Fans can’t stop roasting and memeing the hilariously bad “9-1-1” season 9 trailer

The trailer for the upcoming new season of 9-1-1 served as a reminder that you don’t need generative AI to make bad art. Fans and anyone else who saw the ad pretty universally panned it, or else made a TikTok video mocking it.

The 9-1-1 season 9 trailer is here

ABC released the 30-second teaser for season nine of 9-1-1 last week to advertise the show’s Oct. 9 return. The trailer shows three key characters in the drama about first responders separately gazing into the sky with open mouths and reacting to what they see.

The shocking event turns out to be a massive meteor shower, but considering the vague responses from the actors, some think that nobody told them what would be on that green screen until after they filmed.

“What the heck is that?” says Evan Buckley (Oliver Stark).

“Oh my god,” gasps Maddie Han (Jennifer Love Hewitt).

“118, brace for impact!” warns Howie Han (Kenneth Choi).

None of them make a move to take cover themselves, even when Buckley tells others to do so.

TikTok has been having a ton of fun with this one. One account by @rakhim99_ gained 1.1 million views by asking his sister, a fan of the show, to explain what’s going on.

@rakhim99_ Hilarious promo #911 #911onabc #fyp #fyp #tv @Danaya ♬ original sound – Rakhim

“So, this is a show about realism,” she said. “And the most realistic thing that can happen in LA is a meteor shower.”

There you have it. This will be the most realistic season of 9-1-1 since the tornado of bees.

“A $30 budget and a dream”

If you know anything about TikTok, you know how much it loves reenactment videos. A corny trailer with actors over-acting to a cataclysmic event couldn’t be better fuel for a TikTok meme. The PR team at ABC might actually know what they’re doing.

@thebrookboys I can’t believe this trailer is real 😂😂 #911 #911onabc #911tvshow #tv ♬ jshxwty – vontelaststand

“I can’t believe this trailer is real,” said @thebrookboys.

@_.riiiio._ Are they gonna arrest the asteroids? ☄️ #911 #911onfox #series #fyp #viral ♬ Ordinary Feb 14 – alexwarrenupdates

“Are they gonna arrest the asteroids?” asked @.riiiio.

@madison.humphreyy No bc I understand them #fyp #comedy #couplescomedy ♬ Ordinary – Alex Warren

“No bc I understand them,” wrote fan @madison.humphreyy.

Others gained millions of views by simply reposting the trailer with some clarifications. TikToker @barnes_romanoff did so with a caption reading “these are FIREFIGHTERS,” before adding “now everyone continue.”

On X, people expressed something like joy at the sight of something hilariously bad, but human-made.

“‘EVERYBODY TAKE COVER!’ while not moving a single inch is taking me out so bad dude,” said @sj_118_.

“Real talk though I think part of the reason the 9-1-1 trailer is going triple platinum on tiktok is because it’s the first prevalent, genuinely bad non-AI art we’ve seen in a while,” @saltysnx theorized.

“Nature is healing. Cable TV editors have a $30 budget and a dream.”

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