The 9-1-1 action returned to primetime not too long into the 2024 TV premiere schedule after the ends of the SAG-AFTRA actors strike and WGA writers strike. This time around, though, the original series aired new episodes on ABC and 9-1-1: Lone Star was nowhere to be seen on Fox. Now, with the Season 7 finale of 9-1-1 on May 30, it's time to look to the future and when the Rob Lowe-starring spinoff will be back on the airwaves.
9-1-1's Future On ABC
First things first! 9-1-1's cancellation by Fox certainly wasn't the end of the road for the hit show, as the crisis of the premiere arc on ABC was big enough to rival the tsunami emergency from years earlier. The drama was renewed for Season 8 fairly quickly, and the penultimate episode of Season 7 ended on a cliffhanger that raised the question of whether Peter Krause will be around as Bobby Nash.
The seventh season finale airs on May 30 to (hopefully) answer that question ahead of summer hiatus, and ABC has already confirmed that 9-1-1 will return to its 8 p.m. ET time slot on Thursdays in the fall of the 2024-2025 TV schedule. So, the wait for more 9-1-1 won't be any longer than would normally be expected.
Why 9-1-1: Lone Star Was Missing From Spring 2024
Way back in November 2023, it was reported that the fifth season of Lone Star was being pushed back to a premiere in the fall of 2024. Naturally, no premiere date was given at the time, but any fall release means that well over a year will have passed since the May 2023 Season 4 finale. Rob Lowe has been on Fox in the months since as host of The Floor; just not as Lone Star's Owen Strand. No earlier premiere date has since been announced.
The Latest On Lone Star's Return
Fox released the fall schedule for 2024 – although without any precise premiere dates – with some long-awaited good news for 9-1-1: Lone Star fans. The hit drama will air Season 5 episodes on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox, ahead of new series Rescue: HI-Surf. This will actually mark the first fall premiere for Lone Star; all earlier seasons premiered in January. Fall was usually when 9-1-1 would arrive on the network.
Fox's fall schedule usually kicks off in September as well. If the network is going back to the norm now that the strikes are over, then Lone Star could be back sooner rather than later this fall. The new season will run for twelve episodes, which is two more than 9-1-1's first season on ABC. On the subject of whether Lone Star could end after Season 5, Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade told Deadline this:
Lone Star was was not on the schedule this year because of the strike, and we’re really looking forward to getting it back on in the fall. We are excited about the new season. We’re going to see how that goes as always, and then make decisions on that about the future of that franchise. But at the moment, we’re very focused on that being a launchpad for a new show, Rescue HI-Surf, we’re excited to have it on the schedule.
It remains to be seen how well 9-1-1: Lone Star and Rescue HI-Surf pair in primetime. The new lifeguard drama will be set in Hawaii and follow the personal and professional lives of guards who work the famously dangerous coast of O'ahu. That certainly sounds like it could appeal to fans of Lone Star. Hopefully it has better luck in the 2024-2025 TV season than the Hawaii-set Magnum P.I. and NCIS: Hawai'i did in the 2023-2024 TV season, as both were cancelled!
As the wait for Lone Star's fall return continues, you can always revisit the first four seasons streaming with a Hulu subscription, as well as all seven seasons of 9-1-1.
