Might John Nolan and Athena Grant ever cross paths on-screen, seeing as they each work for the LAPD — on ABC’s The Rookie and 9-1-1, respectively?
After all, 9-1-1 has crossed over with other shows before — including of course its own offshoot, Fox’s 9-1-1: Lone Star, and just last spring, ABC’s The Bachelor.
But to hear The Rookie showrunner Alexi Hawley explain it, suggesting that his cops enforce the law in the same universe as 9-1-1‘s creates problems than outweigh any fun factor.
Created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and showrunner Tim Minear, 9-1-1 launched on Fox almost exactly seven years ago, and moved to ABC effective with Season 7. (The series is currently on holiday break, midway through Season 8.) The high-octane drama “explores the high-pressure experiences of first responders — including police officers, firefighters and dispatchers — who are thrust into the most frightening, shocking and heart-stopping conditions.”
And occasionally also bee-nados.
Among its LAPD contingent, you have Angela Bassett playing aforementioned patrol sergeant Athena Grant, the wife of Peter Krause as Robert “Bobby” Nash, the LAFD Station 118 captain.
Athena & Co., however, are unlikely to work a crime scene alongside The Rookie‘s Mid-Wilshire Division peeps. As much as fans of either or both shows might clamor for such a crossing of streams.
Just last May, The Rookie‘s Eric Winter acknowledged the crossover fan chatter, saying to Hello!, “Wouldn’t that be funny?
“I love all those actors on that show, that would be amazing, that would be super fun,” Sgt. Tim Bradford’s portrayer added. “But I don’t know if it will happen.”
More recently, TVLine reader Kailey emailed Matt’s Inside Line to ask, “What are the chances that there will ever be a crossover between The Rookie and 9-1-1, since both shows are now on ABC and both take place in L.A.?”
But when TVLine delivered Kailey’s Q to showrunner Hawley in December, he affirmed, “No, we haven’t really talked about that.”
What’s more, Hawley seemed bearish on the notion. “To me, that’s a hard crossover,” he explained, “just because you have an expectation that you’re going to see [9-1-1 characters] all the time” if you accommodate even one stunt-y crossover. “If we’re both in the same universe in Los Angeles, how are we not stumbling over them all the time?”
