At this level, Dick Wolf has created dramas for each sort of first responder within the Windy Metropolis. Nonetheless, there was a time when the “One Chicago” franchise was solely imagined to be about firefighters. Nonetheless, not even the heroes on “Chicago Hearth” might cease the present from getting so scorching that its proverbial flames saved spreading.
“I will simply say that the idea wasn’t offered as a 3 exhibits inside one metropolis, as you may think,” showrunner Matt Olmstead recalled in a dialog with Observer. “The very first thing is that the primary present has to work and as you nicely know, there’s so many hurdles you need to clear to be a profitable tv present that it does not occur that usually. As soon as ‘Hearth’ received its ft on the bottom, it opened issues up for us to launch ‘P.D.'”
After “Chicago P.D.” took off, the franchise expanded with “Chicago Med” and “Chicago Justice.” Wolf is hardly a stranger to constructing tv franchises. Because the mastermind behind the “Regulation & Order” franchise, Wolf understands the blueprint for launching shared tv universes. Even so, the tremendous producer believes “One Chicago” differs from his crime saga in different methods.
Why the One Chicago universe works as a franchise, based on Dick Wolf
“Chicago Hearth” was initially envisioned as a standalone collection, however its franchise potential was shortly realized. After the spin-offs took form, Dick Wolf and co. particularly designed every collection to be naturally linked, permitting characters from every collection to cross paths seamlessly. The police procedural dramas that make up the “Regulation & Order” universe, in the meantime, are trickier to convey collectively.
“They increase one another versus making it very tough to cross over,” Wolf advised TV Information concerning the “One Chicago” universe. “Which is the way it was with the ‘Regulation & Order’ mom ship and ‘SVU.’ These exhibits weren’t structured for crossovers. [The ‘Chicago’ shows] are structured to exist actually a block and a half away from one another.”
Earlier in 2026, NBC renewed three “One Chicago” collection for extra seasons, so Wolf’s strategies are clearly working. As such, viewers can count on to see the Windy Metropolis’s heroes stay on NBC’s schedule for the foreseeable future.
