The three shows of One Chicago have been hugely successful for NBC, especially since the network started airing all three of them on the same night. Unfortunately for fans, Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med are all on breaks in the 2021-2022 TV season until late February due to the Winter Olympics, with the latest episodes airing back in mid-January. There is good news for viewers despite the fact that the shows still won’t be back for weeks, however, and all thanks to some comments from the head of scheduling at NBC.
NBC head of scheduling Steve Kern opened up to Variety about what the February hiatus for the network’s hottest shows means for the 2021-2022 TV season, and his explanation was enough to give away why This Is Us’ break in its final season isn’t actually a bad thing. But what about the three One Chicago shows that have made Wednesdays into such a hit for NBC? Kern shared:
So for the ‘Chicago’ shows, we have 22 episodes. The season is 35 weeks. So that means there’s 12 or 13 weeks that we have to schedule either repeats or preemptions to get the shows to fit into the season. I’m more than happy to have a preemption that I know is going to do well, which is the Winter Olympics.
While it’s not exactly news that NBC is going to take some breaks between airing new episodes, as all the major networks go for occasional hiatuses during the TV season, there is some good news in Steve Kern’s comments about the three shows. He shared that the current seasons of Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med will run for 22 episodes, if all goes according to plan.
This is particularly good news not just because getting the episode count relatively early in the new year gives an idea of what to expect, but also because 22 episodes is a boost from the previous two seasons. All three shows had to cut the 2019-2020 TV season short at 20 episodes due to production shutdowns that meant finales that weren’t intended to be finales.
Then, pandemic production challenges during the 2020-2021 TV season meant runs of just 16 episodes each, which was the shortest in Chicago Fire and Chicago Med history, and the shortest for Chicago P.D. since its first season. The 2021-2022 season hasn’t exactly put the shows 100% back to business as usual as before the pandemic, and Chicago Fire actually had to briefly suspend production on Season 10 in January due to positive COVID tests, but a 22-episode count is a return to normal.
Even though there’s no guarantee that everything will go absolutely according to plan to hit 22 episodes before the end of the season, the apparent reveal of the goal is something for fans to get excited about while waiting for the returns of Chicago Fire Season 10, Chicago P.D. Season 9, and Chicago Med Season 7. Confirmation at this point in February can only be a good thing.
All three will remain on this mini hiatus until Wednesday, February 23, after the Olympics have finished airing on NBC and the primetime lineup can resume in the 2022 TV schedule. The original Law & Order (which is a sister series to the One Chicago shows) will be back soon too, so check out our rundown of how these and more shows all connect.
