Fox may soon be saying goodbye to 9-1-1: Lone Star. Over a year after 9-1-1 moved to ABC, Deadline reports that its spinoff could be coming to an end. While Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade told the outlet last month that the network was hoping to wait on a renewal decision after Season 5 premiered this fall following a delay, that might not be plausible anymore.
Filming has been going on for a while now, with cast options expiring mid-July when production wraps, according to sources. Options are likely to not be extended, meaning that within the next month or so, Fox may very well be making a decision on Lone Star‘s future beyond Season 5. Evidently, while there is “some hope” that Fox could keep the series going, “most signs” point to the upcoming season being the last.
In addition, most of the main cast have actually been aware since late last year that the series could be coming to an end. This follows two unsuccessful attempts at renegotiations with contracts. The actors’ reps approached Lone Star‘s producing studio, 20th Television, two years ago in the hopes of securing raises by renegotiating prior to Season 4. The studio pushed back renegotiations to after Season 4, but the actors tried to renegotiate again a year later and were unsuccessful once again. The strikes last year didn’t help since there were no discussions for months, and once the strikes were over, there were no renegotiations.
Without the renegotiations, actors were offered extra compensation or “bonuses,” which was more of a “take it or leave it” situation, but other sources disputed that claim. Sierra McClain has exited ahead of Season 5 following a back-and-forth with the studio. Cast members were reportedly told the fifth season was the final one, and some of the actors were trying to find other projects post-Lone Star.
As of now, 9-1-1: Lone Star has not been officially canceled, but it does not look good. Whether ABC could save it like with 9-1-1 is unclear, but that doesn’t seem to be an option, at least not right now. Lone Star was the #3 scripted series on Fox for the 2022-23 season, according to TVSeriesFinale, just below 9-1-1 and The Simpsons. Of course, the hope is always that the series will be back and the 126 will live to fight more fires, but right now, it could really go in any direction, unfortunately.