Hit pause on whatever show you're watching via whatever service(s) you use. This is a Public Service Announcement imploring you to watch the first season of "9-1-1" on Fox, and not because a few of its stars are easy on the eyes (Hellooooo, Peter Krause and the delicious Oliver Stark).
Creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk ("Glee," "American Crime Story") drew inspiration from actual emergencies to create outrageous scenarios like finding a newborn stuck in a pipe and trying to free a snake that's choking its owner.
What makes "9-1-1" unique, though, are the demons these first responders face even when on duty. To compare it to other medical dramas like "Grey's Anatomy" or "Chicago Med" would do this freshman series a disservice, because between the writing and the acting, it's far more brilliant than most that came before it.
Let's talk about that newborn stuck in the pipe for a minute. Murphy saw a story on CNN back in 2013 in which a baby was found stuck in a wall.
"[Creator] Ryan [Murphy] had heard about the baby in the wall from a YouTube clip in China and it actually happened. Isn't it shocking?" executive producer Alexis Martin Woodall told Bustle earlier this year. "And I remember when we were shooting it thinking, 'This actually happened!' There's some crazy stuff that goes on in our world and first responders have a very different life than we have. We want to appreciate them."
There's an overarching storyline involving one of the main characters that unfolds over the course of the season that's unlike anything I've ever watched on television. That is all I will give you.
"9-1-1" is available to stream on Hulu and On Demand.