Ryan Murphy Addresses the Cancellation of 9-1-1: Lone Star
Writer and producer Ryan Murphy has addressed the cancellation of first-person rescue procedural show 9-1-1: Lone Star.
Deadline reported in September that the show would end after its fifth season following “two failed contract negotiations.”
Fans were disappointed by the news, especially since power couple Tyler Kennedy “TK” Strand (Ronen Rubinstein) and Carlos Reyes (Rafael Silva) – known to their supporters as “Tarlos” – would no longer be on our screens.
In an interview with Variety, Murphy spoke out about the show’s end: “It’s sad, we all love Lone Star, but it’s not financially viable. This is a Disney company that was on Fox and it was never going to work. We’ve had a long time with this show.”
Rob Lowe, one of Lone Star’s stars, has previously said that he and the rest of the cast knew the show would end after a fifth season.
“We all went into it with the idea that this was going to be the last season, so that influenced everything we did,” Lowe told Variety in August.
“We really wanted to show people what could still happen on network television if people were interested. It might seem like this is the end of an era — but it’s not. It’s the end of an era of a certain type of show that we had the opportunity to do, and I think it’s great,” he continued.
Lone Star has been praised for its diverse cast and LGBTQ+ characters, having previously won Outstanding Drama Series at the GLAAD Media Awards, particularly for its relationship with “Tarlos” and its character Paul Strickland (Brian Michael Smith), who is Black and transgender.
While Lone Star is ending, Murphy’s 9-1-1 universe will continue to expand. The original 9-1-1 was filmed in Los Angeles while Lone Star was filmed in Austin, Texas, but Murphy has his sights set on other cities across the United States.
“[Co-creator] Tim Minear and I are working on a new spinoff that we’re actually writing, and we’re hoping to air next fall. So now we’re launching a new show in a new city that I can’t name, but it’s exciting. [Fans] obviously have an interest in [the shows], so we’re giving them another show that I really love.”
