama series created by Jon Bokenkamp that premiered on NBC on September 23, 2013 . It stars James Spader, Megan Boone, Diego Klattenhoff, Ryan Eggold, and Harry Lennix . Raymond "Red" Reddington (James Spader), one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives, surrenders at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. He claims that he and the FBI have similar interests in getting rid of dangerous criminals and terrorists . Reddington will cooperate only with Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone), a rookie FBI profiler who we see in the first episode, has trouble profiling just herself . However, Keen is not too keen on the idea . Over the course of his own criminal career, Reddington has made a list of global criminals who he believes are acting liabilities to his own interests or to society, most of whom are unknown to the FBI, and not on the "Most Wanted" list . He calls it "The Blacklist". As the series progresses, Reddington uses the FBI to apprehend enemies and strategic interests for his own personal gain . </P> <P> Executive producers for the series include Bokenkamp, John Eisendrath, and John Davis for Sony Pictures Television, Universal Television and Davis Entertainment . The second season premiered on Monday, September 22, 2014, it then moved to Thursdays at 9 pm on February 5, 2015 . The second season poster had eleven fake magazines with James Spader on the front cover . The posters parodied Entertainment Weekly, G.Q., New York, People, Playboy, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Time, Us Weekly, Vanity Fair, and Wired . </P> <P> The series was renewed for a 22 - episode sixth season, on May 12, 2018 . As of May 16, 2018, 111 episodes of The Blacklist have aired, concluding the fifth season . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Season </Th> <Th_colspan="2"> Episodes </Th> <Th_colspan="2"> Originally aired </Th> <Th_colspan="2"> Nielsen ratings </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> First aired </Th> <Th> Last aired </Th> <Th> Rank </Th> <Th> Average viewers (millions) </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> </Td> <Td_colspan="2"> 22 </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> September 23, 2013 (2013 - 09 - 23) </Td> <Td> May 12, 2014 (2014 - 05 - 12) </Td> <Td> 6 </Td> <Td> 14.95 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> </Td> <Td_colspan="2"> 22 </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> September 22, 2014 (2014 - 09 - 22) </Td> <Td> May 14, 2015 (2015 - 05 - 14) </Td> <Td> 14 </Td> <Td> 13.76 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> </Td> <Td_colspan="2"> 23 </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> October 1, 2015 (2015 - 10 - 01) </Td> <Td> May 19, 2016 (2016 - 05 - 19) </Td> <Td> 22 </Td> <Td> 11.19 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> </Td> <Td_colspan="2"> 22 </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> September 22, 2016 (2016 - 09 - 22) </Td> <Td> May 18, 2017 (2017 - 05 - 18) </Td> <Td> 30 </Td> <Td> 9.25 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> 5 </Td> <Td_colspan="2"> 22 </Td> <Td_colspan="1"> September 27, 2017 (2017 - 09 - 27) </Td> <Td> May 16, 2018 (2018 - 05 - 16) </Td> <Td> 42 </Td> <Td> 8.41 </Td> </Tr> </Table>

What is the most recent season of the blacklist