9–1–1 is an American procedural television series created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Tim Minear for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the lives of Los Angeles first responders: police officers, paramedics, firefighters, and dispatchers.
The series premiered on January 3, 2018. 9–1–1 is a joint production between Reamworks, Brad Falchuk Teley-Vision and Ryan Murphy Television in association with 20th Television. In March 2019 Fox renewed the series for a third season, which premiered on September 23, 2019. In April 2020 Fox renewed the series for a fourth season, which premiered on January 18, 2021.
Cast and characters
- Angela Bassett as Athena Carter Grant Nash, LAPD patrol sergeant
- Peter Krause as Robert “Bobby” Nash, LAFD Station 118 captain, Athena’s husband
- Oliver Stark as Evan “Buck” Buckley, firefighter
- Kenneth Choi as Howard “Howie”/”Chimney” Han, firefighter/paramedic. He’s in a relationship with Maddie and they’re expecting their first child.
- Aisha Hinds as Henrietta “Hen” Wilson, firefighter/paramedic
- Ryan Guzman as Edmundo “Eddie” Díaz, firefighter (season 2–present)
- Corinne Massiah as May Grant, Athena and Michael’s daughter, Bobby’s stepdaughter and assistant dispatcher (recurring season 1; main season 2–present)
- Rockmond Dunbar as Michael Grant, Athena’s ex-husband
- Connie Britton as Abigail “Abby” Clark, 9-1-1 operator (season 1; special guest season 3)
- Jennifer Love Hewitt as Maddie Buckley, 911 operator, Buck’s sister. She starts a relationship with Chimney, with whom she’s expecting her first child. (season 2–present)
- Marcanthonee Jon Reis as Harry Grant, Athena and Michael’s son, Bobby’s stepson (recurring season 1; main season 2–present)
- Gavin McHugh as Christopher Díaz, Eddie’s son (recurring season 2; main season 3–present)
- John Harlan Kim as Albert Han, Chimney’s brother (guest season 3; main season 4)
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | Rank | Viewers (millions) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | ||||||
| 1 | 10 | January 3, 2018 | March 21, 2018 | 21 | 10.74 | ||
| 2 | 18 | September 23, 2018 | May 13, 2019 | 28 | 9.86 | ||
| 3 | 18 | September 23, 2019 | May 11, 2020 | 16 | 10.42 | ||
| 4 | 14 | January 18, 2021 | May 24, 2021 | TBA | TBA | ||
Production
Development
The series is produced by 20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television), with Murphy, Falchuk, Minear, and Bradley Bueckeras executive producers. Minear also serves as showrunner and Buecker directed the premiere episode. On January 16, 2018, Fox renewed the series for an eighteen-episode second season. The second season premiered with a special episode on Sunday, September 23, 2018, at 8 p.m. EDT; the second episode aired in the series’s regular 9 p.m. EDT time slot on Monday, September 24, 2018. On March 25, 2019, Fox renewed the series for a third season which premiered on September 23, 2019. On April 13, 2020, Fox renewed the series for a fourth season which premiered on January 18, 2021.
Casting
In October 2017, Connie Britton, Angela Bassett, and Peter Krause joined the main cast. Later that month, it was announced that Oliver Stark, Aisha Hinds, Kenneth Choi, and Rockmond Dunbar had been cast in regular roles.
On May 14, 2018, it was announced that Jennifer Love Hewitt would join the main cast as Maddie Buckley, Buck’s sister, in season 2, replacing the role of Britton’s character Abby Clark. On May 23, 2018, Fox announced that Ryan Guzman would be joining the second season of the series as new firefighter Eddie Díaz. On June 4, 2018, it was announced that Corinne Massiah and Marcanthonnee Jon Reis, who play May and Harry Grant, had been promoted, from their recurring roles in season 1, to series regulars for season 2. Gavin McHugh, who plays Eddie’s son Christopher, was promoted to a series regular in Season 3, after recurring in Season 2. Britton returned in the finale of the third season as a special guest star, reprising her role as Abby Clark.
Reception
Ratings
| Season | Timeslot (ET) | Episodes | First aired | Last aired | TV season | Viewership rank |
Avg. viewers (millions) |
18–49 rank |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Viewers (millions) |
Date | Viewers (millions) |
|||||||
| 1 | Wednesday 9:00 pm | 10 | January 3, 2018 | 6.83 | March 21, 2018 | 6.63 | 2017–18 | 21 | 10.74 | TBD |
| 2 | Monday 9:00 pm | 18 | September 23, 2018 | 9.83 | May 13, 2019 | 6.44 | 2018–19 | 28 | 9.86 | TBD |
| 3 | Monday 8:00 pm | 18 | September 23, 2019 | 7.14 | May 11, 2020 | 7.29 | 2019–20 | 16 | 10.42 | TBD |
| 4 | 14 | January 18, 2021 | 7.19 | May 24, 2021 | TBD | 2020–21 | TBD | TBD | TBD | |
Critical response
| Season | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 70% (33 reviews) | 60% (22 critics) |
| 2 | 100% (7 reviews) | N/A |
| 3 | 75% (8 reviews) | N/A |
The review aggregator web site Rotten Tomatoes reported a 70% approval rating for the first season, based on 33 reviews, with an average rating of 5.86/10. The website’s critical consensus reads, “9–1–1 occasionally veers into melodrama, but is redeemed with a top-tier cast, adrenaline-pumping action, and a dash of trashy camp that pushes the show into addictive guilty pleasure territory.” Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 60 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating “mixed or average reviews”.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has an approval rating of 100%, based on 7 reviews, with an average rating of 7.75/10.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the third season has an approval rating of 75%, based on 8 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10.
Accolades
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | BET Awards | Best Actress | Angela Bassett | Nominated | |
| Teen Choice Awards | Choice Breakout TV Show | 9–1–1 | Nominated | ||
| Choice Breakout TV Star | Oliver Stark | ||||
| 2019 | Teen Choice Awards | Choice Drama TV Actor | Nominated | ||
| Young Entertainer Awards | Best Guest Young Actor in an Television Series | Connor Dean | Nominated | ||
| 2020 | NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series | Angela Bassett | Won | |
| 2021 | Critics’ Choice Super Awards | Best Actress in an Action Series | Won | ||
| Best Action Series | 9-1-1 | Nominated | |||
| NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series | Angela Bassett | Pending |
Spin-off
On May 12, 2019, it was announced that a spin-off, titled 9-1-1: Lone Star, would premiere on January 19, 2020, immediately following the NFC Championship game and continue the following night, January 20, 2020. On the same day, Rob Lowe was announced to star. In September, Liv Tyler, Ronen Rubinstein, Sierra McClain, Jim Parrack,Natacha Karam, Brian Michael Smith, Julian Works, and Rafael Silva were also announced to star in the series alongside Lowe.