Typically, NBC and CBS exist on television as rivals. This last TV season saw a throwdown for primetime supremacy between This Is Us and NCIS, and while CBS typically does edge out all the major networks in viewership, NBC can do well in the most coveted ratings demos. Now it appears the two networks are receptive to some crossover between two dramas, and it's all thanks to major television producer and procedural mastermind Dick Wolf.
Now, plans aren't set in stone, but the idea is that Dick Wolf wants to crossover CBS' FBI or upcoming spinoff FBI: Most Wanted with one of his shows at NBC. That means either series could pair up with one of the shows in the Chicago franchise, or even the legendary Law & Order: S.V.U. Wolf added that both networks are receptive to the idea, but he's unsure if they'll figure out the details to make it happen.
The reason Dick Wolf hasn't exactly decided which shows will be crossing over between networks is due to the fact that he hasn't figured out "which story wins." The winner in this instance would get to have its story stretch between two shows on two unrelated networks in a television event that doesn't happen all that often. It's not completely rare, however, as The Flash and Supergirl crossed over a few years back and Ally McBeal and The Practice did long before that.
Dick Wolf is no stranger to crossovers and has done quite a few of them in recent years. In fact, Wolf has done at least one crossover a year between two of his shows on NBC since 2013, and has seen a lot of success frequently blending his Chicago franchise together. There have been established shared universes between all of the shows on NBC, so being able to incorporate Wolf's FBI or FBI: Most Wanted into that would be neat.
So which is the most likely series to crossover? As Dick Wolf told Variety, it depends on who has the strongest story, but it wouldn't be hard at all for Law & Order: SVU (which recently had a spinoff delayed) to crossover with FBI. Both shows are set in New York, and as Wolf said during the Monte Carlo TV Festival, connecting their work wouldn't be all that hard to do.
SVU deals with the FBI a lot because there is a group inside the FBI which is called Innocent Images, which is child pornography and obviously very much on the same page.
Geography has never kept Law & Order: SVU from working with Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago P.D., so really the two shows being located in the same place isn't a huge advantage. With that said, could SVU be the better option because it would shut out Chicago and make for an easier two-show crossover? Right now a three show crossover doesn't seem like a possibility, but who knows what will happen if CBS and NBC pull this off.
How CBS' FBI Compares To Dick Wolf's Other Crime Dramas
CinemaBlend will keep an eye on the situation and report on whether or not this cross-network extravaganza is going to happen. In the meantime be sure to stick with us for the latest and greatest news in television and movies.
