The changes at “Chicago Med” aren’t only in front of the camera. Season 10 won’t only look different but may feel different as longtime showrunners Diane Frolov and Andy Schneider exited at the end of Season 9.
Allen MacDonald, who previously worked on “ER,” “CSI” and “13 Reasons Why,” among others, will fill the very big shoes – and is bringing a new tone to the show.
“I feel like the show has always been very emotionally based, and that was a beautiful foundation that Andy and Diane had built and kept going for nine seasons. And I just want to build on top of that, because I love telling stories that are emotional,” he tells Variety. “But I believe that if I’m bringing a unique brand of storytelling to the show, it is to continue the emotion of the characters in their interactions, but I also like bringing humor. I’m not saying the show didn’t have humor before at all. I have always loved drama, and I’ve especially always loved drama with humor sprinkled in there too. And when I say humor, I don’t mean jokes, I mean recognizably human moments that people laugh at because they recognize it in themselves or someone they know. A laugh is an emotional reaction. It’s almost self-protective, because they laugh because it kind of makes them want to cry too.”
While MacDonald was familiar with the One Chicago franchise and had seen a handful of episodes, when he landed the job, he watched all 176.
“I fell in love with the world and the characters that had been created. It was generally a sandbox that I was very excited to play in,” he says.
This season will also add in new characters, Sarah Ramos as Dr. Caitlin Lenox and Darren Barnet as Dr. Frost.
“Lenox is not a warm, cuddly person. She is very efficient, she wants to get things done on a budget. A lot of people mistake her as being uncaring, but it isn’t that she is cold-hearted, it’s just that she looks at everything from a big picture, and she doesn’t think it’s helpful to the big picture if you spend too much time talking to patients and getting to know them,” MacDonald hints.
As for Dr. John Frost, he’s a pediatrician at a nearby hospital that’s closing. “Frost is very charming, he’s very good looking. He knows both those things, and he uses it to help his patients,” he adds. “But unfortunately, the first person he met is Maggie Lockwood, and she sees right through all that and brings him down to size very quickly.”
The new cast members were added after the departure of Dominic Rains; viewers didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to Dr. Crockett Marcel at the end of last season, but “there’s always a chance that there will be a cameo appearance down the line by him and others as well,” says MacDonald. “One thing I love about the One Chicago world is just because someone has exited the show, they’re still part of the world. And I like checking in with people.”
“Chicago Med” premieres on NBC Wednesday, September 25, at 8 p.m. ET.
