9-1-1 Renewed for Season 8 at ABC

ABC is wasting no time in locking down one of its newest hits for another season. After airing for six seasons on Fox, hit first responder drama 9-1-1 was acquired by ABC, giving it a new home ahead of its seventh season. Just two weeks after its Season 7 premiere, and a few days ahead of the 100th episode, 9-1-1 is has received an early renewal from its new network home.

On Tuesday, news broke that ABC had given the green light to 9-1-1 Season 8. While this renewal may be earlier than expected, it should come as no surprise to viewers. 9-1-1 was a major hit for Fox over the last several years, and it kept that momentum going with the premiere of Season 7. The first episode racked up 11.8 million multiplatform viewers in its first seven days on ABC and Hulu.

This Thursday’s episode will mark the 100th of the series, cementing it as one of the flagship programs on network TV at the moment.

9-1-1’s The Bachelor Crossover

This coming week’s 100th episode of 9-1-1 saw the series crossover with an unexpected ABC reality hit: The Bachelor. A photo teased the 9-1-1 ambulance responding to a call at the Bachelor mansion, and recent Bachelor Joey Graziadel is slated to appear in the episode.

“The whole crossover episode came about because Jennifer Love Hewitt called me after she went to one of the finales of The Bachelor,” 9-1-1 showrunner Tim Minear told Entertainment Weekly. “She’s a huge fan of The Bachelor and she said, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if the 118 responded to a call at the Bachelor mansion?’”

“I reached out to ABC and they reached out to The Bachelor people and we got onto a Zoom,” Minear added. “We just started talking about what the possibilities were. The Bachelor people were unbelievably supportive and helpful. They volunteered to show us the ropes about how they make the show, and then when we shot it. We actually brought in the Bachelor crew to shoot the first part of that case, so that it really was The Bachelor. And then we go into 9-1-1 world when they have to call 9-1-1. So, that’s how it came about. It just seemed like a great idea.”