Chicago Fire season 12 premiere date: The best case scenario

At this point, you have probably heard the news that Chicago Fire season 12 is not coming to NBC this fall. This may not have been something we anticipated five or six months ago, but ever since the WGA strike began last May, it’s been heading in this direction. Even as we write this piece, we have not heard anything to suggest that there are conversations happening in regards to the future of the firefighter series.

With this in mind, we should go ahead and pose the following question now: What is the best-case scenario, if we are not going to see the cast and crew back this fall? Can we pencil in January as a sure thing?

Well, the answer to that is “not so much.” We do think January 2024 is still possible, but it will probably take both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes ending before fall for that to happen. Remember that scripts will have to be written before filming can even begin, so it would take time for the operation to get back underway. Still, if the writers’ room opened in late September or early October, that could help to get filming started in November … and then, we could be looking at a mid-to-late January start.

However, if the strikes go into late September or October (which has been speculated), then you are looking at February as a more viable option. If things take that long, we are likely looking at a 10-13 episode season with no real room for expansion beyond that.

Of course, we’d love more Chicago Fire episodes than this, but it really comes down to how willing the streaming services and studios are in getting a new deal. We’d love to say that we are confident in seeing a deal like this happen, but how can we be right now? After all, they are not doing a whole lot to make us have faith. We just know that actors and writers deserve what they are asking for.

What do you most want to see when it comes to Chicago Fire season 12, no matter when it airs?

Be sure to share right now in the attached comments! Once you do just that, stay tuned here for other updates.

(Photo: NBC.)