After months of rumours, it’s officially been confirmed that ‘9-1-1: Lone Star‘ will end with the upcoming 5th, and now final, season.
‘9-1-1: Lone Star’ explores the high-pressure experiences of first responders, including police officers, firefighters and dispatchers, who are thrust into the most frightening, shocking and heart-stopping situations in Texas. These emergency responders must try to balance saving those who are at their most vulnerable with solving the problems in their own lives. The show draws from real-life, high-pressure experiences of first responders who regularly face heart-stopping situations that are often unpredictable, intense and uplifting at the same time.
Back in June, Marlene Harrism, who plays the mother of Judd’s (Jim Parrack) son, tweeted “So excited to be a part of @911lonestar’s final season!! What a ride it’s been!”, which was then hastily deleted (presumably after a somewhat shouty call from Fox…) However, the industry trades were also hearing similar stories from other cast members, who had begun to put themselves up to audition for new roles. Now Fox has officially confirmed that Season 5 will be the last.
“From the start, fans have followed the heroic and deeply moving stories of the men and women who make up Austin’s 126, so a huge thanks to one of the greatest creative teams in all of television — Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear — for creating one of the most action-packed dramas anywhere,” commented Fox TV Network President Michael Thorn. “Now in our final season of the show, we’re set to give it the high-stakes send-off it deserves, complete with breathless rescues, insurmountable odds and relatable personal struggles, thanks to our incomparable, stellar cast led by Rob Lowe and Gina Torres.”
Unlike its sister show, ‘9-1-1‘, ‘Lone Star’ is not expected to make a move to ABC in the USA. There had been two rounds of contract negotiations with Fox about a possible 6th Season, but when they didn’t go anywhere, the actors started putting themselves up for other jobs. The problem for Fox is that ‘Lone Star’ is an expensive show to make, and is owned by Disney, not Fox, making it even more expensive for the network to air due to license fees. In fact, this marks something of the end of an era, as ‘Lone Star’ is the last scripted live-action series on the network from before Disney acquired all of Fox’s assets (minus the actual channel itself, which is still owned by the Murdoch family.)
With the cast now out of contract and putting themselves out for new gigs, that also makes it a particularly tricky and potentially even more expensive proposition for Disney to move the drama over to ABC, so it seems very unlikely that will happen. However, that has apparently been some talk of another spin-off set in a new city which could pop up on ABC, with Las Vegas being touted as a possible location. Whether that actually happens, or whether any of the ‘Lone Star’ cast transitions over to that or the main show remains to be seen. Rob Lowe has previously said he would be happy to reprise the role, even though the cast are now no longer under contract.
Before it says farewell, ‘9-1-1: Lone Star’ is set to go out with a bang in the upcoming 12-episode fifth season, as Captains Strand, Vega, and the 126 team face a multi-episodic opening storyline featuring a catastrophic train derailment that endangers several lives including some of their own.
‘9-1-1: Lone Star’ is created and executive produced by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear. Bradley Buecker, Rashad Raisani, John J. Gray, Angela Bassett, Lowe, Carly Soteras and Wolfe Coleman also exec produce.
‘9-1-1: Lone Star‘ 5th and final season does not yet have a UK premiere but will air on Disney+ over here. It is currently scheduled to return Monday, September 23, 2024, on FOX in the USA. If you want to keep track of this or any other shows, you can add them via our Never Miss system, and you’ll be notified when they get a UK premiere date.
