We all love a good crossover. It's why we've been pushing for another One Chicago crossover, and are over the moon that it's finally happening again in 2025. It's become the go-to move for procedural TV over the last few decades, and it continues to drum up excitement.
Alexi Hawley, the showrunner for The Rookie, recently spoke about the possibility of a crossover between his police drama and the first responder series 9-1-1. It makes sense on paper. While they do not share a creator, the shows are both ABC properties that revolve around police work.
Alexi Hawley doesn't want to combine universes
The only problem is, Hawley is skeptical. TV Line asked the showrunner about the possibility of seeing The Rookie and 9-1-1 join forces to solve a case, and he made it clear that there were no plans to do so. Furthermore, the decision to bring characters over from one franchise to the other would be a nightmare in terms of fan expectations moving forward.
"To me, that’s a hard crossover," Hawley explained. "Just because you have an expectation that you’re going to see [9-1-1 characters] all the time." The showrunner doesn't want to deal with the pressure to fold in 9-1-1 characters as a means of appeasing fans. He also made a good point regarding the logistics of both shows.
Hawley pointed out that The Rookie and 9-1-1 take place in Los Angeles, so if they do take place in the same universe, it would make no sense as to why the characters haven't already crossed paths. "If we’re both in the same universe in Los Angeles, how are we not stumbling over them all the time?," he asked.
The Rookie's first spinoff was canceled after one season
This is not the first time people involved with The Rookie has been asked about a 9-1-1 crossover. Eric Winter, the actor who plays Sgt. Tim Bradford, told Hello! Magazine that he was a fan of the first responder series and thinks it would be fun to join forces for a crossover. Even he was skeptical that it would take place, however.
"I love all those actors on that show, that would be amazing, that would be super fun," he admitted. "But I don’t know if it will happen." Hawley's more recent statement seem to confirm that it will not be happening. This decision to focus on The Rookie makes sense, given that the franchise was unable to sustain its first attempt at a spinoff with The Rookie: Feds. The Niecey Nash-led series was canceled after only one season.