Will 9-1-1 Make It to Season 12? Here's Why It's Unlikely

Summary

• 9-1-1 continues to reap the benefits of its success on ABC.
• Many fans have expressed their desire to see the show continue into Season 12.
• Although it all depends on the ratings, the show will probably run for two or three more seasons.

For five years, 9-1-1 remained one of the most-watched shows on Fox, competing with other television staples, procedural dramas like Blue Bloods or S.W.A.T. on CBS, or the One Chicago and Law & Order franchises on NBC. As of this year, the series has moved to ABC, and the new seventh season has given its new home very impressive ratings — 9-1-1 has become the most-watched scripted show on the network.

Of course, much of the credit for 9-1-1's continued success goes to its creators, who are, after all, giants in the world of film and television: Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear. What's more, viewers' interest in the drama unfolding in the lives of Station 118's employees is only growing, as the most recent season, despite an abundance of quality action scenes, closely followed the main characters as they confronted the ghosts of the past, tried to overcome their traumas and accept themselves, and finally found solace in each other.

But how long will the fan passion last? Sure, there are those who would like to see the show continue into its twelfth season and beyond. But unfortunately, judging by many signs, this scenario is highly unlikely.

Why the Show Will End before Season 12

While 9-1-1 is undoubtedly a compelling show and we'd love to see more of it, there's every reason to believe that there will be no more than three new seasons. That's not bad, of course, but it's also not as much as we'd probably like.

First of all, the main story arcs will probably be completed by Season 9-10, and viewers probably won't want to watch any more action scenes without a substential plot.

Second, both the 9-1-1 team and ABC know that actors can't stay on a project forever. And the writers are just as exhausted. So, if not in the next few years, there are already situations where actors and writers prefer to move on from the project.

What Do the Ratings Tell Us?

It is important to emphasize that it is still difficult to draw conclusions due to the fact that this is the first year of the series on the new network, so we will have to wait for the release of Season 8 to understand how consistently high (or low) the ratings of 9-1-1 are over the seasons.

Nonetheless, ABC audiences have been very enthusiastic about the series, as this year, according to Nielsen data, it has outperformed not only other procedurals, but all scripted series on the network in general in terms of total viewers, with 6.86 million (for comparison, Will Trent had 6.74 million and The Rookie had 5.93 million). What's more, it ranked eighth overall among the top 100 shows in the 18-49 demographic.

All of which is a clear indication that ABC certainly has no intention of canceling the show in the next few years. Still, it's worth noting that if review aggregator scores and ratings continue to decline, the show could be in danger of being canceled altogether. Even so, executives will likely decide to renew the series for at least two or three more seasons.

On the one hand, there is no reason to believe that Season 8 will be fundamentally worse than Season 7 in terms of ratings and reviews (although if the writers decide to drag things out and feature Vincent Gerrard prominently, the ratings could well plummet). On the other hand, in the era of streaming, traditional broadcast television is often sacrificed even in the face of high reviews, and therefore ABC will probably start thinking about ending the series after 9-11 seasons to make room for new projects.