NBC orders full ‘Chicago Fire’ season, more ‘Whitney’ season 2 scripts

NBC wasted almost no time at all on capitalizing on some of the season-high ratings for new season “Chicago Fire.” Only a matter of hours after the fireman drama’s ratings came in (boosted largely by a new episode of “The Voice” serving as its lead-in), the network decided to give the show a full season. Even though this ratings bump will probably not carry over into next week, this is still a move that makes at least a decent amount of sense given that Wednesday nights are a weak one for NBC, and the show has the potential to build in the weeks ahead. They also have some other times open for some of their new shows thanks to “Revolution” taking a long hiatus and “Smash” coming on in the place of “Parenthood.”

This was not the only great news announced for an NBC show on Thursday, either, as “Whitney” season 2 was also officially handed five additional scripts. While this is not as great as a full-season order by any means, it at least shows that the network is interested enough in what they are seeing to ask to see what else could be up the sleeve of Whitney Cummings and the writers. “Whitney” started off as a much-maligned sitcom, but those who have actually stuck it out know now that it has become stronger since that time.

Thanks largely to “The Voice,” NBC is celebrating having one of its strongest seasons in years so far. Ratings are up across the board on most nights, especially on Mondays and Tuesdays with the assistance of the singing reality show. Rather than trying to use that as a litmus test for their other series, though, these moves show that NBC is more interested in trying to raise their current shows to that level.

What do you think about this news? Be sure to share some of your thoughts below!