TV Lifespans: Does Chicago Fire have long-term future beyond season 6?

Is Chicago Fire season 6 going to be the last season for the NBC drama? For the time being, that does appear to be pretty unlikely. After all, the ratings for the show are pretty solid, One Chicago is a fantastic franchise, and this series does still have many bankable stars.

There is still a larger question, though, that does need to be pondered in this edition of our CarterMatt TV Lifespans series: Whether or not Chicago Fire season 7 could be the end, or if there are some more seasons that could be coming after the fact.

On the surface, we obviously want to say with confidence that Chicago Fire is not a show going anywhere in the near future for a few different reasons — many of which we already outlined. Beyond just the ratings, though (which would be even better with a good lead-in), you also have to think here in terms of quality. Chicago Fire is a really good, really solid character-based show with heart, humor, and dimension that isn’t quite seen elsewhere on TV. NBC should want to keep quality on the air however long that they can, especially when it is the common thread between all of the different series. Fire tends to interact more with Chicago Med and Chicago PD more so than either party does with each other.

If there is one cause of concern that we have at the moment for Chicago Fire, it is simply this: Syndication. While Chicago PD has won big in the syndication market over the past year, the same cannot quite be said for Chicago Fire and it’s not making some extra money the same way. We know that for shows as they get later in the run, this is a big part of their revenue stream. This could ultimately prove to be one of the reasons why Chicago Fire could land itself in some hot water down the road, but we’re not altogether close to that just yet. This is a discussion for one year down the line.

Related – Want to see more of when Chicago Fire is returning to the air?

Do we think that Chicago Fire is going to come close to the run of another Dick Wolf show in Law & Order? Not really, but for the time being we wouldn’t worry too much if you are a big fan of it. As long as the ratings stay steady, the original One Chicago series is performing well enough to stick around for a little while.

Also, be sure to like CarterMatt on Facebook to get more insight on Chicago Fire whenever you want. (Photo: NBC.)