A renewal for 911: Lone Star has been tabled for now, sources say

The road to 911: Lone Star’s next season may be getting longer as a new report indicates Fox may be wary of renewing it for season 6 yet! Find out more here!

It’s no secret the TV landscape was changed dramatically by the 2023 Hollywood strikes. The months-long WGA and SAG strikes curtailed productions and meant scores of TV shows had to be held back until midseason. It also led to a few shows being held off until the fall of 2024.

Among them is 911: Lone Star, whose situation is even trickier with the mothership 911 moving to ABC. Given the large amount of prep time needed to prepare this show, it’s logical that Fox held off on it and thus the series won’t air until the network rolls out its Fall TV line-up.

It has to be noted that the strikes also wrecked the typical pilot season. Normally, at this time, each network has almost a dozen pilots vying for pickup, with a few given orders faster than others. However, because of the strikes, pilot development is a mere trickle and the chances that shows normally “on the bubble” might end up being renewed have increased as networks find it less expensive renewing a show than creating a new one. 

A new report from Deadline discussed the situation, including how this may mean low-rated but still watched shows Alert: Missing Persons Unit and The Cleaning Lady may both continue. It also indicates that Fox is going to be adjusting their schedule and it’s because of that, the renewal for 911: Lone Star is going to be taking longer.

Why is 911: Lone Star’s fate up in the air?

According to the article, Fox’s plan is to use 911: Lone Star to help promote the new lifeguard drama Rescue HI-Surf. Fox has not only ordered that show to series but given it an expanded 19-episode order. It will also have the new drama Doc and Canadian drama co-production Murder in a Small Town. 

The article cites sources at Fox and 20th Century Fox studios that no decision on 911: Lone Star will be made until after season 5 airs later this year. The key issue is the costs, both in the salaries for the cast (especially star Rob Lowe) and the sheer production. Thanks to the stunt and effects work, a single episode of the show costs a few million dollars. 

The costs were a key reason why 911 was moved off of Fox last year. The show’s new home at ABC has given it a much larger budget, which it used for its fantastic three-episode premiere involving a disaster on a cruise ship. Of course, season 7 is only 10 episodes long with a longer season meaning higher costs.

This also affected 911: Lone Star as before the strikes, Fox had been targeting an 18-episode order — six episodes for midseason and 12 for fall. They ultimately settled on a 12-episode season 5 pickup for the 2024-25 television season although it's unknown how the season will be scheduled out. Being off the air for over a year is a tough problem for any network drama and it’s also a question of how Lone Star will do without the main 911 series as a lead-in.

For right now, the producers are focused on preparing for season 5 and making it work. This shows again how the strikes are still being felt by the networks and 911: Lone Star may end up being a casualty. 

911: Lone Star seasons 1-4 are streaming on Hulu.