Cast Shifts, Budget Cuts, and Shortened Seasons: Can One Chicago Survive Its Own Changes?

More often than not, Dick Wolf franchises feel untouchable.

Depending on how well actor negotiations have gone regarding artificial intelligence, it wouldn't be entirely unsurprising if, 20 years from now, we still have an AI-generated rendition of Olivia Benson protecting and advocating for abuse survivors on Law Order: SVU.

There's longevity in the Dick Wolf series, whether it's the Law & Order franchise or One Chicago. And by now, viewers have grown accustomed to a revolving door of beloved characters and actors over the years to sustain the series.

But is there a breaking point to that? Will there ever be a point, at least for the One Chicago series, where too many casting changes and a different formula for screentime for budgetary purposes reach a point of no return?

Budget Cuts Mean Less Screentime for Fan-Favorite One Chicago Characters

Even before the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes went into effect, the One Chicago renewals came with a caveat that was cause for concern.

For the sake of budget, it was confirmed that series stars would appear in fewer episodes.

Initially, the thought behind this was that most series would have 22 episode count seasons, and many of the stars would average an appearance in 18-20 episodes, which could be subject to change.

Despite Renewals, One Chicago & Law & Order Will See Less of Their Favorite Characters

Because this went into effect ahead of the strikes, we'll still see this formula when the series returns to full seasons rather than truncated ones.

But that will likely seriously impact many favorite characters' storylines and screen time.

Interestingly, you can already see the differences between some One Chicago shows and others.

Because Chicago PD has a smaller cast than the other two, it's noticeable when screen time has been reduced for characters and their portrayals.

They've taken to sprinkling and rotating a series of "centric" episodes throughout the season, eliciting mixed reviews from the audiences.

It's all great and swell when it's your favorite character, but it can be irritating when characters you love get shafted.

In some instances, certain characters can get more screen time or yield more evolved storylines than others, and the imbalance can be notable and frustrating.

How bad will it be afterward if it already feels like that ahead of the latest budget procedures and screen time shifts?

Chicago Med and Chicago Fire are better at balancing these types of things.

They both have fuller casts, so it's not as noticeable or dire when a character or two is missing from an installment, and the plot focuses on a specific person.

However, their cast shakeups and losses can seriously impact things regardless.

Will One Chicago Suffer After Too Many Exits At Once?

Cast turnover is inevitable with a franchise like this, especially the longer the series are on the air. But when too many of them happen at once, it starts to feel as if the shows could suffer more because of that.

We've seen many casting changes during Chicago Med over its eight seasons.

But where things can take a terrible turn for the series is the combination of losing Chicago Med staple characters whom we've grown attached to and followed over most of the series while also losing characters we were beginning to know.

In Chicago Med Season 8 alone, we lost Guy Lockard's Dylan Scott and Sarah Rafferty's Pamela Blake.

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We arguably lost the two characters after some decent enough arcs, but far too soon, as they barely reached their full potential as characters before they exited the series as two of the more recent additions.

Brian Tee's Ethan Choi also officially exited the series after being a series regular and staple character since Chicago Med Season 1.

Asjha Cooper's Vanessa Taylor also turned in her lab coat after only two seasons and a complicated arc involving another staple character.

In many ways, it felt like we barely got to settle into the character before she was gone.

And the biggest hit was losing Nick Gehlfuss' Will Halstead, who has essentially been the face of the entire series since Chicago Med Season 1.

Losing Halstead is a sizable blow to this series, as much if not more than Colin Donnell's Connor Rhodes because of how long he's been with the series, 163 episodes.

Chicago Med has faced the most turnover out of the entire franchise, and it happens with such frequency that sometimes it's near impossible for the series to give characters the best sendoffs they can.

It already leads to unsatisfied viewers in that regard.

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And it's hard to get attached to new characters when the likelihood that they'll stick around for more than a season or two is slim. As someone who has watched every single episode of Chicago Med, I barely even remember the characters' names anymore; turnover is so common.

Even now, with so many losses, it's probably great for the budget but less than ideal for viewers who grow tired of getting invested in characters or stories only to have them disrupted.

Chicago Med assures the addition of a new character, whether or not they will be a series regular, is yet to be determined, but will fans even give this person a real chance if they run the risk of losing this person altogether by the season's end? Who knows?

Losing heavy hitters remains a severe blow to the series.

Chicago Fire's Latest Casualty Reacts to Stunning Exit

Chicago Fire also has a revolving door of characters and actors. What they often have going for them is giving even the stars with the shortest stints an interesting enough arc and proper character development where they make a lasting impact regardless of how long they've stuck around.

In only 20 episodes, Evan Hawkins made fans and Violet fall in love with him, and newcomer Sam Carver is the most recent addition to the firehouse and yet had such a phenomenal arc during Chicago Fire Season 11 that it's easy to forget he hasn't been around longer.

Because Chicago Fire does a great job at developing its characters, regardless of how recently they've been added or how small their role is, it stings more when they face cast turnover.

