The 9-1-1 franchise is continuing on the 2026 TV schedule this October, with new seasons of 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Nashville airing on ABC. While it’s unknown if fans can expect another crossover between the two shows, it’s possible that 9-1-1: Lone Star could be coming back into the fold. Despite the Fox first responder drama ending last year after five seasons, Rob Lowe is throwing his hat in the ring to reprise his role, and I don’t hate his idea.
When fans last saw Lowe’s Captain Owen Strand, he had taken a job as New York’s fire chief in the series finale. Last September, the actor weighed in on appearing on the latest spinoff, which had not yet premiered, revealing there weren’t any plans at the moment. Now that 9-1-1: Nashville is heading into its second season, could things change? Not yet, but Lowe tells TV Insider that he’s not completely ruling out a return, on one condition:
I never say never. And I would be open to anything as long as it is not trying to be a cheaper, low-budget knockoff of what we worked so hard to establish. I think we leave a legacy, not to put too fine a point on it, on storytelling, big spectacle, big cast, great actors, stars, and if there’s an appetite for that that still exists, I’m down.
When 9-1-1: Nashville was announced, it was hard not to point out the similarities it shares with 9-1-1 and also 9-1-1: Lone Star, which had just wrapped its five-season run. It centers on a firehouse in a major city with a country background, with the firehouse captain’s son a firefighter in the same firehouse. Not to mention that a handful of Nashville’s calls in the first season were taken from both the flagship and Lone Star. So Lowe’s reasoning makes sense. It sounds like he wants Nashville to really establish its own formula and storytelling before he steps back into that world.
That being said, while he’s not exactly sure if he would return, he knows how the show can win him over and the exact kind of call it would take. Not surprisingly, it involves his brother, Chad Lowe, who’s been directing a chunk of Nashville’s episodes. It also involves golfing, and I need this now more than ever:
OK, so here’s how it goes down. I’ve been thinking about this. They would have to woo me, but I’m easily wooed. Chad Lowe [his brother, who also played his half-brother on Lone Star], who is directing most of them now, needs to direct it, and they need to shoot it at an amazing golf course because Chris O’Donnell [Captain Don Hart on Nashville] and I are huge golf fans, so it has to be around golf, and of course, maybe there’s a flash flood on the golf course. Or maybe there’s a lightning strike that lights the locker room on fire.
Obviously, with Owen in New York, they would also have to think about how to bring him to Nashville and why he’s in Music City. He merely could be visiting someone or passing through while on his way back to Austin. As for golf, fans have already seen Owen on the course on Lone Star, so it would be easy for him to take a break at a local course. So, I can see the vision already, and I wish it would happen.
The great thing about 9-1-1 being a franchise is that you don’t know who could pop up and where. There’s already been talk about possibly bringing in TK (Ronen Rubinstein) and Carlos (Rafael L. Silva) from Lone Star to Nashville for an appearance, and who knows who else could be next. If anything, it sounds like we may not have seen the last of Owen Strand, but fans can always rewatch 9-1-1: Lone Star with a Hulu subscription for the time being. Season 2 of 9-1-1: Nashville premieres on Thursday, October 15 at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.
