NBC is officially keeping the heart of One Chicago intact. According to a new report from Deadline, franchise veterans S. Epatha Merkerson and Oliver Platt from Chicago Med, along with Taylor Kinney and Miranda Rae Mayo from Chicago Fire, have all finalized new deals to return for the upcoming season. Jason Beghe will also continue starring in Chicago P.D. under his existing contract.
The renewals solidify the future of one of broadcast television’s most durable and reliable franchises as NBC continues leaning heavily on Dick Wolf’s Chicago universe to anchor Wednesday nights.
And honestly, at this point, these shows function like comfort-food television for millions of viewers.
Kinney, Beghe, Merkerson, and Platt have all been with their respective series since day one, with Kinney heading into his 15th season on Chicago Fire, Beghe entering Season 14 of Chicago P.D., and Merkerson and Platt preparing for their 12th season on Chicago Med.
Merkerson’s longevity inside the broader Law & Order and Dick Wolf ecosystem is particularly staggering. Including her legendary run on the original Law & Order, the Emmy-winning actress has now spent 29 seasons and more than 600 episodes inside Wolf’s television universe.
That’s less a television career and more a municipal institution at this point.
The One Chicago franchise remains one of NBC’s strongest overall performers both on linear television and streaming, consistently ranking among the network’s most-watched programming blocks. The interconnected crossover events continue performing especially well, with March’s franchise crossover reportedly delivering season-high audience numbers across all three series, while social video engagement jumped 75% over the previous crossover event.
Beyond ratings, the franchise has also become one of Peacock’s most reliable in-season performers, frequently appearing in the platform’s Top 10.
The larger appeal of One Chicago has always been its ability to blend procedural storytelling with long-term emotional investment. Over more than a decade, audiences have essentially grown alongside these characters through marriages, deaths, promotions, departures, and catastrophic citywide emergencies that somehow seem to happen every February sweeps week.
Produced by Universal Television in association with Wolf Entertainment, the franchise continues to function as one of the clearest examples of the shared-universe television model succeeding outside the superhero genre.
Basically, before every streaming service started building cinematic universes, Dick Wolf quietly built one out of firefighters, cops, and emergency rooms. And somehow it’s still running like clockwork.
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