9-1-1: Lonestar’ Viewers Weigh in on Rob Lowe’s ‘9-1-1’ Spinoff

The 9-1-1 spinoff, 9-1-1: Lone Star is here, and reactions so far have been decidedly mixed. The show stars Rob Lowe as a firefighter who relocates to Austin, TX with his gay son. Like its parent show, 9-1-1: Lonestar is created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear.

One viewer tweeted that Lowe’s performance was “absolutely magnificent,” while another wrote that Lowe’s performance “is exactly the Rob Lowe I want to watch. A multi-step skincare regimen? Saving babies? Yes.”

A third tweeted “in the last 30 seconds of tonight’s episode I just saw Rob Lowe put on a cowboy hat in the mirror and yell ‘YEEHAW,’” adding the odd praise that “now I never want to watch even 30 seconds more.”

However, not everyone was on board with the new 9-1-1 spinoff.

One viewer tweeted “for the love God just give us a show. Quit making everything political. Keep your Liv Tyler and Rob Lowe and just give me Jennifer Love Hewitt and Angela Bassett.”

Another weighed in saying the show “is the most inaccurate representation of Texas life in a major city since Dallas.”

A third just flat-out admitted that “I am LITERALLY incapable as seeing Rob Lowe as anyone other than Chris Traeger,” his character from NBC’s Parks & Recreation.

The upbeat character of Chris Traeger has been synonymous with Lowe since he first appeared near the end of the show’s second season. In fact, when Lowe was recently spotted at the NFC Championship game, his choice of attire lead to him firing off a tweet where he full-on channeled Chris Traeger.

9-1-1: Lone Star was originally announced back in May and in addition to starring, Lowe would also serve as executive producer, and pocket $200,000 per episode.

Michael Thorn, president of entertainment for Fox Entertainment said at the time that the spinoff “allows you to explore thrilling stories as told through an array of distinctive characters. In 9-1-1: Lone Star, they’ve given us a special opportunity to expand the franchise into new territory — literally and figuratively — and we’re thrilled to have the incomparable Rob Lowe headline this new iteration when it joins our schedule next season.”

9-1-1: Lone Star airs every Monday night on Fox.