'Chicago' Universe Series Won't Return to Production, Season Finales Airing Early

After this week, there are only two more episodes of the season for Chicago P.D., Chicago Fire and Chicago Med due to the coronavirus pandemic. All three shows will air their season finales early, with each show ending on Wednesday, April 15. New episodes are also slated to air on Wednesday, April 8. Production on the three shows was suspended last month, along with more than 30 other shows produced by NBCUniversal.

Chicago Fire Season 8, Chicago P.D. Season 7 and Chicago Med Season 5 will all end prematurely, reports Us Weekly. This means production will not resume after everything was put on hold on March 12. That same day, NBCU also halted production on Law & Order: SVU, The Kelly Clarkson Show, FBI, FBI: Most Wanted and many others.

"The safety and health of our cast, crew and employees is our top priority," NBCU said in a statement last month. "Where possible, we are pausing production for two weeks as a precautionary measure, following which we will reassess and determine an appropriate start date. In some cases, we are accelerating plans to wrap up physical production."

The decision not to resume production on the Chicago shows is not a surprise, given that it is now known how long the coronavirus pandemic will go on. Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the White House issued social distancing guidelines for the next 30 days. The number of cases in Illinois, where the Chicago shows are filmed, reached 7,965 on Thursday, reports Fox 32. The death toll in the state stands at 157.

Jesse Lee Soffer, who plays Dr. Jay Halstead on Chicago P.D. and has appeared on Fire and Med in the past, hinted that the shows' seasons would be cut short on Instagram.

"In case you haven't heard... Chicago PD along with the other Chicago shows have stopped filming," Soffer wrote on March 14. "It feels strange to cut a season short. There's a lot of work we left undone. But everyone is taking the proper precautions given the current circumstances. Safety comes first, please be responsible and take care of your loved ones! As for us, we'll be back before you know it. For now, just want to say thanks to all the fans, we love ya'll. ( Elbow bump) We'll see you soon."

Thankfully, fans do not have to worry about any of the shows ending on cliffhangers. Back in February, NBCUniversal announced all three shows would be renewed for an unprecedented three more seasons as part of a new deal with producer/co-creator Dick Wolf. The shows will also be exclusive to NBCU's upcoming Peacock streaming service.

"This new term deal complements our recently concluded agreement to make Peacock one of the primary destinations for both the [Law & Order] and Chicago brands, as well as our extraordinary three-year NBC broadcast pickups on all four current series," Wolf said in a statement at the time. "We are now supercharged to expand our business on new platforms, both domestically and internationally, while continuing to produce our current and future series for broadcasting and streaming networks."

Chicago Med airs at 8 p.m. ET on NBC Wednesdays, followed by Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET.

Photo credit: Adrian Burrows/NBC