Thinking big, “9-1-1” sinks a ship

If you’re the new guy (in town, in school, at work), you want to make an impression.
You might bring treats or buy drinks … or maybe capsize an ocean-liner. That’s what “9-1-1” does at 8 p.m. Thursday, to mark its move to ABC.
The show thinks big. “We’ve done an earthquake (and) a tidal wave,” Peter Krause (shown here dancing with Angela Bassett, pre-crisis) told the Television Critics Association. “Now we’re doing ‘The Poseiden Adeventure.’”
It’s all part of the job, said showrunner Tim Minear. Previously, “we took out the Santa Monica Pier with a tsunami. (Now) we just wanted to show up at ABC and put our worst forward and do a big disaster.”
Or two. One plotline Thursday is based on the news: After a pilot ejected, people had trouble finding his jet plane. The other had producers searching for a ship to film in.
“We almost had a cruise ship,” Minear said. “Then the cruise ship was like, ‘We’ll let you use our cruise ship, but nothing bad can happen.’ Like, have you seen the show?”
On “9-1-1,” bad things happen … even on vacations. In this season-opener, Bobby and Athena are on a belated honeymoon, when things go bad. The hour includes a triibute to IrwinnAllen, producer of “The Poseiden Adventure” (1972) and other disaster films.
That plot brings up another quirk of this show: Despite being built around action, it has some high-profile (and, presumably, high-salary) stars.
Bobby is played by Krause, who was the top star in five previous series, totalling 14 seasons, Athena is played by Angela Bassett, who seems to be everywhere. This month alone, she won an honorary Academy Award (a year after being nominated for her regal role in the “Black Panther” sequel) … co-stars in “Damsel” on Netflix… narrates the acclaimed “Queens” nature series on the National Geographic Channel and Disney+ … and now fights her way through a sinking honeymoon.
Just three weeks later, the show will have its 100th episode. “This 100 took a long time – mid-season replacement, Covid, strike,” Bassett said.
Then there was the switch of networks. This was the top-rated show on the Fox network, but it’s also an expensive one. Fox let it go to ABC, which is a corporate partner with the producing studio.”9-1
(Fox is keeping the “9-1-1: Lone Star” spin-off, but delaying it until next season.)
ABC is using “9-1-1” to start a night that has “Grey’s Anatomy” and the final season of “Station 19.” The network’s new guy will try to make a big, ship-sinking impression.