As 9-1-1: Lone Star Enters Possible Final Season, Rob Lowe Admits That ‘It Feels Like the End of an Era’
Though Fox has yet to make a final decision about 9-1-1: Lone Star‘s future beyond its upcoming fifth season, star and executive producer Rob Lowe doesn’t sound too confident about its renewal odds. He is, however, incredibly proud of what the 9-1-1 spinoff has managed to accomplish.
“We all went into it pretty much knowing that it was going to be the last season, so that affected everything we did,” Lowe tells our sister publication Variety. “We wanted to really show everybody what is still possible in network television if people have the appetite to do it. It feels like it’s probably the end of an era of a certain type — well, it doesn’t feel like it. It is the end of an era of a certain type of show we once had an opportunity to make, and I think they’re great.”
Lowe’s biggest source of pride is in the “scope and scale” of the stories that Lone Star was able to tell on a weekly basis. “We wanted to go out making our case for the value of shows like that,” he says, “and I think we did a really good job.”
When it comes to a potential final season for Lone Star, the rumor mill has been working overtime since June, with several cast and crew members posting cryptic messages to social media, heavily implying that they don’t expect to reconvene for Season 6. Our sister site Deadline reports that the cast was under options until production on Season 5 wrapped in July, adding that Fox was unlikely to extend those options before a decision was finalized.
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TVLine recently caught up with Brian Michael Smith (aka firefighter Paul Strickland), who had this to say about Season 5 possibly serving as the show’s swan song: “I can’t say much to the rumors. I feel like the network said, ‘Let’s wait and see what the numbers have to say,’ so we’re going to wait and see what the numbers have to say. I hope that means everybody will tune in and show the same amount of love and support they’ve been showing us for the first four seasons.”
9-1-1: Lone Star returns for Season 5 on Monday, Sept. 23 (Fox, 8/7c). Will you be disappointed if this turns out to be the final season, or are you already bracing for it? Drop a comment with your thoughts below.