Fox's big Fall 2021 premiere week was filled with new and returning shows. However, for all those that were showcased, at least one popular primetime drama was absent from the fall lineup, with Ryan Murphy’s first responder series 9-1-1: Lone Star nowhere to be found. Season 3 is still happening, though, and the cast is currently in the thick of filming the first batch of episodes. so what’s going on?
Series star Ronen Rubinstein, who portrays paramedic T.K. Strand on the Fox hit, took to Instagram to tease the Season 3 premiere title. With production starting back up on 9-1-1: Lone Star earlier this month, Rubinstein was quick to share with fans what Austin and the 126 will endure when the series returns, and it looks like Season 3's start will greatly mirror what the Lone Star State endured earlier this year:
With parent series 9-1-1 is back for Season 5 already, fans no doubt wanted to see the Rob Lowe-led spinoff back as well. So when are we going to get Lone Star back for its chilly premiere? Well, at a time of year when frost-covered episodes will be more welcomed, as 9-1-1: Lone Star took a backseat during the fall season in order to build anticipation for a midseason return in January. But even though the 126 is coming back in the middle of the year, that doesn't means fans will get fewer episodes, as Fox has already confirmed both 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Lone Star will have the standard 18 episodes.
It will be interesting to see what will be in store for the 126 in Season 3. Following the surprise winter storm that froze up the South in early 2021, Lone Star isn't coming out of left field by including that disastrous ordeal within its season premiere. Though with the timeline being a little off, it’s possible the fictional narrative won’t be as accurate as what Texas went through, but it will still be a memorable premiere regardless. Meanwhile, the 126 firefighters are still going to be split up after that cliffhanger in the Season 2 finale, so hopefully everyone will be back together for warmth as Austin gets blanketed in snow and ice.
It’s not altogether ideal for 9-1-1: Lone Star to get held until the midseason, considering fewer people generally start watching network shows at that point (minus those that premiere after the Super Bowl). And it's not quite clear why Fox has so far avoided pairing the spinoff with its predecessor to kick off the fall season, beyond the fact that Fox's fall schedule has been filled with more sports programming in recent years, as well as more Masked Singer-inspired content. Don’t count out a crossover for the two series, though, as 9-1-1 and Lone Star are set to pair up with each other again when 9-1-1 comes back from its winter hiatus sometime in March 2022, so fans will hopefully see a team up between the 118 and 126 again.
9-1-1: Lone Star Season 3 will premiere during Winter 2022 on Fox. In the meantime, check out our 2021 fall TV schedule to see what other shows, new and returning, viewers can look forward to!
