Good news, One Chicago fans, NBC hasn't ordered shortened seasons

As production is about to start on the One Chicago shows, a big question from fans is how many episodes each will have. Luckily, we have good news on that front!

The 2023-2024 TV season was not what fans or the networks wanted. The WGA and SAG strikes brought Hollywood to a standstill in the summer of 2023 which meant the traditional fall season couldn’t start on time. By the time the strikes were settled in November, the networks had to scramble fast.

Thus, the One Chicago series had a long delay before they could get going. NBC actually rushed quickly to get original episodes on the air before CBS or ABC did. Thus, Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med all debuted in mid-January 2024

Each of the shows were set for a 13 episode season which was better than a few other networks' series around and each did well with the episode count they had. That included Chicago Fire saying goodbye to characters like Kidd and Boden while Chicago P.D. bid farewell to Tracy Spiridakos’ Upton. 

All three shows had their finales in May and it appears that production is set to start on the shows for the typical August filming with NBC announcing One Chicago's new seasons will debut Wednesday, Sept. 25. 

That's led to fans wondering if they’re going to be short-changed on the episode count or if they can count on a full year of excitement. Thankfully, we have an answer.

How many episodes will the One Chicago shows have?

Per TVLine, it appears all three One Chicago shows will have the standard 22 episode count for their upcoming seasons.

This is good news for fans of all shows and logical as a 22 episode order has been the standard for all three series. A departure was in 2020-2021 when the COVID-19 pandemic curtailed production to 16 episodes for each series. There were also worries NBC might want to do some cost-cutting by lowering the episode count for each series which saved on budget for the cast and production.

Luckily, NBC realizes that keeping to the standard 22 episode count for each series is what fans want. Having all three shows on the same night also helps as fans are also hopeful for the return of a possible crossover event which the franchise hasn’t done in a while.

The writers are still planning what each show’s plot and any character shifts will be. But at least fans can be assured that One Chicago will be back to full episode strength when Fire, P.D. and Med make their returns this fall.

One Chicago Wednesday returns starting with Chicago Fire at 8/7c Wednesday, Sept. 25 on NBC.