NBC’s ‘Chicago’ Series Takes Hard Blow During TV Renewal Period Shakeup

Two of NBC’s biggest drama series, Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D., could find themselves in a dire position when the fall TV season starts up. Fire co-creator and executive producer Michael Brandt is leaving the series, executive producer and director Joe Chappelle is leaving, and P.D. executive producer and director Mark Tinker. Tinker’s exit follows the departure of P.D.‘s co-creator, executive producer, and showrunner Matt Olmstead.

Brandt wrote the Chicago Fire pilot along with Derek Haas, kicking off the massively successful franchise. Haas and Brandt have been very hands-on with the series, serving as executive producers on both Chicago shows and have been very involved with Fire, even serving as showrunners this season.

Haas will take on solo showrunner duties in the upcoming sixth season, which NBC recently announced. Fire is currently in its fifth season, whose ratings on NBC are second only to NBC’s surprise drama hit This Is Us. NBC recently announced their partial primetime schedule of programming, with some of their biggest hits, including This Is Us, moving to a new day.

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Chappelle has also been an integral part of the Chicago franchise, having directed the episodes pertinent to developing the spin-off Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med. Tinker has been involved in the P.D. series since its inception, serving as an executive producer since its debut in 2014.

Dick Wolf serves as executive producer on all of the Chicago TV series, having previously created classic TV series Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which was recently renewed for its 19th season.

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It’s tough to say exactly what these changes in the shows’ production could mean, but considering Wolf has a tendency to stick to promoting creators from within a show’s established team, this likely means that many people who already work on these shows will climb the ranks to help bring the shows to life for their upcoming seasons.

[H/T Deadline, Photo Credit: NBC]