9-1-1: Lone Star, meanwhile, remains with Fox for a fifth season
9-1-1 fans were left stunned when it was announced back in May that the show would not be picked up for a seventh season by its home network, Fox.
Instead, the top-rated procedural series was picked up by ABC, which will be developing its upcoming installment and provide a new home for stars Angela Bassett, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ryan Guzman, and Oliver Stark.
The return of the show, and several others, has been left up in the air, however, as the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes continue, with the Fall schedule for network TV currently in a flux.
However, prior to the strikes, British star Oliver, 32, reacted to the news of 9-1-1’s move and future with enthusiasm, opening up about the big moment in a conversation with Variety back in May.
When asked about whether the cast and crew were notified before the official press release was dropped, he revealed: “We didn’t get official word until the day that it was announced. We found out a couple of hours before the press release came out, which isn’t really a big deal.
“I don’t think day-to-day it’s going to make much of a difference to production. So it’s not something that I feel like we needed much of a warning about.
“There have been rumors for a while swirling around that something like this might happen. So it’s not like we were completely in the dark or anything like that. And I think, in some senses, it’s exciting.”
Meanwhile, spin-off 9-1-1: Lone Star’s home remained during the shuffle, as it was picked up for a fifth season by Fox as originally planned, and Oliver discussed whether he thought another crossover between shows was ever likely.
“I don’t know if that would ever be a possibility or not,” he explained. “I don’t really quite understand the legalities of that. If it is an option, I think we’re always game for it.
“It’s a lovely thing to see those universes, those worlds collide. I don’t know, maybe it even opens us up to possible other crossover with ABC procedurals. Maybe we end up on The Rookie.”
However, soon after, Fox exec Michael Thorn shared in another conversation with Variety that the probability of crossovers between networks wasn’t in the cards.
“As far as crossovers go, crossovers have always been really hard on the 9-1-1 franchise because they’re such an ambitious schedule,” he told the publication. “They weren’t able to do it every year when both shows were on our network anyways, so I’d say it’s extremely unlikely.”
Michael also explained the network’s decision to not pick up 9-1-1 for a seventh season. “I think we felt moving forward into what is really a new era of television, the economics weren’t going to pan out on this show for us,” he said, adding: “The decision was made there that the business model wasn’t right for us and that 20th TV would take the show back.”
