9-1-1

Serviceable yet unremarkable. ... 9-1-1 is a match for the overall quality of NBC’s Chicago trifecta. None of race-to-the-rescue, life-and-death dramas are anywhere near Emmy caliber. But if there’s room for one more -- and quite likely there is -- then Fox certainly could do worse than a comparatively blood-less but decently executed series from a producer who still hits more than he misses.

The pilot episode comprises several emergencies, all of which are written and directed as nail-biters. In between, we begin to learn a little about some of the main characters. Nothing that would distinguish them from other characters in similar procedurals, but even if 9-1-1 is a departure from racier Murphy-Falchuk fare, it maintains high production values, solid performances and engaging scripts.

The result, 9-1-1, a drama centering around the first responders to emergencies, is as outrageous as you’d expect from a Murphy production: Babies flushed down toilets! Snakes getting beheaded! Connie Britton with bad hair! But it’s also depressingly derivative and middle-of-the-road.

9-1-1, an engaging but surprisingly rote drama from hitmaker Murphy and co-creators Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear.

The cases are fine for the genre, and 9-1-1 seems like an acceptable time-passer for procedural fans. From Ryan Murphy, though, that qualifies as an anomaly.

9-1-1 is insufferable, but it’s also watchable.

As long as these first responders are on the job, careening from one wild crisis to another 9-1-1 has the making of a hit. ... It's when we go off duty with these heroes, played by one of TV's most ridiculously overqualified casts that the show flatlines with maudlin subplots that might have been rejected by General Hospital. [25 Dec 2017 - 7 Jan 2018, p.15]

Murphy has done great, daring work elsewhere, and that’s why actors will follow him anywhere. But 9-1-1 is neither great, nor daring--and these actors deserve far, far better.