Dick Wolf is one of the most successful producers in television history. He created both Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, crime shows that both have over 20 seasons under their belts. For most producers, that would be legacy enough, but Dick Wolf also developed the One Chicago franchise on NBC, which is doing better than ever.
Currently, there are three shows running in the One Chicago universe: Chicago Med, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Fire. All three debuted new seasons on October 7, 2026, and they’re all performing very well.
Chicago Fire is currently in its fifteenth season, Chicago P.D. is in its fourteenth season, and Chicago Med is in its twelfth. According to Variety, the new season premieres for all three shows outperformed the premieres from the previous seasons. Ratings for Chicago Fire were up 9% from Season 14 among viewers aged 18-49, while ratings for Chicago P.D. were up 3%.
But Chicago Med was out in front. The Season 12 premiere racked up 8.8 million viewers across all platforms in its first seven days. It was the highest-rated broadcast show of the night on October 7. Among viewers aged 18-49, ratings for the Season 12 premiere were up an impressive 19% over the Season 11 premiere.
The One Chicago shows air new episodes on Wednesday nights on NBC, and are available to stream on Peacock the next day. In addition to the terrific ratings on broadcast, Chicago Med and Chicago Fire also outperformed their previous season premieres when we look at viewership on Peacock specifically.
Chicago Med follows a variety of doctors, nurses, and administrators at the fictional Gaffney Chicago Medical Center. As is typical of Dick Wolf shows, most episodes have a “case of the week,” but some of the character drama carries over from episode to episode. The show currently stars Steven Weber, Jessy Schram, Luke Mitchell, Sarah Ramos, Darren Barnet, S. Epatha Merkerson, and Oliver Platt.
Although Dick Wolf co-created Chicago Med and Chicago P.D. with Matt Olmstead, Chicago Fire was created by Derek Haas and Michael Brandt; Dick Wolf serves as an executive producer on that one. There’s also a short-lived One Chicago show called Chicago Justice that was canceled after airing one season in 2017.
Despite that hiccup a decade ago, it’s hard to imagine Dick Wolf having much reason to complain. The Law & Order shows are also still going strong. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit returned for its 28th season on October 8, 2026; its rating among viewers aged 18-49 rose by 1% over the Season 27 premiere.
- Release Date
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November 17, 2015
- Network
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NBC
- Directors
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Michael Waxman, Michael Pressman, Charles S. Carroll, Milena Govich, Anna Dokoza, Bethany Rooney, Fred Berner, Tess Malone, Mykelti Williamson, SJ Main Muñoz, Donald Petrie, Martha Mitchell, Vincent Misiano, Timothy Busfield, Jonathan Brown, John Polson, Stephen Cragg, Anthony Nardolillo, Michael Berry, David Rodriguez, Afia Nathaniel, Oz Scott, Valerie Weiss, Gonzalo Amat
- Writers
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Joseph Sousa, Lily Dahl, Natalie Drayer, Darin Goldberg, Shelley Meals, Melissa R. Byer, Treena Hancock, Mary Leah Sutton, Simran Baidwan, Joshua Hale Fialkov, Jason Cho, Will Pascoe, Liz Brixius
