One Chicago seems untouchable, but one canceled Chicago Fire spinoff from 2017 tells another story.
I’m talking about Chicago Justice — the Law & Order of Chicagoland, which only had 13 episodes before NBC canned it.
I loved this show and still miss it. NBC had its reasons, but I think the network made a mistake by axing this legal drama without giving it a chance to shine.
I Loved Chicago Justice’s Connection To The Law & Order Universe, But NBC Saw It As A Weakness
Chicago Justice was the most connected of all the One Chicago shows to the Law & Order franchise.
One of its biggest selling points was ADA Peter Stone — the son of Michael Moriarty’s Benjamin Stone, the ADA who tried cases during the first five seasons of Law & Order.
Stone had a compelling backstory. He felt he was a huge disappointment to his legendary father, from whom he was now estranged, and thus eager to prove himself in the courtroom.
He also tended to see legal issues in black and white terms — sometimes literally, as he didn’t understand the role racism played in many crimes in the Chicago area.
It seems like a perfect premise that would appeal to Law & Order fans, right? It certainly appealed to me. Sadly, however, that was one of the reasons NBC decided to axe Chicago Justice after only one season.
The network concluded it didn’t want to be overrun with One Chicago shows, already had three, and that Chicago Justice was redundant because of its similarity to Law & Order.
NBC Was Wrong About This Canceled Chicago Fire Spinoff
It burns me up (no pun intended) that NBC canceled Chicago Justice because its similarity to Law & Order made it more expendable than the other Chicago Fire spinoffs.
First of all, this was 2017 — the original Law & Order was long gone and wouldn’t return until 2021.
So what was NBC saying here? That people who like Law & Order didn’t deserve a show they enjoy?
Let’s be real, too — Chicago Justice was buried on Sunday nights. Yes, it had lower ratings than the other One Chicago shows, but did it really stand a chance during that timeslot?
The Good Wife had just ended, so NBC might have hoped to get an edge over CBS by offering a replacement legal drama in that time slot.
Still, Chicago Justice was competing with Madam Secretary, which meant there were two intelligent shows about complicated legal and political issues going head to head.
If NBC wanted to improve Chicago Justice’s ratings, it should have moved it to another night instead of giving up on it. Since it was similar to Law & Order, airing it and Law & Order: SVU back-to-back should have been a no-brainer.
The three other Chicago shows aired on Tuesday through Thursday, but it would have made more sense to pair Chicago Justice with Law & Order: SVU, which was the lead-in to Chicago P.D. in those days.
In any case, the ratings aren’t the real story here any more than they were for Blue Bloods.
Chicago Justice was lower rated than the other One Chicago shows, but it still had a total viewership of between 5 and 6 million viewers per week — something other shows that were renewed struggled with a bit.
The TV Landscape Was Different in 2017, But NBC Made a Mistake CBS Is Repeating Today
The biggest reason for canceling Chicago Justice was that NBC feared having too many One Chicago shows.
That was more forgivable in 2017 than it would be today. It was the pre-streaming era, where networks were limited to whatever slots they had available in primetime.
It also was before TV was oversaturated with reboots and spinoffs. There was no such thing as monopolizing the schedule with three episodes of the same franchise.
So NBC decided one of these spinoffs had to go, and Chicago Justice was the easiest to axe.
Of course, NBC knew this would be the fourth One Chicago show when the network greenlit it, confusing its decision.
Plus, it sent Stone to Law & Order: SVU for a season, demonstrating the premise was worthwhile even though the show didn’t make it.
Eight years later, here we are again, only it’s a different network making a ridiculous decision about a Dick Wolf franchise.
FBI: International and FBI: Most Wanted‘s cancellations aren’t about ratings either. They’re partially about expense, and partially to make room for a fourth FBI spinoff.
CBS’ decision is less forgivable because the TV landscape has changed. Today, we have streaming services that can handle the overflow.
NBC has experimented with this, successfully transitioning Days of Our Lives to Peacock only and experimenting this season with Law & Order: Organized Crime going there too.
So if Chicago Justice were airing today, maybe NBC would put it on Peacock instead of panicking about how many One Chicago shows were eating up time on its schedule.
Yet CBS canceled two popular shows outright to make room for another member of the same franchise, and we’re no less overrun with police procedurals than we were before the network made that decision.
What do you think, One Chicago fanatics?
Is CBS making the same mistake that NBC did with its canceled Chicago Fire spinoff?
Vote in our poll about whether you would watch a rebooted Chicago Justice (theoretically — there are no such plans as far as I know!) and then hit the comments with your thoughts.
All 13 episodes of Chicago Justice are available on Apple TV+.
Watch Chicago Justice Online
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