‘One Chicago’ Franchise Announces an Unpopular Change Ahead of Fall Premieres

Fans of the One Chicago franchise are unhappy with NBC after some recent announcements.

The franchise, which includes Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med, will now have fewer episodes per season and fewer appearances from series regulars in an effort to cut costs.

Each of the shows will now only have 21 episodes per season. As the franchise began doing in 2023, each series will now feature fewer characters and focus on only a couple of members of the fire department/police department/medical ward, so as to not pay actors as much per season.

With fewer episodes and fewer cast members, it stands to reason that the show’s quality could easily decline.

There will, at least, be some continuity in the world of One Chicago. Wednesday, NBC announced that all six leads of the franchise will return to their respective series in the fall.

Chicago Fire’s Taylor Kinney, Miranda Rae Mayo, and Dermot Mulroney, Chicago P.D.’s Jason Beghe, and Chicago Med’s S. Epatha Merkerson and Oliver Platt all return.

The franchise has previously seen several high-profile exits from its cast. Mulroney, in particular, was a large question mark to return as his deal was previously only for one season.

One Chicago is wildly popular, and each series is frequently #1 in ratings for NBC when all three air on Wednesday nights. All three series come from executive producer Dick Wolf, known for creating the Law & Order franchise.