9-1-1: Spin-offs? Cast changes? Ryan Murphy on the future of Fox's biggest hit

9-1-1 type TV Show network Fox genre Drama

Emergencies can be stressful but also quite lucrative, apparently. Fox’s hit 9-1-1, which has its season finale Wednesday night, is now officially the network’s highest-rated show according to data released today by Fox.

The series, from the American Horror Story team of Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Tim Minear, averaged 14.3 million viewers per week through multi-platforms. 9-1-1, which stars Angela Bassett, Connie Britton, and Peter Krause, is the network’s biggest launch and boasts the highest nonlinear audience since Empire in January 2015.

Murphy says the series was originally planned to launch in September 2018 and it was Fox head Dana Walden who pushed to accelerate the production schedule. “It all came together so quickly, and Dana said, ‘I think there’s a real opportunity to win big here if we could get it together for early January.’ Her instincts were right,” says the executive producer. “I’m shocked that show did so well. I’ve had a couple of network experiences where things weren’t as broad, things didn’t catch on so quickly. The fact that it was always so consistent and would always grow its number, I really give credit to Dana and the marketing team. I think they did a tremendous job. It’s a big hit. We’re talking about spin-offs already.”

The network has unsurprisingly greenlit the series for a second season, and Murphy says there’s already a plan in place to keep viewers shocked. “In the second season, we’re going to add some new cast members,” he teases. “We’re going to build out that 9-1-1 world the way we did the first-responder world, so you’ll see some new stars.”

But it’s unclear if one important member of the 9-1-1 family will be back. “Connie only has a one-year deal, and she sort of did the first year as a favor to me, but I’m hoping she’ll come back, and I think she wants to because a hit is a hit is a hit,” says Murphy. “I think the world now for actors is you can be in a lot of shows and be working on a lot of things.”

9-1-1 wraps up its debut season Wednesday night at 9 p.m. on Fox.