9-1-1’s Winter Schedule Replacement Has Been Found, And Not Gonna Lie, It's A Real Downgrade
Fall TV 2023 was a shadow of what it would have been if not for the Hollywood strike, with the biggest scripted shows postponing premieres until the new year. Thankfully, the 2024 TV release schedule is already filled with plenty of highly anticipated arrivals, including the return of 9-1-1, which surprisingly moved from Fox to ABC for Season 7. Unfortunately, it won’t be spinoff 9-1-1: Lone Star filling that time slot, and the actual substitute is kinda disappointing.
When Fox revealed its 2024 Winter and Spring schedule, arguably the wildest detail of note was Family Guy’s move from Sundays to Wednesdays, taking it out of the network’s animation-fueled lineup for the first time. But Monday nights will also look quite different on Fox going into the new year, without the high stakes of Ryan Murphy’s 9-1-1 guiding things. Instead, it’ll be the unscripted 1-2 combo of TMZ Investigates and America’s Most Wanted.
TMZ Investigates will hit Fox primetime starting on Monday, January 22, at 8:00 p.m. ET, followed by America's Most Wanted at 9:00 p.m. ET. Both will be available to stream the next day with a Hulu subscription.
In the past year or so, Fox has invested more and more primetime to a selection of specials under the TMZ Investigates branding. Those specials have tackled such subjects as Britney Spears’ divorce and post-conservatorship life, the 9/11 attacks, Lisa Marie Presley’s death, Michael Jackson, Richard Simmons, and more.
It sounds like more time and effort is being put into spinning the tabloid-esque series as a weekly release to accompany the latest season of the crime-thwarting America’s Most Wanted. Here’s how Fox described the two-series tandem in its announcement.
TMZ Investigates will give viewers an inside look at some of today's most topical and intriguing stories. One of television’s most iconic crime series, America’s Most Wanted, returns to FOX breaking down some of the toughest cases with a team of experts representing law enforcement units. Among its many accomplishments, America’s Most Wanted, since its original debut in 1988, has helped capture more than 1,190 criminals.
During the 2022-2023 season, Fox boasted such shows beyond 9-1-1 like The Cleaning Lady, Fantasy Island, Alert: Missing Persons Unit, Crime Scene Kitchen, and Stars on Mars; during the strike-affected Fall season, Fox aired Kitchen Nightmares and Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.
Though Fantasy Island was canceled back in May 2023, each of the other series are still alive, so it’s possible one or more will return to those time slots when the spring and summer roll around. But for the near future, expect to see more celebs’ darker stories being explored via TMZ and Fox.
9-1-1’s Rob Lowe-fronted spinoff is indeed sticking around on Fox, even if the network’s schedule didn’t specifically reflect that. Audiences will be waiting a while longer to catch back up with Owen, TK and the rest, as 9-1-1: Lone Star is returning in Fall 2024.
Meanwhile, 9-1-1 is set to settle into its new network and night when it debuts on ABC on Thursday, March 14, at 8:00 p.m. That Season 7 premiere will be followed by the season premieres for both Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19.
So get ready for a totally different kind of drama when TMZ Investigates takes over Monday nights starting on Monday, January 22, at 8:00 p.m. ET, or the next day on Hulu.
