9-1-1 Has First Crossover with 9-1-1: Nashville as Angela Bassett and Aisha Hinds' Characters Remain Stranded in Space
9-1-1 is not only delivering one of its wildest storylines yet in season 9, it's also giving fans a crossover with its newest spinoff.
On the Thursday, Oct. 23 episode, as Athena (Angela Bassett) and Hen (Aisha Hinds) did their best to stay alive after their space flight went wrong, dispatcher Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) made contact with
The crossover happened because Karen (Tracie Thoms) realized that Hen and Athena were too far away to be contacted with her satellite phone, which prompted Maddie to swoop in and save the day. She put in a call to another station and Cammie answered from Nashville.
The episode marked the first time that the new spinoff series, which premiered Oct. 9, has been acknowledged in 9-1-1.
9-1-1: Nashville sees Chris O'Donnell's Don Hart leading a fire station alongside his son, Ryan (Michael Provost), but things get complicated when Don's other son Blue (Hunter McVey) joins the fray — surprising both Ryan and Don's wife, Blythe (Jessica Capshaw).
The crossover with Nashville is not the only fun surprise so far this season on 9-1-1, as Mark Consuelos has joined for a guest arc that put Athena and Hen's space mission into motion.
Consuelos, 54, plays billionaire Tripp Houser in the show, who was saved by Hen after he was swallowed by a whale, and in return, sent her and Athena into space.
Despite his troublemaking, Consuelos told PEOPLE he "fell in love" with the character when he read the scripts and knew he wanted to be a part of the show.
"I knew a little bit about the show, that they take really huge swings and they do a lot of beautifully outlandish things and they're able to execute it," he said. "So I had that kind of faith in that they would be able to do it."
Of the space mission, he teased, "Anything that could go wrong goes wrong in a monumental way."
"Tripp has a decision to make before the launch that he should absolutely pause and cancel the launch," Consuelos said, referring to the geomagnetic storm that hits right after the spaceship took off. "But he, in his Tripp Houser fashion, he rolls the dice and says punch it."
DWTS to bring in big changes next season including all-new ‘modern’ fan voting process
DANCING With the Stars plans on bringing some big shakeups to the ballroom next season – including a change that will give the show a more ‘modern’ spin, The U.S. Sun can exclusively reveal.
The big shift comes off of season 34’s historic year, which included a record-high number of over 50 million fans voting from home.
With the increase in voting, which was up 11% from the previous week, ABC executives have been weighing the options of how they can lean even more into the process.
Currently, the main way to vote for DWTS contestants and the pros is by texting the celebrity’s name to the code 21523.
However, production is looking into how they can implement more modern technology, such as social media, into the process.
“While this season has seen an increase in ratings and votes, execs are looking into how they can modernize their voting process.
READ MORE ON DWTS
“As of right now, they do it old school with texting a number to vote for a celeb.
“The execs have been adamant about integrating things like social media into the voting process, specifically TikTok.
“It hasn’t been ironed out yet, but they’re trying to make voting more accessible and want it to reach a wider audience for season 35,” the source claimed.
In addition to texting, viewers can also go to dwtsvote.abc.com; however, the majority of the votes still come from texting.
Currently, voting is limited to 10 votes per person and per method of voting.
Voting is also only allowed during the window the show airs live on the East Coast and varies by time zone, which is regularly encouraged by show hosts Julianne Hough and Alfonso Ribeiro.
While voting has always been done primarily by text messaging, the time window is a more recent change to the show.
In 2019, DWTS implemented the current protocol of voting only being allowed during the live East Coast feed – meaning those in other time zones wouldn’t get to vote when their show aired.
DWTS judge Carrie Ann Inaba slammed by two furious pros for ‘unfair’ critiques after fans call for her to be fired
While the move was labeled as “unfair” by many, the show has continued with the method.
BALLROOM BUST?
The current season of DWTS has been a huge success for ABC and Disney – but it has not been met without its fair share of drama.
Throughout the season, the judging panel has been called out by both the pros and by viewers at home for low scores and harsh comments towards select contestants.
Fans have also accused judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and Derek Hough of “overscoring” their “favorite” contestants, including The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Whitney Leavitt.
Things have apparently gotten to the point where members of the show felt the need to confront production over the direction it’s heading.
“There are a handful of pros, both some who are still on the show and some who have already been eliminated, who are fed up with how they are being treated.
“Some feel the judges have been harsher than they needed to be to them, which not only impacts scores, but it also impacts how the at-home viewers see the season.
“It impacts who they vote for and who they want to watch week by week.
“Other pros like Alan and Pasha feel extra protective of their partners and feel the judges have been too harsh on them.
“Multiple pros have stepped up to meet with production over the judges’ bias and are demanding some kind of change and more fairness moving forward.
“What that change looks like is still to be determined, but they at least got the conversation rolling,” a source claimed.
Dancing With the Stars season 34 airs on Tuesdays at 8pm EST on ABC and is available to stream the following day on Disney+ and Hulu.
