What NBC keeping the 10 p.m. timeslot means for One Chicago and Law & Order

NBC toyed with the idea of removing the 10 p.m. timeslot, but that isn’t happening now. Does that mean Chicago PD and Law & Order are safe?

When NBC first announced it was looking at removing the 10 p.m. timeslot and handing it back to local programming, we worried. Chicago PD and Law & Order: Organized Crime are two of the biggest shows in that timeslot. What would it mean for them?

The network has built its schedule around this franchising. With the success of One Chicago Wednesdays, we saw three Law & Order shows end up on Thursdays. Even other networks are following suit with CBS bringing FBI Tuesdays and The CW having Walker Thursdays.

Well, NBC has now made a decision for that 10 p.m. timeslot. According to Deadline, the timeslot is safe for the 2023–2024 season. This could change for the next season, but we get another year with the three-hour block. We’ll likely see ABC and CBS keep theirs as they were only going to remove the hour if NBC did.

Are Chicago PD and Law & Order: Organized Crime safe on NBC?

What does this mean for those 10 p.m. shows? As of right now, it could mean great things. The only reason we really worried about both Chicago PD and Law & Order: Organized Crime was because of the removal of the timeslot.

With no need to get rid of the franchise nights, there’s no need to remove one of the shows. In fact, NBC is even looking at more procedurals, which isn’t surprising considering the success of the genre on broadcast TV overall.

That’s not to say the shows are definitely safe. Keeping the timeslot just removes one reason to cancel them. There is always a chance that they are now too expensive to produce. Both Chicago PD and Law & Order: SVU had to remove a character each due to budget constraints. The exits came with fans angry by the decisions, but they weren’t the choices of the shows. If the shows are too expensive for NBC, we could see other cuts and even a cancellation here or there.

Right now, Chicago PD remains one of the highest-rated shows on the network overall. It sits in third place for scripted shows in the demo, and fifth place when you count the demos for The Voice on Mondays and Tuesdays. The audience is the same. Considering the success, NBC won’t want to get rid of it unless it is too financially problematic to make.

Law & Order: Organized Crime is sixth out of the shows in the demo and audience. When including the unscripted shows, it sits in eighth place in both metrics.

Both franchises are performing better live than Quantum Leap, which has just been renewed. The time travel series has performed extremely well on Peacock, and we don’t always get to see those numbers. It’s hard to say if the One Chicago and Law & Order franchises are performing just as well, but both of those franchises have syndication deals and they are popular for reruns.

Watch Chicago PD and the three Law & OrderPeacock shows on and show you want them to stick around.