NBC’s One Chicago franchise shows no signs of slowing down, even after more than a decade on the air, and it was of little surprise when NBC announced the official renewals of Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago PD for the 2025-26 season. The One Chicago trio remains the network’s top performers on NBC, ranking as the network’s most-watched programs, and the shows also perform incredibly well on NBC’s sister streaming service, Peacock. It was also of little surprise when NBC announced that the shows will continue to hold down the fort on Wednesday nights this fall.
Fans are eager to see how the shows wrap their current seasons, with the expectation being that we could have some major cliffhangers coming our way when the finales air on May 21. Fortunately, we know Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago PD will be coming back in the fall, which means we’ll get a proper resolution to the cliffhangers. That’s the good news. The bad news is that while the One Chicago shows will be back this fall, there is a chance we could be seeing less of some of our favorite characters when the three shows return.
As fans will recall, as part of cost-cutting measures from the network implemented back in 2022, series regulars no longer appear in every episode of the season. Under this arrangement, series regulars tend to miss about two episodes during the season, which typically occur randomly, with the writers addressing the absence of the characters via quick one-off lines or conversations between characters. Then there are times when a character is just randomly MIA without any explanation, only to then return the following week.
Disappointing as this has been, the One Chicago writers have done a really solid job of working around this restriction. In some cases, we’ve gotten to see more character-focused episodes that have honed in on a particular member of the cast, leading to some really incredible episodes, such as this season’s Archer-focused episode of Chicago Med. In other episodes, it leads to some fun storylines such as when we got the chance to follow some of the 51 crew during a night shift that allowed for some unique storylines.
It was always expected that this would continue into the new seasons, but it seems the number of episodes some actors miss could be on the rise.
Deadline has reported that the range of episodes some members of the Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago PD series regulars won’t be in is expected to be about two to four. This means some actors could miss about a fifth of the season should we see a 20-22 episode season next year. But that’s not where the bad news stops, unfortunately.
As an additional cost-cutting effort, it seems that the casts of Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago PD have been asked to take up residency in Illinois, where the shows are filmed. Those who choose not to become residents will reportedly appear in fewer episodes. No exact episode count was revealed; however, it seems likely that actors who don’t live in-state could miss upwards of five or more episodes in the seasons ahead, which is wild.
It’s unclear which actors might not already be residents of Illinois, but we imagine details will emerge as soon as contracts are inked for the new season. We’re hoping most of the cast won’t be impacted by this new change, as the thought of series regulars missing more than four episodes in a season is concerning. That could really shake up character storylines and dynamics across the season and result in fan-favorites appearing in a smaller percentage of the season.
