The 2025 TV schedule finally delivered what One Chicago fans have been waiting for since 2019: a three-part, three-show crossover. The "In the Trenches" event was arguably the most cohesive crossover of the franchise to the date, and I certainly see why the showrunners were all in on the Avengers: Endgame comparison after one star's comment. Now, the ratings are in for how many people tuned in live, and the totals have me thinking back to how the executive producers hyped "In the Trenches" ahead of time.
How Many One Chicago Fans Tuned In
The crossover aired on Wednesday, January 29, starting with Chicago Fire at 8 p.m. ET, continuing with Chicago Med at 9 p.m. ET, and wrapping with Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. Like what happened with the "Infection" event of 2019, the crossover switched Fire and Med's time slots. While that didn't actually matter all that much in a pretty cohesive three-hour event, it does add a bit of a twist to looking at the ratings data.
According to TVLine in the Live+Same day totals (a.k.a. the number of people who watched on the day that it aired), here's how the ratings played out in the key 18-49 age demographic:
- Chicago Fire: 6.3 million viewers/0.5 demo rating
- Chicago Med: 6.6 million viewers/0.5 demo rating
- Chicago P.D.: 6.4 million viewers/0.5 demo rating
For both Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D., those viewership and ratings marked season highs. For Med, 6.6 million was its season high in viewership while 0.5 was a tie in the ratings. With how the medical drama has been catching up to Fire in the 2024-2025 TV season ratings, I can't help but wonder: did the Med hour earn the highest numbers because it's Med, because it happened to be smack dab in the middle of a three-parter, or because One Chicago fans were expecting Fire at 9 p.m.?
There's no way of saying for sure, but I do always enjoy when the ratings are consistent across all the shows. Of course, these are just the Live+Same day totals. The numbers may shift once Live+3 day and Live+7 day can be totaled for people who watch on a delay or streaming with a Peacock subscription, but as of now, it looks like plenty of fans really did tune in to watch it like the three-hour movie that the showrunners hyped beforehand.
How The Showrunners Felt After Watching It
I was fortunate enough to speak with the showrunners for all three One Chicago shows ahead of the event, and they were all quite excited that fans were finally going to get to see the event. I hadn't viewed it myself at the time, so I wondered: what were their reactions as executive producers when they got to watch the finished product? Allen MacDonald, currently in his first season as showrunner of Chicago Med, shared:
It's pretty exciting. It's a big movie, and it's just played as one runs right into the other.
The Med boss elaborated on his thoughts on watching the event after learning that Steven Weber had made the Avengers: Endgame comparison, hyping "hero shots" on the way. He went on:
Well, you've spent months reading the scripts and the different drafts of the scripts and seeing how it changes. And what's kind of magical when you watch it all together is you think you're going to have that all in your head, but at least my brain just releases everything that came before. Because when it's visualized and on screen with all the actors and all the stunts, you just get caught up in it as a watcher, as a fan, and it's very, very satisfying and suspenseful and, most importantly for me, emotional... There's some pretty heavy stuff that happens in the three hours. It's a storyline that goes through all three hours.
I spoke with Chicago Fire boss Andrea Newman shortly after the conversation with Med's Allen MacDonald. She weighed in on what hit her emotionally after watching it, ranging from some classic jump scares to telling first responder stories as wildfires had been devastating Los Angeles. She shared:
My heart was racing. I was so excited and thrilled throughout, because, as much as I had seen the scripts, when it comes to life in that way, when you turn a corner, you're still like, 'Oh god!' There's still jump scares. [laughs] And there's a lot of emotion for it too, because in LA, we've been going through these fires and seeing these firefighters getting out there as they always do, putting their lives on the line to save people and property… There’s a lot of emotion in seeing these [One Chicago] firefighters going down into the ground, underground, and putting their lives on the line to save the people who are trapped below ground in this episode. They always put their own well being behind and charge into the fires to save people.
When I next spoke with Chicago P.D. showrunner Gwen Sigan, she hyped the finished product while also crediting all the hard work that went into making the crossover happen behind the scenes. She said:
My knee jerk reaction was just proud that we did it, that it looks as good as it does, that it feels cohesive. I think throughout it, you have characters from all three shows getting these really nice moments, these sort of standout moments for them, and that you're on an emotional ride. You're on a ride with them, and I thought that our cast carried it really well throughout. They were able to pace their emotions throughout the three hours. It's hard to do, especially when you're shooting the first hour, then the third hour, then the second hour. [laughs] You're just hopping around sets, and so the fact that they were each able to do that very well, and that they all came together – it's a feat. It's hard to do these things, and I think everyone really pulled their weight, and it shows.
So, how did fans' viewing experiences compare with those of the showrunners after they watched the crossover for the first time? We can't say for sure, but I know I'll be keeping an eye on the ratings for the next batch of episodes on February 5, with Chicago Med back in its usual 8 p.m. ET time slot, followed by Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET, and then finishing with Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.
Even if the shows are back to business as usual without epic Avengers-esque crossover action, it'll be interesting to see if fans were hooked into One Chicago so much that season-high numbers continue. None of the One Chicago shows have been renewed for the 2025-2026 TV season just yet.
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