NBC’s usual One Chicago lineup may not have aired new episodes this Wednesday in the 2026 TV schedule, but that doesn’t mean the week is ending without any good news about the Windy City dramas. The network has renewed all three shows for the 2026-2027 TV season, as well as delivered a confirmation of when they’ll be back. It’s not too surprising after the three-part crossover event scored huge ratings, which reminds me of what the Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago P.D. showrunners shared about finding the “right storyline.”
First things first!
One Chicago Is Coming Back
The trio of dramas have been guaranteed for the 2026-2027 TV season by NBC, with all three returning to primetime in the fall as usual. They’ll likely keep the same order of Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET, Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET, and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET on Wednesday nights, although that’s not official just yet.
Article continues belowWhat is official is that the renewals guaranteed Med through Season 12, Fire through Season 15, and P.D. through Season 14. That’ll be enough to get Fire to the 300-episode milestone in the fall, while P.D. will reach 275. Med hit the 200-episode milestone early in Season 11 with the return of a former series regular.
According to NBC, One Chicago is currently the most dominant scripted franchise across television, which is certainly saying something after CBS countered One Chicago Wednesdays with NCIS Tuesdays. All in all, fans can at least rest easy about the doctors, first responders, and cops of the Windy City dramas coming back in the fall. It does remain to be seen if there will be more cast changes on the way.
The latest episode of Chicago Fire seemed like it could be setting up an exit for Brandon Larracuente’s Vasquez, and Oliver Platt’s Dr. Charles has been toying with retirement over on Med. The P.D. squad seems pretty solid, although there’s still no news about how LaRoyce Hawkins’ Atwater will geographically handle fatherhood.
A Hit Crossover Event With ‘The Right Storyline’
The latest One Chicago three-parter brought the three shows back from their Olympics hiatus in a massive way, and not just because fan favorites Jesse Lee Soffer and Tracy Spiridakos returned as guests. The cast filmed during a polar vortex with an actual airplane, and the finished product genuinely felt more like a movie than three separate episodes tied together.
The result was that each show hit their season high in total viewers on the night, making the crossover a huge win when it comes to viewership. Social video views were also up by 75% for the 2026 crossover compared to the 2025 crossover. I personally attribute a good part of the social media activity to the returns of Soffer and Spiridakos as Halstead and Upton, but there was plenty packed into those three hours to get people chatting online.
Ahead of the crossover, the One Chicago showrunners spoke with CinemaBlend about what went into this year’s three-parter. Chicago P.D. boss Gwen Sigan shared that it “was pretty shocking when we found out” that they got an actual airplane to shoot on. Chicago Fire’s Andrea Newman described the experience as “death defying, literally,” with the cast and crew working in sub freezing temperatures to make it happen.
Chicago Med's Allen MacDonald also addressed how they raise the stakes for the events:
I think it just all comes naturally out of the individual shows and who the characters are. You try to find the right storyline to hang all that on. And I think, as we usually do, we found that. What I find ups the stakes is two things. It's the storylines and the twists and turns and lives in jeopardy and such.
Part of finding the “right storyline” seems to come from shuffling the order of the shows, as the crossovers frequently swap Chicago Fire to air at 8 p.m. and Chicago Med to air at 9 p.m., with only Chicago P.D. hanging on to its usual time slot. The plots tend to get off to strong starts with the Firehouse 51 heroes on the scene of a crisis. MacDonald went on:
But also, I think something that these crossovers do that's really special, is just the different pairings of characters. You know, I like seeing Frost and Novak together. I like seeing Stella with Dr. Charles. They have a real nice moment together. You can't make the whole crossover those moments, but those things are very moving when they happen.
While the crossovers require a lot of work from everybody involved, and filming epic sequences outdoors in Chicago can be troublesome in the winter, clearly the work pays off. Hopefully the renewals mean that fans can look forward to another three-parter around the same time next year.
For now, you can still get fixes of One Chicago on NBC’s Wednesday nights with Chicago Med at 8 p.m. ET, Chicago Fire at 9 p.m. ET, and Chicago P.D. at 10 p.m. ET. You can also revisit earlier episodes streaming with a Peacock subscription.
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