Should Chicago Fire, Med and PD fans be worried about NBC delaying the shows' returns?

NBC’s The Irrational has become the latest returning fall drama to have its premiere date delayed as the network shifts its scheduling around in order to accommodate election coverage heading into the November presidential election. 

Rather than premiering on Tuesday, Oct. 1 as originally planned, The Irrational will now kick off its second season a week later on Oct. 8 with the show’s return delayed due to NBC’s planned coverage of the 2024 vice presidential debate between Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz and U.S. Senator JD Vanceset to take place on Tuesday, Oct. 1.

It’s the latest series impacted by the upcoming debate as FOX has also delayed the return of Accused by a week, while the second episode of FOX’s Murder in a Small Town will air in a special time slot on Oct. 1 due to the debate. 

With so many shows being forced to shift around due to special programming, some fans have begun to question whether any additional series might be impacted so should One Chicago fans be worried at all about a change to the premiere dates of Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, or Chicago PD? 

Chicago Fire and the One Chicago shows could be impacted by political debates

Unfortunately, there is a chance that the One Chicago shows’ returns could very well be delayed due to the upcoming presidential election debate schedule. Currently, the plan is for Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago PD to return on Wednesday, Sept. 25 respectively at 8/7c, 9/8c, and 10/9c on NBC. However, that could change as Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump has invited Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris to an NBC News debate on Sept. 25. 

Should Harris and Trump meet for a debate hosted by NBC News on Sept. 25, that debate would likely cause NBC to delay the returns of the One Chicago shows in order to make way for special election coverage in primetime. In that instance, it’s likely we’d see the One Chicago shows’ premiere dates delayed by a week with NBC pushing the premieres back from Sept. 25 to Oct. 2. 

Now, it’s important to note that as of now, there have been no scheduling changes and the plan is for Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago PD to return on Sept. 25 as planned. Still, fans might want to prepare for the chance that the shows’ returns could be delayed should a presidential debate end up being scheduled for Sept. 25. 

We’ll be keeping an eye on the schedule as we get closer to the planned return dates for the One Chicago shows and are hoping the premieres won’t be delayed but it’s looking like there could be a possibility Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago PD might end up joining the growing list of fall shows impacted by election-related programming in the coming weeks.