Behind The Scenes At 9-1-1
9-1-1 is a long-running procedural drama television series starring Angela Bassett, Peter Krause, Oliver Stark, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Ryan Guzman. Canceled by Fox after its sixth season, 9-1-1 was picked up by ABC and headed into its eighth season in September, 2024. After eight seasons, they've managed to rack up lots of interesting bits of trivia along the way.
Wife And Husband Jennifer Love Hewitt And Brian Hallisay
In real life, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Brian Hallisay are married and have three children. This isn't the first time they've played husband and wife either. From 2011 to 2013 Hewitt starred in The Client List. Hallisay joined the cast in 2012, and their two characters get married.
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Oliver Stark Once Thought Of Leaving Acting
Before being cast in 9-1-1, Oliver Stark had considered leaving acting altogether. His goal was to become a firefighter but one last chance in Hollywood came his way. In 9-1-1, he plays a first responder.
20th Century Fox Television, 9-1-1 (2018-)
Phonetic Alphabet
In the firefighting profession, a phonetic alphabet is used for efficient communication. Similar to military lingo, firefighters use the terms Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta to designate the sides of a structure. For example, "Alpha" refers to the front side of the structure while "Charlie" refers to the back.
20th Century Fox Television, 9-1-1 (2018-)
Real-Life Stories
9-1-1 writers often use real-life stories as inspiration. A tragedy in Israel where 24 people lost their lives from a floor collapsing at a wedding inspired the episode "Point of Origin," where a building collapses during a wedding.
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Renewed For A Second Season
The network was so confident in the success of the series that it renewed 9-1-1 for a second season after the first two episodes aired in 2018. The series continued on Fox for six seasons before it was picked up by ABC.
20th Century Fox Television, 9-1-1 (2018-)
Christopher Diaz
The character Eddie Diaz (played by Ryan Guzman) has a son Christopher, who has cerebral palsy. The actor Gavin McHugh also has cerebral palsy in real life.
20th Century Fox Television, 9-1-1 (2018-)
Oliver Stark's Birthmarks
Oliver Stark has two red birthmarks close to his left eye. Producers wanted him to cover it up for the series, but Stark refused, saying the marks are part of who he is. In later flashback episodes, the actor playing Oliver Stark's character as a child had make up added to his face to copy Stark's real-life birthmarks.
20th Century Fox Television, 9-1-1 (2018-)
References To Angela Bassett's Hometown
Athena Grant's badge number is 1275. Angela Bassett, who plays Grant, is from St Petersburg, Florida. The freeway running through St Petersburg is the I-275, while Grant's unit number, 727-L-30 is based on St Petersburg's 727 area code.
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Connie Britton's Single Season
Connie Britton only signed a contract for the first season. Britton was reluctant to sign on to a long-term series commitment. She agreed to do the first season as a favor to 9-1-1 co-creator Ryan Murphy.
20th Century Fox Television, 9-1-1 (2018-)
Titling Episodes
Whenever an episode's plot centers on a main character's story and how they found their career as first responders, the title of the episode follows a format. The episode title is named after the character, followed by the word "begins". For example, episode 2.9 is titled "Hen Begins", while episode 2.12 is "Chimney Begins".
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Using Professional Terms
The vocabulary in the series corresponds to real-life professional lingo. The Emergency Board Operator (EBO) receives and processes telephone requests while Bureau Communications Coordinator (BCC) oversees and monitors all activity in a specified area.
20th Century Fox Television, 9-1-1 (2018-)
Pop Culture References
In a first season episode, Hen invites Athena to the fire station. Hen tells the crew she has some problems in her family and she needs some TLC (tender loving care). While on patrol, TLC's song "No Scrubs" is playing while Athena drives her patrol.
20th Century Fox Television, 9-1-1 (2018-)
The Shorter First Season
Although the first season was originally slated to be 13 episodes, only 10 episodes were actually aired. Oliver Stark confirmed this on Twitter in January 2018.
20th Century Fox Television, 9-1-1 (2018-)
Police Terminology
In the series, the term "silent code" is often used. A silent code, or sometimes a "silent run," is a situation that requires silence in order to avoid alerting a suspect of a response.
20th Century Fox Television, 9-1-1 (2018-)
Real-Life Terminology
The terminology used in the series is based on real-life language. The code 1Adam12 (1A12) breaks down as: 1 refers to Central Division; Adam or A indicates that the car is a two-officer basic patrol unit; and the number 12 is the unit number.
20th Century Fox Television, 9-1-1 (2018-)
More Real-Life Terminology
“On-scene" means that a unit has arrived at the scene of the emergency, while "staging" refers to a unit arriving at the scene and standing by.
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Some More Real-Life Terms
An "open carrier" is the term for a radio that has been inadvertently left on. An open carrier stalls and paralyzes broadcast traffic and has been described as a form of butt-dialing, causing dead air, hisses, fragmented words and other noises to be broadcast.
20th Century Fox Television, 9-1-1 (2018-)
Real-Life Relationships
In the biographic film What's Love Got To Do With It?, Angela Bassett plays Tina Turner who has been married to Ike Turner, played by Laurence Fishburne. Gina Torres stars in the 9-1-1 spin-off series 9-1-1: Lone Star. Torres was married to Laurence Fishburne.
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The Real Robbery-Homicide Division
The Robbery-Homicide Division dramatized in the series is based on the real-life unit established in 1969. It is comprised of five sections, including the two transgressions in the name, plus Special Assault, cold cases, gang investigations, and Special Investigation.
