‘Chicago P.D.,’ ‘Med’ and ‘Fire’ Not on Tonight Due to NBC’s Capitol Riot Coverage

Unfortunately, for One Chicago viewers, Chicago P.D., Chicago Fire, and Chicago Med will not be returning on Wednesday night as originally scheduled, as TVLine reported. Due to the chaotic scene that unfolded at the U.S. Capitol building on Wednesday afternoon, NBC has decided to air news coverage related to the incident during primetime. As a result, the One Chicago shows originally scheduled to air on Wednesday will now premiere on Jan. 13.

While One Chicago was set to take over NBC on Wednesday, the network has decided to change gears in light of the riot that took place at the Capitol. NBC will reportedly air three hours of news coverage beginning at 8 p.m. ET. TVLine noted that repeats of Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med would air in the Pacific and Mountain time zones. The ABC network is going a similar route, as it will pre-empt three hours of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? that were set to air on Wednesday night. Instead, the network will air three hours’ worth of news coverage about the Capitol riot. The special will be hosted by George Stephanopoulos and will feature World News Tonight‘s David Muir, ABC News Live Prime‘s Linsey Davis, and members of the ABC News political team. For those in the Pacific and Mountain time zones, ABC will air repeats of Shark Tank during the 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. period.

Chaos broke out at the Capitol on Wednesday as a mob of people, made up of Trump’s supporters stormed the building, subsequently causing it to go under lockdown. Rioters gathered at the location to protest Congress’ certification of the election results, which they were doing before they had to go into lockdown. In response to the incident, the president released a video (which Twitter removed for violating the platform’s Civic Integrity policy) in which he continued to claim, without evidence, that the election was “stolen” from him. Trump also urged his supporters to “go home,” but he still empathized with them and sent them his “love,” which, unsurprisingly, infuriated many Americans.

President-elect Joe Biden also issued a statement in response to this riot. Not only did he compare this incident to “an insurrection,” but he also said that it was comparable to “a siege.” Biden stated, “Let me be very clear. The scenes of chaos at the Capitol do not reflect a true America. Do not represent who we are. What we’re seeing are a small number of extremists dedicated to lawlessness. This is not dissent. It’s disorder. It’s chaos. It borders on sedition. And it must end now.”