Yehaw! Eight months after the end of 9-1-1: Lone Star, co-creators Ryan Murphy and Tim Minear have reteamed with Lone Star showrunner Rashad Raisani to expand the 9-1-1 universe into the Music City.
9-1-1: Nashville will deliver the same high-octane emergencies and daring rescues as its predecessors, but the new installment of the franchise will also deliver an equal dose of family drama and some country music. The new ABC series is coming soon, so read on to find out when it premieres, who’s in it, and what it’s about.
Everything you need for fall TV:
9-1-1: Nashville release date
9-1-1: Nashville will debut on Thursday, Oct. 9 at 9/8c, sandwiched between the original 9-1-1 (airing at 8/7c) and the long-running Grey’s Anatomy (at 10/9c). The Nashville spinoff will take over the time slot previously occupied by another one of Ryan Murphy’s shows, Doctor Odyssey, which was unceremoniously cancelled by default after ABC opted not to exercise the main cast’s options earlier this year.
Is there a 9-1-1: Nashville trailer?
Yes! Last month, ABC released a two-and-a-half minute trailer, set to Jason Aldean’s “Crazy Town” and Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain,” that gives prospective viewers a taste of what to expect from Nashville.
What is 9-1-1: Nashville about?
The latest installment in the 9-1-1 universe is described as “a high-octane procedural about heroic first responders, as well as their family saga of power and glamour set in one of America’s most diverse and dynamic cities.” (Think 9-1-1 meets Nashville, Dynasty and a hint of Succession.)
Here is the synopsis for the series premiere: “When a powerful tornado tears through Nashville and endangers a country music festival, Captain Don Hart [played by star and executive producer Chris O’Donnell] leads fire station 113 on a harrowing rescue mission. Meanwhile, the Hart family contends with the fallout when a long-held secret is revealed.”
The long-held secret has already been revealed in the trailer. Desperate to make a quick buck, a young man named Blue (Hunter McVey) agrees to dance at a strip club in a firefighter outfit. After hearing about a collision outside the club, Blue springs into action and catches the attention of the first-responders who answered the 9-1-1 call — one of whom happens to be his biological father, Don. Don ends up using that opportunity to introduce Blue to his half-brother, Ryan (Michael Provost), the son from his current marriage to wealthy horse racing businesswoman Blythe (Jessica Capshaw). (Talk about an awkward family reunion.)
Dixie, Blue’s overbearing (and significantly less well-off) single mother played by country music superstar LeAnn Rimes, convinces her son to take Don up on his offer to work as a firefighter at the 113 — mandatory training at the fire academy, be damned? — in order to worm himself into the Hart family fortune. This is where the juicy family drama comes in — Blythe begins to suspect that Blue isn’t who he says he is, and Blue begins to have second thoughts about betraying the people whom he considers part of his extended family.
Is Tim Minear also the 9-1-1: Nashville showrunner?
No, Minear will continue to serve as the showrunner of the original 9-1-1. Rashad Raisani, who was quietly promoted as Minear’s co-showrunner on Lone Star after the second season and assumed creative control of the first spinoff’s fifth and final season, will serve as the showrunner on 9-1-1: Nashville. Before joining the 9-1-1 universe, Raisani worked as a writer and producer on the USA spy drama Burn Notice and the Jennifer Lopez-starring NBC crime drama Shades of Blue.
Will there be crossovers with the original 9-1-1 or Lone Star?
The original 9-1-1 only crossed over with Lone Star a couple of times — once at the start of Season 2, when Hen (Aisha Hinds), Buck (Oliver Stark) and Eddie (Ryan Guzman) helped fight a wildfire in Texas; and another time in Season 3, when Athena (Angela Bassett) helped Carlos (Rafael L. Silva) and Grace (Sierra McClain) apprehend an obnoxious gamer-slash-murderer across state lines. The logistical challenges of trying to combine two very ambitious shows — both of which made multiple seasons during the COVID-19 pandemic — were to blame for the lack of crossovers.
The fact that the original 9-1-1 and Nashville are now shooting on location in different cities will also make a crossover difficult, even though Minear has acknowledged how much ABC would like to have a crossover. For what it’s worth, when asked earlier this year about the likelihood of Lone Star characters popping up again somewhere else in the 9-1-1 universe, Raisani told TV Guide that the chances are “high without being imminent.” The showrunner added that he chose not to kill off any of the Lone Star characters in the finale — which centered around a potential nuclear explosion inside a Texas research lab — because he wanted to leave the door open to a potential return.
“Let’s say we do something in New York — well, [Rob Lowe’s] Owen’s up there. Let’s say we come back to Texas — well, [Jim Parrack’s] Judd is the captain. Let’s say there’s a Texas Ranger thing happening in West Texas — well, Carlos could be there,” Raisani told TV Guide. “I wanted as much nexus of possibility [as possible]. I love writing for all of these people and I love working with them. I thought they were all just magnificent collaborators. So I would love in any way shamelessly to have them come to L.A. for the 118 or to the new city, or the new city come to them, whatever. I don’t care. I would love to see them again.”
For his part, Lowe, whose character ended Lone Star as the new chief of the FDNY, has expressed his desire to make a reappearance in the 9-1-1 universe. “I’ve been getting live updates from my brother Chad, who’s the executive producer/director, and it’s all my friends on it,” Lowe recently told Variety. “I play golf with Chris O’Donnell. Kimberly Williams-Paisley I’ve worked with twice, who’s the most adorable, wonderful woman. And there are a couple other folks on the show that I know, and I keep hearing people go, ‘It’s crazy! We’re hanging from a bridge!’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, that’s what you’ve signed up for!'”
Who is in the 9-1-1: Nashville cast?
Unlike the first two shows in the 9-1-1 universe, Nashville will feature main cast members who are not first responders but are related in some way to the profession:
The recurring cast includes:
Where to watch previous shows in the 9-1-1 universe
Both the original 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Lone Star are available to stream on Hulu in the U.S. and on Disney+ internationally. To date, 196 episodes of the 9-1-1 universe have aired. That’s a lot of rescues and emergencies!