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The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department
The series is set in Los Angeles County, which in real life is policed by the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. This is one of the largest law-enforcement agencies in the United States.
20th Century Fox Television, 9-1-1 (2018-)
Funny Episodes And Serious Episodes
9-1-1 will often stagger episodes which are light-hearted or funny with more serious subject matter. These storylines include huge disasters such as fires, earthquakes, and tsunamis. This gives a balanced view of what first responders deal with.
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The Special Investigative Section
The Special Investigative Section (SIS) was formed in 1965, comprising the best detectives who had attained the highest level of performance in the field. A mobile force of investigating officers, the SIS assists other divisions and will take on cold-cases and seemingly unsolvable cases. They are famous for successfully investigating the Alphabet Bomber and the Hillside Strangler.
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Some Further Real Life Terminology Used In The Series
The methodology to clearing a house or room utilizes a specific system. The main entrance is designated number 1, while the other sides of the house are labeled 2,3, 4, and so on, in a clockwise manner. The corners where the sides meet are designated with numbers corresponding to the two meeting sides, for example: 1/2, 2/3, and 3/4.
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International Broadcasts
9-1-1 has been licensed for broadcasting internationally. The series was first broadcast in Italy on January 9, 2019, which corresponds with the numbers 9-1-1 9.
20th Century Fox Television, 9-1-1 (2018-)
Young Athena
In season 6, the episode "The Devil You Know" features a young Athena at nine years of age in 1977, putting her birth year as 1968. In real-life, Angela Bassett was born in 1958.
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Jennifer Love Hewitt's Real-Life Pregnancy
Jennifer Love Hewitt's real-life pregnancy was incorporated into the story with Maddie also being pregnant during season 4. Maddie gives birth earlier than Hewitt so Maddie was only shown from the waist up until Hewitt gave birth in real-life.
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Missing Characters
Jennifer Love Hewitt's real-life pregnancy was covered-up in a number of creative ways and was missing from a number of episodes altogether. The character Michael was eventually written out of the show when actor Rockmond Dunbar refused to comply with the show's Covid-19 filming protocols.
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The Season 4 Premier
Season 4 premiered on January 18, which when abbreviated is 1/18. This happens to be the number of the firehouse the show revolves around. The show's social media used this as a hook for marketing, stating that "the 118 returns on 1/18."
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Deleted Scenes
Promos for the season 7 episode "Ghost Stories" included a subplot about a ghost roommate that ended up being cut from the episode. Another season 7 episode, "There Goes the Groom", featured a karaoke scene with Buck and Eddie which was also cut. This caused protests from fans who demanded the deleted scenes be released.
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Swapping Episodes
In season 5, two episodes were swapped for no given reason. "Brawl in Cell Block 9-1-1" was meant to air on November 8, 2021, but was switched with "Ghost Stories", while "Ghost Stories" was meant to air on November 1, 2021, but was switched with "Brawl in Cell Block 9-1-1".
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Executive Producers
It is common for big-name actors to receive executive producer credits for television series, especially after the series has successfully aired for one or two seasons. Both Angela Bassett (Athena) and Peter Krause (Bobby) are executive producers in addition to their starring roles.
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Autumn James Hallisay
In another case of real life invading the fictional world of 9-1-1, Doug and Maddie's daughter Genevieve is played by Autumn James Hallisay. Autumn just happens to be the real-life daughter of Jennifer Love Hewitt and Brian Hallisay.
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Buck And Eddie
Both Oliver Stark and Jennifer Love Hewitt have both supported the idea put forth by fans for a relationship between Buck and Eddie. Oliver, who plays Buck, shared fanart sent to him on Twitter and Instagram about the pair. Ryan Guzman (Eddie) also commented on the matter, saying that he liked the name "Buddie" better than the alternative "Beddie" for a coupling nickname.
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Maddie And Chimney
Originally, Maddie's love interest on the show was planned to be Eddie. However, Jennifer Love Hewitt rejected this and suggested Chimney instead. Her support for the Buddie coupling underscores this idea.
20th Century Fox Television, 9-1-1 (2018-)
Buck's Orientation
Early on, the character Buck wasn’t supposed to be straight. This idea was stopped by the network. His original orientation was only revived when the series was picked up by ABC.
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More On Buck's Orientation
The storyline of Buck being gay was originally meant for the character Eddie. According to series actor Lou Ferrigno Jr, this plan fell through. It was later revived and was switched to Buck instead.
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Character Changes
Some other changes happened between the series' conception and the actual production. Lucy's family name was initially planned to be “Rios” but was changed to “Donato”. Likewise, Albert was mean to have a major role in season 5 and join the 118 station, but those plans were dropped when the actor was no longer available.
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Why Jennifer Love Hewitt Wanted Her Husband To Play Doug
As they are married in real life, Jennifer Love Hewitt wanted Brian Hallisay to play her husband on the show. As the on-screen husband Doug was abusive, Hewitt wanted Hallisay to play the role because she trusted him when performing these emotional scenes, knowing he would never do that to her in real life.
20th Century Fox Television, 9-1-1 (2018-)
The Real-Life Case Of Gypsy Rose Blanchard
In the 2021 episode "Suspicion", a mother has been faking her son's disease with medication. This was inspired by the real-life case of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, who had been medicated by her mother Dee Dee Blanchard for a made-up condition.
