The release date for 9-1-1 season 8 has been confirmed on ABC. Moving from Fox to ABC for a shortened 9-1-1 season 7, the long-running show quickly reached new highs. The premiere episode nabbed close to 9 million viewers across three days and multiple platforms and scored a 1.84 in the coveted 18-49 demographic. That’s the highest number the show has managed in that metric since May 2022, prompting the speedy renewal for 9-1-1 season 8. The move also gave the series a creative jolt. Under the renewed spotlight, several characters experienced big changes.
Deadline now confirms that 9-1-1 season 8 will debut on Thursday, September 26 on ABC at 8 PM EST, followed by Grey’s Anatomy and the new Ryan Murphy series Doctor Odyssey. This unites two Murphy series, as 9-1-1 is co-created by Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Tim Minear.
9-1-1 Season 8 Will Bring About Major Change
9-1-1 season 7 was a shorter season than usual, consisting of ten episodes, due to the impact of the writers and actors strikes. But in that shorter timeframe, 9-1-1‘s cast of characters experienced a lot of changes. Howard and Maddie got married, though not before Howard experienced a life-threatening crisis. The ten episodes were just as eventful for the rest of the 9-1-1 cast.
Buck realizes his romantic attraction to Tommy, coming out to his friends in the 118. Bobby and Athena reaffirmed their relationship after a cruise ship disaster in the three-part premiere, though Bobby is no longer the 118’s leader by the end of 9-1-1 season 7, as he is replaced by the loathsome Gerrard. Hen and Karen experienced adoption troubles, with Hen becoming an enemy of a powerful figure. The relationship between Eddie and his son Christopher is also altered, as Christopher is upset with his father and opts to live with his grandparents in Texas.
With co-creator Minear back in the role of showrunner, and Angela Bassett, Peter Krause, Oliver Stark, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ryan Guzman, Aisha Hinds, Kenneth Choi, and Gavin McHugh in their main roles, 9-1-1‘s shortened debut did have the drawback of less time for the outrageous emergencies that help the series stand out. But with a more regular episode count, the hit first-responder saga could be poised to return even stronger late in its run.
