Dick Wolf Teases Crossover Potential Between Law & Order, One Chicago, and FBI Franchises
Superstar television producer Dick Wolf has long been the king of network television procedurals, but currently he has a staggering amount of shows airing and almost all of them are connected as part of a franchise. NBC is the home to Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Law & Order: Organize Crime, plus the trio of FBI shows, FBI, FBI: International, and FBI: Most Wanted; while CBS has the "One Chicago" universe of shows with Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago PD. Crossovers between all nine shows have occurred throughout the years but in a new interview Wolf opened up about how the talent involved in all of them have a surprisingly lax deal, allowing crossovers all the time.
Speaking about the shows, all of which were renewed for the next season (some of them for two more seasons), Wolf told Variety: "It's a constant exploration of possibilities. There are 56 actors under contract. The concept is there are nine shows, and anybody who's in any of the nine shows can appear in the other eight, even on different networks. It's pretty cool." Crossovers between at least two of the franchises have happened just eight times since 2014, but inter-franchise crossovers are much more common between the shows. To date a full crossover between all three at one point hasn't happened just yet, but considering the flexibility within the actor's contracts it seems like it could happen in the future.
"It's very comforting to know absolutely what the legacy will be into the future," Wolf added. "This company has produced and has clear ownership [stakes] in the longest-running dramas in the history of television ['Law & Order: SVU' is wrapping up Season 23]. I don't think anybody's ever gonna catch us. And it ain't over."
Each of the shows in the Law & Order, FBI, and One Chicago franchises will wrap up their seasons within the next week, leading to their new seasons later in the year. CBS airs all three FBI shows back-to-back-to-back on Tuesdays, while NBC airs the entire One Chicago franchise on Wednesdays, and then all three current Law & Order shows on Thursdays.
"Dreams do come true," Wolf said when the One Chicago and Law & Order line-ups were renewed. "The renewals of the entire Wednesday and Thursday night lineups is the ultimate verification of our partnership with NBC and Universal Television. I personally want to thank the talented writers and casts, the producers who keep the trains running on time and the crews who tirelessly turn out outstanding shows despite a degree of difficulty never before experienced due to the pandemic."