And while plenty of characters remain who can feel like series staples, the absence of heavy-hitter characters still stings when they aren't there.

We've been able to overcome the departure of Matt Casey, but it's certainly helped that he returned for a short arc. However, with recent news about Kara Killmer's departure, will Casey and Brett get a happily ever after mean we won't have them anymore? Most likely!

Thankfully, Taylor Kinney is returning to the series after a hiatus. Still, his absence was certainly noticeable, and given that he's been with the series for its entire tenure, it does make one wary that he could easily be signing off permanently next.

Meanwhile, Chicago PD has less turnover but suffers the most because of its significantly smaller cast and imbalance.

Earlier departures of Lindsay, Dawson, and Olinsky still weigh heavily on the series. And their methods of exiting the series still garner irritation and outrage.

 Disappointing  and Downright Offensive Character Exits

And the loss of characters such as Rojas garnered frustration because of how horribly she was written out, with fans still in the dark about how she disappeared.

With Chicago PD, character exits are largely disappointing, and rarely, if ever, do the characters, the actors, and the fans any real justice.

Chicago PD Season 10 was solid, but Jay Halstead's exit was undoubtedly one of the roughest aspects of the season.

It outlined many of the flaws in the series with how it was handled and effectively managed to tarnish the character's memory after the departure.

And now, we have to gear up for the exit of the other half of Upstead with Tracy Spiridakos' departure in the upcoming season.

Because the series spent a few seasons hailing both characters in such high regard with any combination of storylines and screen time, losing both characters back to back will undoubtedly impact the series and viewers.

Both characters were such fan favorites, with the relationship among them eliciting some rabid fans that one has to wonder if the series will lose momentum after having such drastic casting shifts.

It also makes one wonder what other casting shakeups could be on the horizon. Beloved Trudy Platt has had such a worrisome lack of screen time that it's been cause for concern for fans for some time.

Chicago PD: How Hailey Upton's Impending Exit Shifts the Landscape of the Series

Regardless of how mixed the reception can be to Hank Voight, one must wonder if the series could withstand the same way if Beghe suddenly decided he wanted out.

Character departures tend to feel more dire and leave a more massive impact on Chicago PD than the other series in the franchise.

Things are at least promising with the addition of the latest series regular, Benjamin Aguilar Levy, as Dante Torres, who can keep things fresh and interesting and have the series uniquely approaching storylines.

How Will One Chicago Character Exits and Shortened Seasons Affect Storylines?

In addition to these many changes, with the loss of fan-favorite characters and budgetary-driven limitation of screentime among actors, we have truncated seasons thanks to the strikes.

It's promising that the television year can still be salvaged, as now there's a quick turnaround for filming, and One Chicago is picking up filming after Thanksgiving.

It means we'll have the new season dropping in January.

But it also means we'll have a shortened season, the shortest yet for these series, and one has to wonder what type of blow that'll have on the storylines and viewership.

One Chicago and Others Return with Truncated Seasons

Will there be enough time to serve each of the characters in these series with strong storylines?

It certainly would require tighter storytelling, which the franchise can often struggle with when they typically have ample room to play around with and juggle multiple plots.

Losing major characters within shortened seasons is worrisome. How can we properly write off characters who have made such an impact in such a short period?

Will it be a rush job? Will it be satisfactory for viewers?

We are still determining when and how Hailey Upton will be exiting the series, but would this lead to an entire season of building up this exit, or will the writers have to make due?

And if measures are in place to limit screentime for budgetary reasons, how will this factor into the storyline revolving around her exit?

Also, would that play into Chicago PD's pesky problem of not equally spreading the wealth amongst its characters if we now have to spend more time on Hailey than others to send her off properly?

Haven't we done that enough already? Now, we have to deal with it even more.

One Chicago Writers Return to Set, But There Will Be Some Changes

Over on Chicago Fire, because of how things were set up, does this mean that Kara Killmer's exit will be relatively quick, pending her response to Casey's proposal in Chicago Fire Season 11 Episode 22?

Repercussions from the strikes will fundamentally change how they approach writing the season, which means the storylines will be grossly impacted as a result.

Indeed, many of us recall how the writing of our favorite series was affected during and following the last Writer's Strike!

Have Too Many Changes at Once Potentially Killed the One Chicago Franchise?

There's more wariness as we head into new seasons for the One Chicago series.

Viewers are grateful to have their favorite series back, but it's certainly come at a cost.

The One Chicago Franchise has withstood many changes over the years and, in some ways, has even thrived.

But is there such a thing as having too many changes at once?

With so many networks and streamers citing the "strikes" as why they've chosen to drop projects, renege on renewals and green lights, and cancel series, it's enough to put viewers on edge all around.

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More than anything, we're at a precarious point in the franchise where it feels like we could lose it as we know it or altogether.

But for now, we're just glad to have it back at all.

One Chicago returns on Wednesday, January 17.

You can check out all of Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago PD content here at TV Fanatic!