ABC Moves Up 9-1-1 Franchise, Grey's Anatomy Fall Premiere Dates
ABC has announced the new fall premiere dates for three of its popular dramas. Along with the long-running medical drama Grey's Anatomy, the flagship 9-1-1 and its latest spinoff, 9-1-1: Nashville, have moved ahead on the fall schedule. The three ABC dramas have been bumped up by about a week, which is earlier than initially scheduled. According to the press release from the network, the new season premieres have marked their new spots on the calendar and will now take place on Thursday, October 9. At first, the three shows were scheduled to premiere on Thursday, October 16. The ABC sitcoms, Shifting Gears and Abbott Elementary, have been unaffected by the changes and will hold onto their premieres at the beginning of October. The principal series, 9-1-1, returns for its ninth season and will kick off Thursday nights at 8pm, followed by its newest iteration, 9-1-1: Nashville, at 9pm. Grey's Anatomy returns for Season 22 and closes out the night at 10pm. 9-1-1: Nashville will have 10 episodes for its debut season, while the others are expected to air 18 episodes.
What ABC's Fall Lineup Shift Means For The 9-1-1 Franchise & Grey's Anatomy
9-1-1 Continues To Be ABC's Powerhouse
Custom image by Milica Djordjevic
In October, 9-1-1 will be heading into its third season on ABC and its ninth season overall. The series previously aired on Fox for about six seasons before jumping networks, but since then, ABC has proven its decision to pick up Fox's castoff a smart one, as it's been a juggernaut for the network and the move up shows just how much confidence it has in the show. Meanwhile, the move also shows how much faith ABC is putting into the new Nashville-based 9-1-1 spinoff. Led by veterans like Chris O'Donnell, LeAnn Rimes, Jessica Capshaw, and Kimberly Williams-Paisley, 9-1-1: Nashville is expected to focus as much on the music scene as the first responders, making it an exciting standout in the 9-1-1 franchise.
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Grey's Anatomy continues to hold onto its viewership, despite losing Ellen Pompeo (Good American Family) as a series regular. In a guest star capacity, Pompeo reprised her role as Meredith Grey for seven episodes in season 21. She is expected to appear in the same number of installments in the new season.
Our Take On ABC's New Fall Lineup Schedule
With its new fall lineup, ABC hopes that its three-hour block of must-see TV will keep audiences glued to its channel during primetime hours on Tuesdays. While Grey's Anatomy seems to be the odd show out of the Tuesday night lineup, the focus on the medical drama and first responder drama genres will be a thematic throughline of the night for the upcoming season.
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The network also clearly hopes the popularity of Grey's Anatomy and 9-1-1 will boost viewership for the new Chris O'Donnell-led 9-1-1: Nashville as it retains fans of the other two established shows. The last time O’Donnell was on TV and spearheaded a franchise, his military procedural, NCIS: Los Angeles, lasted 14 seasons.
