‘Chicago Fire,’ ‘Med’ and ‘P.D.’ Prepare for Their Shortest Seasons Ever

The One Chicago trifecta are about to have their shortest seasons ever. Details have emerged about the new seasons and what the episode counts will likely be. Writers’ rooms have been in production for about a month, and SAG-AFTRA seems to be close to closing a deal with the AMPTP. Tentatively, most shows will have about the same episode count, and it’s pretty short but not surprising. According to TVLine, Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago P.D. are expected to have 13 episodes.

If the actors’ strike comes to an end soon, the hope is for filming to start the first week of December. The episode count is on par with fellow Dick Wolf franchises FBI and Law & Order. Most shows are also eyeing about 10-13 episodes, so it doesn’t seem to be uncommon for that to be the magic number. However, according to Deadline, Wolf Entertainment was pushing to get their procedurals to do more than 13, and 15 was circulating around. It does seem like 13 could be the final number, but things could change.

It’s also reported that some shows could be getting early renewals for the 2024-25 season. If that happens, then shows would be able to film their seasons back-to-back so they can air during midseason and be back on track for next fall. That could be the case for One Chicago, or they could at least get a couple of more episodes added to the current order. It’s likely more details won’t come out until after the actors’ strike has ended and filming starts for most shows.

As for what else to expect from One Chicago for their upcoming seasons, Chicago P.D. will be saying goodbye to one more member of the Intelligence Unit. It was recently announced that Tracy Spiridakos will be exiting the cop series after the upcoming 11th season, but it’s unknown how many episodes she will be in. Chicago P.D. will also be resolving a big cliffhanger, which saw Ruzek fighting for his life after getting shot. Chicago Fire also ended on a few cliffhangers, with Casey asking Brett to marry him and Mouch’s life on the line as well. Taylor Kinney is returning to Firehouse 51 for Season 12, which is something that fans will definitely be looking forward to. As for Chicago Med, fans said goodbye to Will Halstead, who reunited with former flame Natalie Manning in Seattle.

Once filming finally starts, episode counts and premiere dates will be more concrete. For now, it looks like One Chicago will only be getting 13 episodes for their upcoming seasons. It may be a disappointment, but it’s definitely better than nothing.