Chicago Fire Season 12: When Can Fans Expect The Premiere?
A new season of "Chicago Fire" has premiered every fall over the course of the past decade, starting with Season 1 in October of 2012 and most recently including Season 11 in September of 2022. Now, moving forward, Season 12 will become the first to begin airing during a subsequent TV season.
In an article about NBC's fall 2023 broadcast schedule, People confirmed that, while "Chicago Fire" Season 12 was originally supposed to kick off in the show's usual timeslot, it's now delayed to 2024. A more specific timeframe for its release has yet to be announced. Of course, the implicit reason for this delay is the joint SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, so the fact that NBC is sharing no additional details beyond this general year seems to be intentional given the uncertainty surrounding when the AMPTP might come to a resolution with SAG-AFTRA and/or the WGA.
Also delayed are fellow "One Chicago" franchise shows "Chicago Med" and "Chicago P.D.," both of which have likewise been pushed to 2024.
Chicago Fire Season 12's delay is just one result of NBC significantly reshuffling its fall schedule
The three "One Chicago" series are not the only TV shows NBC has delayed in response to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. New seasons of "Night Court," "Law & Order," and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" that were once slated for fall 2023 premieres are now going to air at some point in 2024 as well, again with no additional specificity given to their respective release windows.
Meanwhile, new episodes of "Magnum P.I." will now air in the place of these six delayed series. Originally, the second half of "Magnum P.I." Season 5 was going to kick off during the winter of 2023 and conclude some time after the start of the following year, but its release seems to have been moved up in order to bolster NBC's programming after temporarily losing some of its most popular franchises. Finally, continuing as planned are the premieres of two new original series titled "The Irrational" and "Found."
While NBC isn't entirely without new episodes of dramatic programming, then, "Chicago Fire" is among a handful of shows the network is subjecting to significant delays. Furthermore, precisely when Season 12 will kick off now seems to be subject to the AMPTP finalizing new agreements with SAG-AFTRA and the WGA.