Chicago P.D.’s Cast and Crew Are ‘Ready to Get Back to Work’
Amid the ongoing Hollywood strikes, the cast and crew behind Chicago P.D. are ready to start filming again. When does Chicago P.D.’s new season for 2023 return? Plus, learn what some of the cast members are doing to help the show’s production assistants who are also out of work during the strikes.
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Chicago P.D. is NBC’s drama series, co-created by Dick Wolf and Matt Olmstead, that follows the personal and professional lives of patrol officers and Intelligence Unit detectives at the Chicago Police Department’s fictional 21st District. Chicago P.D. is the first spinoff of Chicago Fire before Chicago Med and Chicago Justice. The Chicago-based procedural wrapped up its 10th Season in May 2023.
In former years, the next season of Chicago P.D. would return in the fall of 2023 – but that’s not the case this year. That’s because the writers and actors behind Chicago P.D. are not allowed to work union jobs and many of them are at the picket line supporting SAG-AFTRA and the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA).
On July 12, 2023, the national board of the Hollywood actors’ union SAG-AFTRA approved to strike. The actors’ union represents 160,000 television and movie actors. During the strike, members are not allowed to work union jobs, promote their respective films and shows, attend press junkets and premieres and more. The actors’ strike comes two months after the WGA began their strike on May 2, 2023. The demands requested by the actors and writers are similar: They want better compensation for TV shows and movies, increased residual payments for their work on streaming services and regulations on artificial intelligence.
Leaders on both sides of the strike say that they’re in it for the long haul – so virtually all TV production – and most film production – is halted until further notice. As of August 12, 2023, the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) have resumed negotiations that may end one of the strikes (we’ll keep you updated as we learn more).
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Chicago P.D. stars have been active on the picket line. Earlier in August, Jesse Lee Soffer (Jay Halstead) and Tracy Spiridakos (Hailey Upton) – a fan-favorite couple on the longtime police drama – reunited during the protest. The pair were also pictured alongside One Chicago executive producer Derek Haas. “Team, assemble!!” Soffer captioned the photo.
So, when does the new season of Chicago P.D. come out? Keep reading to find out – plus, learn what the cast and crew of the police drama are doing for the PAs who are out of work because of the strikes.
When does Chicago P.D.’s new season for 2023 return?
When does Chicago P.D.’s new season for 2023 return? The next season of Chicago P.D. will air in 2024 – instead of fall 2023 – NBC announced in July 2023. Instead, the network will be airing reruns of all three One Chicago shows, including Chicago P.D., in the fall.
Several Chicago P.D. cast and production members are pitching in to help the 13 set and office production assistants who work for the NBC series, giving them each $1,500, according to Deadline. The money was distributed a week and a half ago – and a second payment is also on the way.
Our sister site reported that the campaign was organized by Chicago P.D.’s First Assistant Director Richard White. Stars like Patrick John Flueger, Marina Squerciati, Amy Morton and Tracy Spiridakos contributed to the fund, as well as writer/executive producer Gavin Harris and writer/co-executive producer Scott Gold.
“Flueger, who donated when approached by White a couple of weeks ago as he was about to go on a trip, reached out to White again upon returning and gave more money, the AD said,” according to Deadline. “With fellow Chicago P.D. cast member LaRoyce Hawkins previously committing to participate while asking for time to deal with a personal matter, White said he would wait for that and then send each PA a second installment with the contributions from the two actors.”
With Flueger’s second donation, the funds for the entry-level staffers have grown to $25,000, White told Deadline. “They are a really good team of kids,” White said of the PAs who worked on the show last season. They are responsible for performing a range of tasks, including opening the sets in the morning, getting breakfast orders, doing lockup for sound, distributing scripts and more. “I had the idea, as the strike was going on, of trying to do something for them because I knew they would be the ones that really would be hurting the most,” he added.
“I’ll tell you, every friend that I’ve spoken to in every department on a vast array of shows, everyone’s ready to get back to work,” he continued. “There’s no one that I’ve spoken to who’s happy for this extended period of unemployment.”
White told our sister site that he was inspired to help the PAs because he went through a similar experience during the 2007-2008 WGA strike when he was just starting his career in Hollywood. He also wanted to act because PAs are not part of the union and their little earnings in an entry-level position narrow their options for centralized strike financial assistance and unemployment benefits, especially because they are located outside entertainment hubs like Los Angeles and New York.
The AD also said that he fears that without support, some PAs could leave the entertainment business altogether.
“I don’t want them to have to give up on their dreams right away because they have now been hit with a major hardship,” he added. “My goal is to try and get publicity and see if other people are willing to step up to help out and do the same thing on their shows, to their production staff.”
Chicago P.D. is available to stream on Peacock.
For more on Chicago P.D., check out our new gallery of the best and worst characters, ranked from Season 1 to now, including Hank Voight, Erin Lindsay, Adam Ruzek and more.
