The Chicago franchise now has something in common with CSI . A fourth spinoff will be created, and this one will be called Chicago Justice . The backdoor pilot for the episode aired on P.D. last week in a similar way to how CSI opened up its spinoff shows. It was also the way P.D. had the chance to get started — by Fire giving it its backdoor pilot.
. @ChicagoJustice is coming. Get to know the team now in the latest #ChicagoPD ! #OneChicago https://t.co/GCWaMluVBb pic.twitter.com/4r4CBatZC3
— Chicago P.D. (@NBCChicagoPD) May 13, 2016
According to E! Online , the Justice pilot gave P.D. a ratings boost from the previous week, seeing 6.7 million people tuning in. It was a good indication that the show interests others and is the one to choose for the next spinoff. So far, there is Chicago Fire , Chicago P.D. , and Chicago Med within the franchise.
As the P.D. show focuses on the police side of things, Justice will focus on the investigators and prosecutors. It may have a similar feeling to Law & Order , especially considering Dick Wolf is the creator of that and the Chicago shows. The justice team of the city will take on the power struggles and public opinion during high-profile cases.
There is currently no mention about whether characters from the other shows will make appearances. It is certainly possible that the P.D. cast may show up from time to time. There may be cases that involve the Fire or Med teams now and then, but the show is unlikely to fall back on its parent shows for too much support. All the others have managed to stand on their own.
Philip Winchester, Ryan-James Hatanaka, Joelle carter, Nazneen Contractor, and Carl Weathers will star in Chicago Justice , which will start in the fall.
Wolf is certainly being kept busy with all his shows. Due to the recent addition, he will be in charge of 110 hours of scripted TV for the network in the upcoming season. He currently works on all the Chicago shows and also continues his work on Law & Order: SVU . There is another Law & Order series in the works called Law & Order: True Crime , along with an unscripted show Law & Order: You the Jury .
NBC picks up Dick Wolf’s #ChicagoJustice , which somehow didn’t exist already: https://t.co/9txZJZqzUV pic.twitter.com/aVDyUZfXpG
— Vulture (@vulture) May 12, 2016
On top of that, he does work on the A&E show Nightwatch . While this is his personal best, he still has a long way to go to beat CSI creator Jerry Bruckheimer’s record of 10 dramas in one season, back in 2005. With CSI now completely off the air, it is possible that Wolf will take over that record if he comes up with any more plausible Chicago shows.
His Chicago franchise has performed strongly this season. Fire is NBC’s second most-watched show, gaining an average of 11.6 million views. New series Med and P.D have an average of 10.7 and 10.5 million views respectively. There is hope that Justice will follow suit.
Meet the #ChicagoJustice team, coming soon to the #OneChicago family on @NBC . pic.twitter.com/SEQ72dWhKZ
— Chicago Justice (@chicagojustice) May 12, 2016
Wolf has said that the shows are designed to weave together. They were made to focus on single elements that often interconnect. The likes of Fire made it possible to interconnect with P.D. from the beginning despite the backdoor pilot not officially airing until towards the end of Season 1. All the shows end with each of the teams mingling at the same place, and this is done on purpose. The idea is that they will all become part of one big syndication if NBC goes for it.
There has been no confirmation date of the series premiere for Chicago Justice yet. It is expected towards the start of the regular programming schedule, along with the premieres of Seasons 5, 4, and 2 of Chicago Fire , P.D. , and Med respectively.
[Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images]