Peter Krause is booked and busy again, landing with his first TV role since his character was controversially killed off of ABC’s 9-1-1.
Krause, 60, is set to star in NBC’s drama pilot Protection, according to multiple outlets. He is the first confirmed cast member after the network picked up the pilot in January.
“When a U.S. Marshal falls in the line of duty, a seemingly cut-and-dry case turns into a deadly conspiracy as a family of law enforcement agents become the target of a mysterious assassin,” read the official synopsis. “Bridging personal differences and crossing professional boundaries, the Thornhill family must use the expertise from a lifetime of protecting civilians and politicians to protect one another and bring the killer to justice … even if it means betraying their sworn code.”
Krause will play Mike Thornhill, who is described as “a former Secret Service agent and now Assistant Director of Intelligence.” Mike is “a career blue-collar government worker who doesn’t want his job” to end. He is referred to as “the life of the party forever” and that attitude “has come at a cost.”
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Protection marks a return to NBC for Krause after his six-season stint on Parenthood, which ran from 2010 To 2015. He then was a main cast member on ABC’s 9-1-1 before the show surprised fans eight seasons in by killing off Krause’s character.
“I’ve heard that many fans are upset by this loss and they have a right to be. It is a loss. That said, it was more than a bold creative choice on a bold show. Bobby Nash was written in sacrifice and he was built for this,” Krause wrote in a 2025 statement after the episode aired. “First responders risk their lives on the job so that others can see another day. His story arc honors them. We at 9-1-1 salute all the incredible men and women who do these dangerous jobs and strive to keep us safe.”
Krause elaborated on how he was mourning his time on the show, telling Good Morning America at the time, “He was willing to sacrifice himself so that others could see another day. And I will miss everybody dearly. This was my workplace, for eight years, eight seasons. And I am really going to miss everybody: Angela and the fire team and the crew.”
Viewers later expressed their frustration with showrunner Tim Minear confirming that Krause didn’t ask to leave the show.
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“I had been toying with the idea for a couple of seasons, actually, maybe even longer, feeling like at some point I’m going to have to do this,” Minear told Deadline in April 2025 of killing off a major character. “And then once I came up with this idea for the lab leak episode, that’s when it solidified for me that it was time to do it, it felt like a real opportunity to give somebody an epic Wrath of Khan–like death.”
He continued, “When it came down to deciding who should that be, I wanted it to be a character that affected all the characters’ stories in a very specific and yet different ways. There was only one man for the job, and it was Bobby.”
Minear referenced to losing Bobby — and Krause — as a “wrenching decision.”
“I adore Peter, and he’s so great on the show, really the backbone of the show in so many ways, which is why it was both a terrifying decision but also, creatively, I just knew that it would be so meaningful and have such repercussions and give me so much story for the show,” he said. “Once I had made that choice, suddenly the world of the show seems so much more real to me, just feeling the grief of the characters and feeling just how that nuclear bomb going off in the center of that universe affected everything. Suddenly, everything just felt weirdly more alive to me.”
