If you've been seeing those viral clips of 911 going around social media like the rest of us, chances are that you're ready for the most bonkers show on TV to return - make that one of the most bonkers shows on TV for its newly-launched spinoff 911: Nashville has also just arrived on US TV screens and the double act are ready to make Thursdays on ABC that much more unhinged. We're ready for them to do it too!
The pair of 911 shows premiered on October 9 as promised in all of those outlandish teasers, but they haven't quite made their way to the UK yet. Believe us, we know! If you were one of the many who opened up Disney Plus on the Friday morning after its Thursday night Stateside premiere to find that 911 season 9 episode 1 was not available to watch, you'll likely find yourself down a rabbithole online to find out just why exactly the tradition of Friday morning releases has been broken. Well, we're here to tell you.
Unfortunately, there has indeed been a change to the release format, and you'll have to wait just a few more weeks for it to arrive.
911 season 9 UK premiere date confirms new release day, two-week delay between US and UK releases
According to Radio Times, 911 season 9 is set to premiere on Disney Plus in the UK on Wednesday, October 22. Meanwhile, the streamer has officially confirmed that spinoff 911: Nashville will premiere on that date too. Both shows will be under the Hulu banner as part of the streamer's more mature programming, which replaces the Star banner that has been present for years.
The UK release date is just under two weeks after both shows' US premiere, which is a good thing in theory but it also creates a number of hurdles that just weren't there for the parent series before. For starters, it means that the UK will now be two episodes behind US audiences (until a potential hiatus for the show in the US eventually knocks it back into sync), which means fans will have to avoid spoilers on social media for those two weeks. It also means that, if Disney Plus does manage to catch up to ABC's schedule, UK fans will still see episodes six days after its domestic broadcast due to the new Wednesday airdate.
The previous season made history as Disney Plus released new episodes on the Friday morning after its Thursday night premiere in the US. With episodes now coming out the following Wednesday, it means that the UK is going to remain so far out of sync with the US. And, considering that this is one of the things that the streaming era was supposed to phase out, it's pretty wild that we're back to the days of having to wait for UK broadcasters to air US shows days and / or weeks after their US premieres.
Of course, things could change when / if the shows decide to take a week or two off in the US and the UK manages to catch up. That could allow Disney Plus UK to potentially move the show back to Friday mornings and release the new episodes the morning after their US broadcast. After all, the streamer is continuing that approach with Grey's Anatomy, so it's understandable that fans are curious about the decision to move 911 to a different day and delay its arrival by a few weeks.
The delay could be down to the decision to pair it with 911: Nashville (there's often a UK delay with new US shows) but here's hoping that it's one that can be reworked once both shows catch up to the ABC releases in the US.