‘Law & Order,’ ‘FBI’ & ‘Chicago Fire’ Writers Back at Work: When Will Shows Return to TV?

Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler, Mariska Hargitay as Captain Olivia Benson in Law & Order: Organized Crime
Eric Liebowitz/NBC

It’s good news for fans of the various Dick Wolf TV franchises as Law & Order, FBI, and Chicago Fire are all nearing returns following the end of the Writers Guild of America strike.

On Wednesday, October 4, Wolf Entertainment announced that writers have returned to work on the above-mentioned shows. This comes after the WGA strike ended on September 24 after 148 days, with the guild coming to a deal with the AMPTP over streaming residuals, protections against AI, and other issues.

According to The Wrap, there have also been some showrunner changes across the Wolf shows. Andrea Newman will now helm Chicago Fire alone, having previously run the show alongside Derek Haas. Meanwhile, FBI: International has promoted Matt Olmstead from executive producer to showrunner for Season 3.  Exactly how the changes will impact on what viewers see at home is yet to be determined. None of the shows will likely be back on air with new episodes until 2024.

The Christopher Meloni-led Law & Order: Organized Crime has yet to name a new showrunner following Sean Jablonksi’s exit back in March. SVU showrunner David Graziano will step in to oversee the final three episodes of Organized Crime‘s third season.

Several stars of Wolf’s shows joined the picket lines to show their support for the WGA, including SVU lead Mariska Hargitay, who joined writers outside Paramount Global’s New York City office back in June.

“I’m so honored to stand here in solidarity with the writers, wearing my WGA captain hat,” Hargitay said, per Variety. “I’ve been your captain for 25 years on SVU, and I could not have done it without the writers. Every word out of my mouth for 25 years. So I stand here and say, let’s get this done.”

Hargitay’s SVU co-star Ice-T also shared his support for the writers on social media, writing, “Shout out to all the SVU fans.. Normally we would be back in production, filming the new season.. Unfortunately we’re still on hold due to the Writter’s [sic] strike. Hopefully we’ll be back sooner VS later.. I’ll keep you posted.”

Back in April, NBC renewed six of Wolf’s series, including Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: Organized Crime, Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago P.D. All of these shows can currently be streamed on Peacock.