INDIANAPOLIS — Wednesday nights on NBC mean "Chicago."
"Chicago Med," "Chicago Fire" and "Chicago P.D." return Wednesday, Jan. 17 with their ninth, 12th and 11th seasons, respectively.
"We said goodbye to our beloved Will Halstead (actor Nick Gehlfuss). Our hospital was sold to, we don't even know who when we left off," recapped actress Jessy Schram, who plays Dr. Hannah Asher. "Six months later, we're picking up, and we've got new owners, we've got the kidney — hopefully being transplanted to."
"We are also picking up six months later, but we are definitely going to be answering a lot of questions that we left the audience wondering about at the end of last season," said actor Joe Miñoso, who plays firefighter Joe Cruz.
And it's no surprise the shows in the "Chicago" universe are renewed each year, with Nielsen reporting "Chicago Fire" among the top 10 broadcast series of 2023, with an average of 9.1 million viewers.
"It's incredible to believe that the audience is stronger than ever," Miñoso said, while also giving a special shoutout to my mother-in-law, who is a diehard fan. "All of the mothers out there, thank you for keeping us around as long as you have."
With three shows in the "Chicago" universe comes the chance for crossover episodes, with the last happening in 2020.
"Dick Wolf, sir, Mr. Wolf — let me take a moment to appeal to you in front of the public: We all miss the 'Chicago' crossovers. We really want to make it happen," Miñoso said. "What actor gets to say that they play the same character across three different shows?"
And while the "Chicago" universe tells fictional stories, the actors get the privilege to portray heroic first responders like doctors, nurses, firefighters, police officers and paramedics.
"You talk about superheroes, they are almost superhuman in how they're able to set aside themselves at the expense of saving someone's life," Miñoso said. "They deserve every bit of credit that they get, they are incredible people and we owe them all a huge set of gratitude."
New episodes air Wednesdays and are available to stream the following day on Peacock.