Chicago is down two network TV series, with NBC confirming that it won’t renew Chicago Justice for a second season. That follows the cancellation earlier this month of another local production, Fox’s APB, which came and went quietly after premiering in February.
No new Chicago-based series were announced at last week’s network upfront presentations; an untitled Fox drama pilot that was partly shot here wasn’t picked up. That leaves the city with four confirmed ongoing network series filming here for the new season: the three remaining Dick Wolf series on NBC (Chicago Fire, Chicago PD and Chicago Med) and Fox’s Empire. Fox also gave a second-season renewal to The Exorcist, which filmed its first season in Chicago, but it’s not clear yet whether the Geena Davis–led show will continue production here; some reports have suggested a new direction for its next chapter. The NBC shows are expected to begin filming their new seasons here in July.
There are at least three cable and streaming shows in active production in the city right now. Showtime’s The Chi, from Chicago native and Master of None standout Lena Waithe, began filming last month, as did the second season of Joe Swanberg’s Netflix anthology Easy. Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams, a science fiction anthology series for Amazon based on Dick’s short stories, is also currently filming around town.
Shameless, the Showtime series that’s set in Chicago but only partially shot in the city, has yet to begin production on its eighth season. The Wachowski siblings’ Netflix series Sense8, which uses Chicago as one of its many worldwide shooting locations, would presumably return if it’s renewed for a third season; season two dropped on the streaming service earlier this month. Amazon’s Patriot, which shot its first season in Chicago last year, got a second season renewal last month but production plans are still unknown. Second City alums Tim Baltz and Ted Tremper would presumably film a second season of their Seeso streaming series Shrink here if it gets a renewal, but there are reports that Seeso itself might be on shaky ground.
Want more? Sign up here to stay in the know.