Chicago PD season 5: Rick Eid of Law & Order: SVU to be showrunner
In what is a very surprising and quick turnaround, Deadline reports that the current Law & Order: SVU showrunner is coming over to a different arm in the Dick Wolf family after just one year. Olmstead was a key cog in the Chicago PD franchise from the very beginning, and is moving on now to some other things. A new search is underway for a Law & Order: SVU season 19 showrunner, which is an extremely daunting gig given the established audience and the sheer number of episodes already on the air. It’s hard to find someone with the rich understanding of the characters and the story.
As for the onscreen impact of the move, there may not be much. Showrunners hope to create a seamless transition when something like this happens. At most, you may see instances where they try to raise the game or create scenarios even more exciting than what were there previously. Sometimes changing showrunners in dramas works a little easier than with comedy, given that with some shows you are dealing with such a specific tone from one of your writers that it creates a wide array of different problems.
New episodes of Chicago PD should start airing once more in September / early October depending on what NBC decides. Eid will begin work in the weeks to come in an effort to start to build a rapport with the other writers and prepare for the start of filming come July or so in Chicago.
Remember that the Chicago PD finale is going to be airing on NBC Wednesday night, and with Olmstead’s final episode, he will depart with a bang. Erin Lindsay, in the process of facing potential disciplinary action for some of what’s transpired in the interrogation room, will also face some trauma when her mother is accused of a terrible crime. Obviously, this is a difficult case for her to navigate given that it is one she is incredibly closely tied to more so than almost any other she investigates.
For more on the Chicago PD finale, head over to this link for some further insight.
What do you think about the choice of Eid as the new Chicago PD showrunner? Sound off in the comments.
(Photo: NBC.)