Warning: light spoilers are ahead for the Season 9 fall finale of 9-1-1 and the Season 1 fall finale of 9-1-1: Nashville, both debuting on ABC on November 13 and available streaming next day with a Hulu subscription.
ABC delivered an action-packed night of fall finales on November 13 with the last episodes of 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Nashville in the 2025 TV schedule. The endings may leave viewers more than ready to see the winter premieres ASAP, and the network has already confirmed when the shows will be back in the new year. Still, in looking at the dates, I realized something: High Potential fans may be deservedly jealous of fans of the 9-1-1 world.
When 9-1-1 And 9-1-1: Nashville Return
ABC announced its premiere dates for the 2026 TV schedule ahead of the fall finales, revealing when to count on the winter premieres of shows like 9-1-1, High Potential, Grey's Anatomy, and more. It also reveals when the long-awaited season premieres of Will Trent and the Rookie will bring their characters back for the first time since spring 2025.
Viewers can count on seeing 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Nashville back on Thursday, January 8 in their usual time slots of 8 p.m. ET and 9 p.m. ET, respectively. Grey's will follow with its winter premiere at 10 p.m. ET. ABC even wasted no time in running promos for the winter premieres, with the preview for 9-1-1 teasing trouble ahead for Hen. Take a look:
As for 9-1-1: Nashville, the promo comes right out and promises "panic in the streets" when "chaos descend[s] on Nashville," which sounds about par for the course for the franchise. After all, Austin was regularly the site of mega disasters during 9-1-1: Lone Star's run (complete with an asteroid in the series finale). Don Hart and Co. won't be facing any flying rocks from space, however. Take a look:
On the surface, neither 9-1-1 show has all that much in common with High Potential other than crimes being committed and usually a death toll of some sort. The blockbuster action of the original and it's Nashville-set spinoff just aren't part of Morgan's investigations. That said, High Potential is a massive hit for ABC, to the point that there are many people who may be a little miffed at this point in the second season's hiatus.
Why High Potential Fans May Be Jealous
The fall finales of 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Nashville both aired in mid-November, so there is still a wait of over a month before all the first responders will be back in ABC's primetime lineup. The reason why High Potential fans might understandably be bitter? That show's Season 2 fall finale aired way back in late October, which was quite early for a network TV fall finale. It didn't help at the time that the episode came with the news that the drama wouldn't be back for more than two months.
The fall finale of High Potential aired on ABC on October 28 with plenty for viewers to think about after the cliffhanger, while the winter premiere won't air until Tuesday, January 6 at 9 p.m. ET. That time slot will place it between Will Trent Season 4 at 8 p.m. ET and The Rookie Season 8 at 10 p.m. ET, all on ABC as usual.
And while that technically does mean that High Potential will arrive in 2026 earlier than 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Nashville, the extra weeks of hiatus due to Morgan's early exit from primetime this year undoubtedly are going to sting for fans. Viewers were already voicing their dismay following the fall finale on October 28, which debuted shortly after the network announced that the Kaitlin Olson-starring series had become the first 10 p.m. ET network TV drama to rank at #1 since ER in the 1999-2000 season.
I'll definitely understand any bitterness that High Potential loyalists may feel at the reveal that the 9-1-1 shows lasted a couple weeks longer into 2025 and only return a couple days later in 2026, but at least the wait for the end of the prolonged hiatus isn't too late into the new year. Be sure to tune in to ABC at 9 p.m. ET on January 6 to see what's up for Morgan, Karadec, and all the rest of the High Potential crew in the new year, followed by 9-1-1 and Nashville on January 8.
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