Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has an approval rating of 70%, based on 33 reviews, with an average rating of 5.9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "9-1-1 occasionally veers into melodrama, but is redeemed with a top-tier cast, adrenaline-pumping action, and a dash of trashy camp that pushes the show into addictive guilty pleasure territory." [39] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 60 out of 100 based on reviews from 21 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [40]
Amy Amatangelo of Paste praised the disasters depicted across the series and the action sequences, applauded Angela Bassett's performance and her character's storyline, while complimenting the development of the characters across their relationships. [43] Steve Greene of IndieWire called 9-1-1 a perfect hit, stating the show manages to feel realistic and emotional across its dialogues and the relationships between the characters, applauded the action sequences with the different disasters, and praised the performances of the cast. [44] Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter found the series to be a conventional yet solid procedural drama, comparing it to the Chicago franchise, and applauded the performances of the cast, while calling the characters decent. [45]
Suzi Feay of Financial Times rated the first season 4 out of 5 stars, called it an intense and juddering drama series across its emergency calls, and stated 9-1-1 has the potential to become a classic of the "hero genre". [46] Melissa Camacho of Common Sense Media gave season one 3 out of 5 stars, complimented the depiction of positive messages and role models, stating the series depicts how difficult, traumatic, and personally fulfilling being a first responder can be across its characters, while calling the series solid overall. [47]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the second season has an approval rating of 100%, based on 7 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. [41]
Brian Grubb of Uproxx stated the second season of the series manages to be more ambitious than the first one, applauding the disasters and action sequences, and praised the performances of the cast and the development of the characters. [48]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the third season has an approval rating of 75%, based on 8 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. [42]
Ratings
9-1-1 Season 7 finale reached nearly 10 million viewers within a week of viewing, drawing 9.59 million total viewers and a 2.05 rating among adults 18-49 after seven days of viewing across ABC, Hulu, and digital platforms. This marked the best multiplatform viewership for the show since April and made it the top broadcast TV drama among adults 18-49 for the season with an average live-plus-seven-day rating of 0.83. In terms of live-plus-seven-day viewing on ABC alone, the finale scored 6.91 million total viewers, up 33% from its live-plus-same-day viewership of 5.20 million, and a 0.90 rating, a 48% increase from its initial live-plus-same-day rating of 0.61. [49] 9-1-1 saw significant viewership growth for its latest season, with the Season 8 premiere attracting 9.8 million viewers after seven days of multi-platform viewing, a 106% increase from its live + same-day audience of 4.8 million. The episode also saw nearly a 20% lift from its three-day audience of 8.27 million viewers. In the 18-49 demographic, the premiere reached a 1.95 rating, which was a 359% increase from its same-day rating of 0.42. [50]
