911: Lone Star is coming back (we just have a long wait for season 5)

Let me help ease your fears right away, no, 911: Lone Star has not been canceled. FOX’s 911 spinoff series will still be coming back for a fifth season, it’s just that we have to wait a bit longer for the new episodes to arrive than we had to wait for the new season of 911. 

A large part of the confusion among fans is that 911 returned for its new season in March, which made many assume that 911: Lone Star would be coming back shortly after. This is understandable as FOX has been pairing the two series on its schedule with the shows airing back-to-back at times and other times 911: Lone Star airing episodes when 911 took a break. 

However, 911 moved to ABC during the offseason after FOX opted not to renew the series for season 7 due to production costs associated with licensing the series. Upon ordering 911 season 7 to season, ABC wanted to make the show a priority and worked to bring it back in March alongside new seasons of Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19. 

FOX decided to push 911: Lone Star to fall due to the 2023 strikes

While many networks worked tirelessly to get their biggest scripted series back on the air once the actors’ and writers’ strikes of 2023 came to a close, FOX took a different approach with 911: Lone Star. Unlike ABC, FOX decided not to rush the show back into production in time for a spring launch and decided to hold the new season of 911: Lone Star for the 2024-2025 season instead. 

The plan is that 911: Lone Star will return sometime in the fall when FOX’s new season begins which means we’re likely going to see season 5 premiere sometime in September. Of course, FOX could change its plan, but we don’t anticipate the network would want to further delay the show’s return to the airwaves by making fans wait until 2025. 

911: Lone Star season 5 began filming in March 2024

Although 911: Lone Star won’t return for season 5 until the fall, production is underway on season 5 with the cast and crew hard at work on the new season. Production on the season began in early 2024 and filming officially began during the first week of March as the cast took to Instagram to celebrate the start of filming. 

Season 5 is rumored to consist of 12 episodes, which is down several episodes from the show’s most recent fourth season which consisted of 18 episodes. It will also be the show’s shortest season since the show’s ten-episode first season. 

The expectation is that filming will run through May or early summer as the goal is to complete all 12 episodes so that they’re ready to air in the fall!