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Viewers were left devastated when the final episode of 911: Lone Star aired on Monday night (3 February).
The Fox drama, a spin-off of 911, focused on first responders in Austin, Texas. It starred Rob Lowe as Captain Owen Strand and Gina Torres as Captain Tommy Vega and ran from January 2020 until February 2025.
Fox announced the popular series would come to an end after its fifth season last September, with many fans complaining they were deeply “disappointed” by the decision.
Speaking to Variety, showrunner Ryan Murphy revealed the decision to cancel 911: Lone Star was down to financial reasons. “Sadly, we all love Lone Star, but the financials just didn’t work,” he said.
“It’s a Disney company that was on a Fox network, and it just was never going to work. And we had a long run of it,” he added.
Meanwhile Lowe, who also served as an executive producer on the programme, told the outlet “We all went into it pretty much knowing that it was going to be the last season, so that affected everything we did.”
He added: “We wanted to go out making our case for the value of shows like that, and I think we did a really good job. “The stories that we were able to tell on a weekly basis in terms of the scope and scale — that’s probably the thing I’m the most proud of. They were truly like mini-movies every week.”
Although 911: Lone Star is coming to an end Murphy has teased he is working on a spin off series, which could air as early as 2026.
“Tim Minear and I are working on a new spinoff that we’re actually writing, and that we hope to get on the air next fall,” he told Variety. “Now we’re going to launch a new show in a new city that I can’t name, but it’s fun.”
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Minimal details are known about the forthcoming spin off series. However, last October,Deadline reported Hawaii is one of the locations being considered for the show’s setting.
Showrunner Tim Minear has confirmed there are currently no plans to bring back any of the 911: Lone Star characters for the new series.
When asked if he’d consider appearing in the spin off, Lowe told Variety on Monday: “I never say never to anything. I learned that a long time ago.
“It’s always a function of, what’s the story, what’s the script, who’s doing it, how good is the show?” he continued. “Is it a cheaper, wannabe version, or is it going to continue to have the kind of production value hallmarks that we’re really proud of, that we did on our show?
“Who knows?,” he concluded. “We’ll have to see what everything looks like.”
