Following the successful One Chicago crossover event which brought about season-high ratings for Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago PD, one would assume NBC would want to capitalize on the momentum the 3-part event gave the franchise. However, that does not seem to be the case.
In announcing its primetime schedule for the upcoming weeks, NBC has revealed the One Chicago shows will be airing new episodes the first week of February before taking yet another break – this time one that’s a bit more planned. As announced via the released schedule, fans can indeed expect new episodes of all three One Chicago shows on Feb. 5; however, Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago PD will all be in reruns on Feb. 12 with no new episodes planned for the hit series.
What remains unclear at this point, is whether NBC is planning for a one-week break or if we could be in store for a longer hiatus. This is because NBC has only released its primetime lists through the week of Feb. 10 which makes it hard to know if Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago PD will be simply taking one week off or whether the shows might be in reruns for a few weeks.
We should have confirmation of how long this particular hiatus will be when the promos for Episode 13 of the One Chicago shows drop as the promos should indicate the exact date the shows will return.
Chicago Fire and the One Chicago shows often take breaks in February
Interestingly, February is a quieter month for the One Chicago franchises with NBC often scheduling a break for Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago PD during the second month of the year. In fact, we’ve seen the show taking at least one week off during the month of February every year since 2020. The only thing that has varied with the show’s February breaks has been their duration.
Last season, the One Chicago shows were off the air for just one week in February with all three shows taking the second week of February off before resuming their seasons in the third week of the month and airing new episodes for the remainder of February. However, in the two previous years, the shows took larger breaks in the month airing just one new episode in February.
This is all to say there is a high probability that Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago PD might go on a multi-week break following their February 5 episodes. As disappointing as this might sound, the reason networks such as NBC have to work in the occasional multi-week hiatus is due to the need to stretch out 18-22 episodes over the course of nine months via the standard September to May broadcast cycle.
No matter how long this break ends up lasting, the good news is that fans can still enjoy binging their favorite episodes via Peacock and we know we'll at least be getting one new episode this February!