ABC has taken 911 to new heights since its move from Fox, and we're not just talking about the space storyline that blasted off season 9 with a real bang. The procedural drama has become more popular than ever since swapping networks. There's still a lot more of season 9 to enjoy in the coming months, as the network shared when 911 will return after signing off for the year.
After 911 season 9 takes a break for the holidays, new episodes will return on Thursday, January 8, 2026 at 8/7c on ABC. The network announced its midseason 2026 premiere date schedule, which revealed when shows like High Potential, Scrubs, Will Trent, The Rookie, and more come back with new episodes. In 911's case, this is a much earlier return than usual.
While it's exciting that we don't have to wait very long for 911 season 9 to return in 2026, it's also worrying about what this means for the rest of the season's run. For the first time, the procedural drama returns in January rather than March. Every season that has debuted in the fall has wrapped at midseason in either November or December and returned in March of the following year.
911 season 9 sets return date for January 2026
What's the big deal about 911 season 9 returning much sooner in January than waiting to start airing new episodes in March? Well, this could mean that there's a greater chance for multiple weeks without new episodes. If ABC still intends for the season to wrap airing in May 2026, 911 could be taking more breaks than normal leading up to the season finale.
So, that's a double-edged sword for fans. We're getting new episodes almost right away in the new year, but that could come at the cost of more reruns than we'd like. But maybe that's not the case. Maybe ABC plans to wrap season 9 sooner than in May. It's also worth noting that by the time the season returns, only six episodes will have aired. That's fewer than normal.
In the past, eight, nine, or even 10 episodes have aired before the midseason break and eventual return in March. The 911 season 9 midseason finale airs on Thursday, November 13, 2025 with the season's sixth episode. After that, 12 episodes will be left to air. If ABC aired the remainder of the season without breaks (which isn't likely), that would bring the season finale to early April.
For now, we should still expect ABC to air the season 9 finale sometime in May, which means there could be at least four weeks distributed throughout 2026 with reruns or pre-empted episodes. Honestly, that's not too bad when you consider we previously went upwards of two months without new episodes in the middle of the season. We'll share more details about ABC's schedule as they're announced.
911 season 9 returns from its midseason break on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026 at 8/7c on ABC, streaming next day on Hulu.