Dick Wolf recently received two phone calls from NBCUniversal, one with good news and one with bad.
The good news is that Law & Order: SVU was renewed for a record-breaking 28th season. The bad news is that SVU OG Chris Meloni’s spinoff, which airs on Peacock, was not picked up for a sixth season.
Even though Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, FBI, and CIA will be back in the Fall, Wolf is still sitting by the phone waiting to hear if Law & Order: Mothership will be joining all of his other shows. Dun Dun.
Before Michael B. Jordan played a boxer in Creed, he had already done that in Law & Order: Criminal Intent. He looks the same now as he did when he was 23 in that 2010 episode.
Tonight at 8p on NBC’s Chicago Med, Oliver Platt gives an Emmy-Worthy performance as Dr. Charles. It is the first of two episodes that are centered on him.
The episode starts off with him working at a suicide hotline and taking a call from a man who wants to end his life. After the call is over, he is left frazzled by the conversation. And that is just the beginning of his bad week.
Next up, he gets into a fight with his youngest daughter, Anna (Hannah Riley), and they both say things they don’t mean. The fight starts over something he learned about her personal life, and he won’t let it go. How far will he go to find out more about what she is hiding from him?
Maybe work will be easier for him? Not at all. There is a male patient who might have been raped, but won’t admit it. A woman comes demanding invasive surgery to find out what is causing her extreme stomach pain, even though there seems to be nothing showing up on any of the tests. Finally, there is a little girl who is acting like a cat and won’t act like herself.
It is a bad, bad, bad day. And when you have a day like that, it is enough to make even a psychiatrist go mad. Is that what happens to him? We will find out next week in the conclusion of The Book of Charles.
Platt is my favorite part of the medical drama because I am a long-time fan of his work. So maybe I am biased, but the performance he gives in this two-part storyline had me the most emotionally invested in the series’ run, and I have seen every episode. It is just that well-written, directed, and acted (Is this a word?)!
Today is a good day for Chicago because NBC renewed Chicago Fire for a 15th season, Chicago P.D. for a 14th season, and Chicago Med for a 12th season. The news is not a surprise because they are the network’s most-watched shows.
The three Dick Wolf first responders procedurals join the two comedies, Happy’s Place and St. Denis Medical, on next season’s schedule.
The scripted shows still waiting to hear what the future holds for them are Brilliant Minds, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, Stumble, The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, and The Hunting Party.
Of those shows, I think that the Law & Orders and Reggie Dinkins have the best chance of coming back next season. When it comes to the Dick Wolf shows, while the series will be back, I doubt that all the series regulars will be back. The more time you are with a show, the more expensive you are. And broadcast television doesn’t have the money it once had.
The good news is that CBS picked up CIA for a second season. And it was a long road to get there. Dick Wolf’s latest drama, which stars Tom Ellis and Nick Gehlfuss, lost showrunners and cast members before the premiere, which was delayed almost a year. However, enough people are watching, so the network is staying with it.
Meanwhile, Paramount+ recently picked up Star Trek: Starfleet Academy for a second season, only to announce today it will be its last.
“We’re incredibly proud of the ambition, passion, and creativity that went into bringing ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ to life,” CBS Studios and Paramount+ said in a joint statement to Variety. “The series introduced audiences to a bold new group of characters, welcomed familiar faces, and expanded the ‘Star Trek’ universe in exciting new ways. We’re grateful to Alex Kurtzman, Noga Landau, Gaia Violo, and the entire cast and crew who pushed storytelling boundaries in the spirit of Gene Roddenberry’s vision. We look forward to sharing the upcoming second and final season with everyone, and continuing to celebrate the cast, crew, and all that was accomplished with this series.”
