TV News: NBC Renews Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Grimm

In a press release today:

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif — March 19, 2014 — NBC has announced it is renewing dramas “Chicago Fire,” “Chicago P.D.” and “Grimm” for the 2014-15 season. The network previously picked up “The Blacklist” (season 2) “Parks and Recreation” (season 7), “The Voice” (season 7) and “Celebrity Apprentice” (season 14). NBC is winning the season in adults 18-49, and ranked #1 for the first time in 10 years this late in the season. The network is up 20% versus one year ago, with its highest rating 25 weeks into the season in six years.

Pictured: (l-r) Eamonn Walker as Battalion Chief Wallace Boden, Taylor Kinney as Kelly Severide, Charlie Barnett as Peter Mills, Monica Raymund as Gabriella Dawson, Lauren German as Leslie Shay, Jesse Spencer as Matthew Casey, — (Photo by: Sandro/NBC)

Following the success of “Chicago Fire” last year, Emmy Award-winning producer Dick Wolf’s idea to build a second franchise in Chicago has become a reality with the renewal of mid-season success “Chicago P.D.” Both shows share the same creators and producers making it easy for characters and storylines to occasionally crossover seamlessly from one show to the other. This will be the case on the upcoming Tuesday, April 29 episode of “Chicago Fire” — a massive bomb explosion sends the city into chaos, which will conclude the following night, Wednesday, April 30, on “Chicago P.D.” where the police officers deal with the fallout from the tragedy and try to find who was responsible for the blast.

“Chicago Fire” ranks #1 in the Tuesday 10 p.m. ET/PT slot among the broadcast networks so far this season in adults 18-49, averaging a 3.1 rating, 9 share in 18-49 and 10.6 million viewers overall in “most current” averages from Nielsen Media Research through the first 25 weeks of the season. “Chicago Fire” is generating gains versus one year ago of 35% in 18-49 rating and 33% in total viewers. With its move from Wednesday nights last season to Tuesday nights this season, “Chicago Fire” has improved the Tuesday 10 p.m. hour versus NBC’s regular-program averages in the slot one year ago by 24% in adults 18-49 (to a 3.1 rating from a 2.4).

“Chicago Fire” will head into its third season next year and “Chicago P.D.” will go into its second with executive producers Dick Wolf, Matt Olmstead, Danielle Gelber, Michael Brandt, Derek Haas, Peter Jankowski, Joe Chappelle (“Chicago Fire” only) and Mark Tinker (“Chicago P.D.” only). Both series are produced by Universal Television and Wolf Films and shot in Chicago.

Jesse Spencer and Taylor Kinney star as heroic Windy City firefighters who lay themselves on the line in dealing with everyday situations involving life or death. The show also stars Monica Raymund, Lauren German, Charlie Barnett, David Eigenberg, Yuri Sardarov, Joe Minoso, Christian Stolte and Eamonn Walker.

“Chicago Fire” has been nominated for a People’s Choice Award and is the winner of a Prism Award and Imagen Foundation Award.

CHICAGO PD — Season: 1 — Pictured: (l-r) LaRoyce Hawkins as Officer Kevin Atwater, Archie Kao as Sheldon Jin, Marina Squerciati as Officer Kim Burgess, Jon Seda as Det. Antonio Dawson, Jason Beghe as Sgt. Hank Voight, Sophia Bush as Det. Erin Lindsay, Jesse Lee Soffer as Det. Jay Halstead, Patrick Flueger as Det. Adam Ruzek, Elias Koteas as Det. Alvin Olinksy

“Chicago P.D.” is delivering a 2.5 rating, 7 share in adults 18-49 and 8.9 million viewers overall so far this season in “most current” averages from Nielsen. “Chicago P.D.” is retaining 94% of its 18-49 lead-in from “Law & Order: SVU” and 97% of its total-viewer lead-in in “live plus same day” results to date. In its first nine weeks on the schedule, “Chicago P.D.” has generated NBC’s nine best 18-49 results in the time period, excluding Olympics and “Saturday Night Live” specials, since Sept. 25, 2013.

Freshman series “Chicago P.D.” follows the uniformed cops who patrol the beat and go head-to-head with the city’s street crimes and the Intelligence Unit that combats the city’s major offenses, including organized crime, drug trafficking and high-profile murders.

The series stars Jason Beghe, Sophia Bush, Patrick John Flueger, LaRoyce Hawkins, Archie Kao, Jon Seda, Elias Koteas, Jesse Lee Soffer and Marina Squerciati.

GRIMM — Season: 2 — Pictured: (front) David Giuntoli as Nick Burkhardt, Bree Turner as Rosalee; (l-r) Russell Hornsby as Hank Griffin, Reggie Lee as Sgt. Wu, Sasha Roiz as Cpt. Renard, Bitsie Tulloch as Juliette Silverton, Silas Weir Mitchell as Monroe — (Photo by: Michael Muller/NBC)

With the renewal, “Grimm” — the popular Friday night series inspired by the classic Grimm Brothers’ fairy tales — will now head into its fourth season. “Grimm” is the #1 Friday series on ABC, CBS, NBC or Fox so far this season in adults 18-49, averaging a 2.5 rating, 8 share in adults 18-49 in “most current” averages from Nielsen Media Research. This is a 4% gain versus the show’s rating at this point in the season last year, while “Grimm’s” average of 8.1 million viewers overall is up versus one year ago by 17%.

David Giuntoli stars as Portland homicide detective Nick Burkhardt, who discovers he’s descended from an elite line of criminal profilers known as Grimms. He increasingly finds his responsibilities as a detective at odds with his new responsibilities as a Grimm.

The series was created by David Greenwalt & Jim Kouf and Stephen Carpenter. Sean Hayes, Todd Milliner and Norberto Barba serve as executive producers along with Greenwalt and Kouf.

The series also stars Bitsie Tulloch, Russell Hornsby, Silas Weir Mitchell, Bree Turner, Reggie Lee, Sasha Roiz and Claire Coffee.

“Grimm” is a Universal Television and Hazy Mills production.

“Grimm” has been nominated for two People’s Choice Awards, two Satellite Awards and a Saturn Award. “Grimm” was also nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding stunt coordination.

The Hollywood Reporter calls “Grimm” “a high-concept hootenanny” and says it has “chills and humor and the ability to take a procedural story and twist it.”