Bad news, America’s dads: The five Dick Wolf shows previously slated for NBC’s fall schedule will all be pulled due to the ongoing Hollywood strikes.
That means no “Chicago Med”, “Chicago Fire”, “Chicago PD”, “Law & Order” or “Law & Order: SVU”. Wolf’s “Law & Order: Organized Crime” wasn’t originally on the fall slate, and it still isn’t. Additionally, comeback comedy “Night Court” was also held back; the new sitcom “Extended Family” will also be waiting.
It was the writers’ strike that axed the schedule in this case, not the SAG-AFTRA strike (yet), a person familiar with the evolving plans told IndieWire. “Extended Family” is actually completely in the can, a second source told IndieWire — it just needs a half-hour partner (the previous plan was paired with “Night Court”) — to fill in an hour of programming.
Instead of the “One Chicago” shows that fill the entire Wednesday prime time. Now, a repeat episode of one of the “Chicago” series will open the night, leading to a new “Quantum Leap” and then a new “Magnum PI.”
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Thursday nights on NBC will now open with a rerun of the “Law & Order” universe, followed by a new episode of “Transplant” (new here – it’s a Canadian series), and then an hour-long encore of ” Dateline”. (The new “Found” series moves from Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET to the same time on Tuesdays.)
NBC isn’t alone in the rush; On Monday, CBS rearranged its fall schedule. New episodes of ‘Young Sheldon’, ‘Blue Bloods’, ‘NCIS’ and ‘FBI’ have been released. You will also have to wait for “The Good Wife”/”The Good Fight” spin-off “Elsbeth” and Kathy Bates in the new “Matlock”. There are reruns, reality TV, kinky game shows, and even the UK version of ‘Ghosts’.
A week ago, The CW revised their fall plans. The scripted series “All American” and “61st Street” were moved from fall to midseason, as was “I Am,” a documentary series.
The original plans, released to coincide with the annual television sneak peeks in May, were somewhere between optimistic and unrealistic. Whatever the adjective, they certainly weren’t “strike-proof” as advertised by several networks.
IndieWire reached out to representatives of Fox’s other broadcast networks and to ask if their respective shows have any Fall-TV changes on the horizon. There are “no expected changes” at Fox, a spokesperson told us; ABC had nothing to share.
Times are tough for over-the-air networks; streamers are typically not tied to time slots and are less tied to the calendar, both in terms of production and scheduling.
To individuals in the demographic naturally drawn to televised procedurals in 2023, we’re truly sorry to be the bearers of bad news; it probably should have been your kids who told you. (And if you don’t know yet, you might as well not Want know what happened to Tucker Carlson.)
The WGA quit their jobs and went into picket lines on May 2, which really rocked the industry. The Writers’ Guild and Studies (AMPTP – the Alliance of Film and Television Producers) are far apart on topics like streaming residuals, the use of AI in production, and staffing minimums, to pick a few issues. While the directors guild was able to come to terms with the AMPTP and avoid a strike, the actors guild, SAG-AFTRA, could not. SAG-AFTRA members joined the WGA on strike last week, with pay rises, more AI and other protections on that table.
