One Chicago has become one of the most successful multi-show TV universes on television, but actors who left the NBC shows haven't all found great success elsewhere. While former Chicago Fire leading lady Monica Raymund landed a new job right off the bat, Chicago P.D. vet Josh Segarra wasn't as lucky with what was supposed to be his new show, and Segarra isn't the only former One Chicago actor to get some bad news this TV season.
Josh Segarra, who recurred as Justin Voight on Chicago P.D. throughout the first three seasons, had landed a prime role in the NBC project Night School, based on the Kevin Hart film of the same name, with Segarra playing the role that had been Hart's and Hart on board as an executive producer. Variety reports that NBC is not moving forward with Night School. Intended to be a half-hour multi-cam sitcom, Night School had a rough ride almost right away. After receiving a pilot order back in January, production throughout the industry came to a halt due the pandemic just a couple of months later.
Night School was slated to be the first of the NBC pilots to restart production as soon as it was safe to do so, as was announced in June and planned for later in 2020. With a cast also comprised of Shanola Hampton, Ian Gomez, James Earl, Joe Massingill, and Collette Wolfe as well as Josh Segarra, the show would have followed a group of adults at a night school GED prep class.
The good news for Josh Segarra is that he actually did return to TV in 2020, but not on his own show and definitely not a comedy. He actually rejoined the One Chicago universe in a new role, albeit somewhat tangentially. He has a recurring role on FBI over on CBS, which now shares a TV universe with Chicago P.D. courtesy of an FBI Season 2 crossover.
Another Chicago P.D. veteran who got some bad news this TV season was Jon Seda, whose final appearance as Antonio Dawson came in the Season 6 finale, with Antonio written out in the Season 7 premiere. Seda was originally attached to an NBC drama called La Brea, but Deadline reports that the show released Seda and the rest of the cast except for the two leads over the summer, likely due to pandemic production shutdowns.
As of June 2020, La Brea was reportedly being considered for a straight-to-series order after six scripts were ordered and completed, and production may begin in the new year. A series pickup could result in original cast members rejoining the series, as they had been let go due to the costs of keeping them on hold.
Former Chicago P.D. leading lady Sophia Bush has had another stalled TV show in the works. A new potential series called Good Sam was announced back in February that could have brought Bush to CBS for a medical drama with none other than Harry Potter actor Jason Isaacs on board to play her dad. Not much has been released about Good Sam since Isaacs' casting in early March, but TVLine stated back in late September that the project is "still in development" but has not received a series order.
A former Chicago Fire actor isn't faring any better than the unlucky Chicago P.D. veterans. Charlie Barnett, who played Peter Mills on Fire before joining shows like You and Arrow, has been attached to an NBC drama pilot called Ordinary Joe since early March. TVLine reported in June that Ordinary Joe was among the pilots scheduled to shoot later in 2020. Ordinary Joe is seemingly still slated for pilot production, which raises the question of Barnett's availability if the Arrow spinoff actually scores a series order.
For now, we can only wait and see if one or any of these One Chicago vets find some luck in a new series. If you're in the market for some shows that are definitely coming to TV in the not-too-distant future, check out our 2021 winter and spring premiere schedule.
