Things are heating up over at NBC as Universal Television announces that the One Chicago franchise is coming back with a vengeance, with the holy trinity – Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago P.D. all snagging renewals for the upcoming 2024-2025 season. For the last few years, the stories of the bravest first responders in the Windy City have been a gargantuan hit for audiences, with each in the trio of titles landing a snug spot among the top 10 primetime shows of the season, holding onto bragging rights of being the top three Wednesday shows by way of viewership numbers. Those final tallies are absolutely staggering, as Chicago Med stands at 10.5 million viewers, Chicago P.D. at 12.0 million viewers, and Chicago Fire really brings the heat with 12.6 million viewers. With these calculations in mind and the fact that the shows just keep building more of a solid audience foundation, there’s no shock behind the network’s decision to announce their renewals for next season.
Lovingly dubbed “Chicago Wednesdays,” each of the three shows returned to NBC on January 17, kicking off another season of tight bonds, close community relationships, and – of course – life-saving actions stemming from Chicago’s first responders. In case you need to get caught up on the first handful of episodes to land from the trifecta of primetime entertainment, each installment heads to NBC’s streamer, Peacock, the following day, where you can also dive into the multiple seasons that came before.
What’s Happening In The One Chicago World?
Kicking things off in the order of how they air on Wednesdays, Chicago Med is now in its ninth season and continues to focus on the high-stress situations that some of the finest doctors in the city find themselves tangled up in on the daily. This season, the staff at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center will be welcoming a few new faces to the fold, including Grey’s Anatomy alum, Sophia Ali, and Big Sky ’s Luke Mitchell.
Keeping the flame of intrigue lit on that midweek lineup is Chicago Fire, which has just rushed towards its 12th season – an incredibly impressive feat, but when you see the numbers it all makes sense. Blending a handful of first responding teams together, this installment from the One Chicago franchise follows firefighters, paramedics, and more from the fictional Firehouse 51 as they put their lives on the line to save those in deadly and extreme circumstances. This year has already been one of tumult for the cast and crew as long-running star, Kara Killmer called it quits with the series – at least for now. But, there are also some reunions in the mix as Taylor Kinney’s Kelly Severide is back in action. In all, we can expect plenty more action, tears, and joy to come from whatever Season 12 has in store for Chicago’s bravest and boldest.
Finally, Chicago P.D. recently embarked on its 11th season, trailing just behind Chicago Fire for the longest running title to come from the universe. As its name suggests, the series follows Chicago’s police department on their daily mission of keeping the peace across the city. Like the other two titles in the group, Chicago P.D. will also be holding a tearful goodbye for one of its close members as Tracy Spiridakos steps down from her role as Detective Hailey Upton. Bringing the good vibes back, we know that Amy Morton will finally reprise her role as Trudy Platt with the production’s showrunner foreshadowing the upcoming episode.
So, while you catch each of the shows during their scheduled time slots, just know that these seasons aren’t the end and that there will be plenty more drinks at Molly’s next year.
