It seems Chicago Fire is about to say farewell to yet another original member of its team ahead of season 15.
It appears that Chicago Fire is about to bid farewell to yet another long-time member of its team. In an unexpected turn of events, Deadline has confirmed that Andrea Newman is exiting Chicago Fire after 14 seasons as part of its creative team.
Newman’s time on the show will come to an end with season 14 with Victor Teran set to take over as showrunner for Chicago Fire season 15. While details surrounding Newman’s exit are limited, it is reported that this was a personal decision made by Newman to step away from the series after 14 seasons working as part of its creative team.
“Working at Chicago Fire, with the absolute best cast and crew in the business, has been the highlight of my career,” Newman said. “Like so many others, I was inspired to get into TV writing because of Dick, so what a thrill it’s been to work with him and the amazing Wolf team of Peter Jankowski, Rebecca McGill and Anastasia Puglisi. I’m so grateful to them, Derek Haas and the NBC and Universal execs who have been so supportive of the show all along the way. After 14 years, you really do become a family and working with this group will always feel like home.”
Newman has been a part of Chicago Fire from the very beginning, joining the show as a co-executive producer after the pilot episode was shot. After five seasons as a co-executive producer, Newman was promoted to executive producer in season 6 before eventually becoming co-showrunner on the show in season 10, running the show alongside Chicago Fire co-creator Derek Haas. When Haas stepped away from the show in 2023, Newman became the show’s sole showrunner and has been guiding the ship ever since.
With Newman stepping back, Teran will take over as the new showrunner beginning with season 15. He’s quickly risen through the ranks since joining the show in season 10 as a co-executive producer, a role that marked his first job on a TV series, having begun his career in film.
Behind-the-scenes changes are always a bit nerve-wracking, but they can be a positive thing that helps to shake up a veteran series such as Chicago Fire. Take, for example, what we’ve seen with Chicago Med.
Allen MacDonald took over the reins as Chicago Med showrunner in season 10 and brought a fresh new direction to the long-running medical drama. Since MacDonald has taken over as showrunner, we’ve seen Chicago Med enjoying some of its strongest seasons ever, with MacDonald introducing several incredible new characters while also finding thrilling new storylines for the show’s longtime cast members.
With Chicago Fire heading into its fifteenth season, it’ll be interesting to see what creative liberties Teran will take to shake things up and help the show continue to feel fresh over a decade into its run. We’re sad to see yet another original member of the team taking a step back from the show, but are excited to see what this next chapter in the show’s run will look like under Teran’s direction!