9-1-1 EP Shares Spinoff Update & Rules Out Several Possibilities: “We Did A Lot Of Strategizing”
9-1-1 executive producer Rashad Raisani gives an update on the status of the franchise’s next spinoff, ruling out several possibilities. Though the ending of 9-1-1: Lone Star is fast approaching, with the final episode set for February 3rd on Fox, the first-responder franchise is also in the process of setting up a new spinoff. Previous reports have mentioned potential locations for the upcoming series, including Hawaii, but the latest news downplays that choice.
In an interview with TheWrap, while previewing the 9-1-1: Lone Star finale, Raisani offers an update on the closely followed spinoff project. Raisani, who is the showrunner on Lone Star, mentions that there is an active effort to avoid common cities for television franchises and uses Seattle (Grey’s Anatomy) and Dick Wolf’s One Chicago procedurals as an example of locations that are already linked to other series. In the quote below, Raisani indicates that more details will be revealed soon:
“We wanted to find a city that also wasn’t so well known by other TV franchises. With Seattle, you’re looking at the Grey’s Anatomy universe, and with Chicago, you’ve got the Dick Wolf universe. So we did a lot of strategizing about a city that hopefully is exciting in concept, but not so well known by many other TV shows and franchises. I think that the veil will come off of that pretty soon.”
What The Latest Update Means For 9-1-1
Raisani doesn’t explicitly mention Hawaii, which has been rumored as a possible spinoff candidate. But it has been used for the likes of NCIS and Hawaii Five-0. Las Vegas is also a popular setting for a variety of television shows and movies, with New York being an absolute favorite. The executive producer indicates that these may not be part of the 9-1-1 world, at least not for the next spinoff, because they are so common.
This leads to a question of which location will be selected. It could be an interesting choice to go to places that are often referred to as the American heartland, whether it’s somewhere like Kansas, Missouri, or the somewhat more common setting of Ohio. The latter formed the backdrop of Glee which hailed from 9-1-1 co-creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. They’ve since co-created 9-1-1 with Tim Minear and could go with another underutilized U.S. locale.
Our Take On 9-1-1’s Next Location
The most fun of the upcoming spinoff may be in seeing which actors join the cast. Murphy and Falchuk typically enjoy bringing in a mix of veteran actors with relative unknowns. Minear, for his part, has connections to the Buffyverse considering his time writing and showrunning the spinoff Angel. It will be interesting to see who is brought in to be the face of a high-profile spinoff.
But, before then, the careful consideration about a spinoff is a positive sign that there is a good deal of thought being put into what would be only the franchise’s second spinoff after Lone Star debuted in 2020. 9-1-1 season 9 has not been confirmed, though a renewal looks to be likely, but it’s unclear how long the original can run for. The next iteration, if it hopes to be as consistent of a hit, should be constructed with the care that Raisani’s comments suggest.
