It has officially been ten years since the One Chicago franchise added a spin-off to its universe, when Chicago Med premiered in 2015.
The franchise originated with Chicago Fire, which has been airing since 2012, and first expanded with Chicago P.D., which premiered in 2014, and like Fire and Med, is still airing today.
Now, as all three shows anticipate their return for new seasons in the fall, Chicago Fire co-creator Derek Haas is weighing in on whether more spin-offs are on the table.
“Well, if Dick Wolf were here, he’d say yes, I want to expand,” he told Collider, referring to the brains behind the Law & Order franchise, and co-creator and executive producer of the One Chicago franchise.
“So I will just nod to him. He’s one of the great producers of all time. He is relentless, and my feeling is he will have four more ideas and shows before you know it, because that’s the way he operates,” he further shared.
Last month, all three One Chicago shows were renewed by NBC, as were their leads’ contracts, however the new seasons will go into production with some budget cuts in place.
Deadline also reported this month that Brandon Larracuente — who previously starred in another Wolf Entertainment show, On Call, prior to its cancellation — has joined Chicago Fire’s Taylor Kinney, Jesse Spencer, Kara Killmer, and Miranda Rae Mayo as a key member of Firehouse 51 for the upcoming 14th season.
His casting comes not only amid his previous show On Call’s cancellation after one season, but also amid the departure of Chicago Fire regulars Daniel Kyri and Jake Lockett.
It was confirmed in June that all leads of the three series, which include Taylor as well as Miranda and Dermot Mulroney for Fire, plus Chicago P.D.’s Jason Beghe and Chicago Med’s S. Epatha Merkerson and Oliver Platt, will be returning to their roles.
The three Fire actors have all signed new deals to continue with the series, while Med’s Oliver and S. Epatha — who was on fellow NBC mainstay Law & Order for a whopping 17 seasons between 1993 to 2010 — had already signed multi-year deals last year.
The three shows will come back in the fall for 21 episodes, however, cast members will be absent from a couple episodes throughout the respective seasons, a new cost-cutting measure from NBC.
All three of the shows air Wednesdays on NBC, and per NBCUniversal, the current seasons of the three have reached nearly 46 million total viewers season to-date across NBC and Peacock, with all three’s streaming viewership rising year-over-year.
