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NBC’s One Chicago fans can’t wait to hear about the Chicago Fire Season 12 premiere. Chicago Fire Season 11 left fans curious about what’s next for their fan-favorite cast members, especially Taylor Kinney, who plays Kelly Severide. Unfortunately, the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes impact the Chicago Fire Season 12 release date. Here’s what to know.

When will ‘Chicago Fire’ Season 12 premiere with the actors and writers strike?

Chicago Fire Season 12 won’t premiere in September 2023 as NBC originally intended. Unfortunately, the current WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes mean Chicago Fire will experience a significant delay in its return. As of July 2023, writers and actors are on strike for better conditions and fair pay.

So, what does this mean for NBC? The network will air reality TV shows in the fall. They also plan to air TV shows they acquired before the strikes began. With that said, One Chicago fans can still get their fix, as NBC reserved the Wednesday 8 p.m. timeslot for One Chicago reruns.

With the striking still happening, when will Chicago Fire Season 12 premiere? Fans will likely see a premiere date in early-to-mid-2024. The One Chicago teams typically gather in July before a new fall season airs in September. If the team doesn’t gather until the end of 2023 (say, October 2023), fans likely won’t see new Chicago Fire episodes until January or February 2024. If the strike drags on into 2024, this will push the premiere even further into 2024.

Chicago P.D. star LaRoyce Hawkins spoke about how the actors in the One Chicago shows will likely need a “three-week buffer” after the strike resolves to get back to filming. Once filming begins, the showrunners must polish the episodes to prepare them for public viewing.

“Naturally, after the writers strike, it’s going to take the writers a while to start warming up their rooms again and starting to conceptualize stories again,” Hawkins explained, according to FanSided. “So, we might need like a three-week buffer.” 

When will the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes end?

The Chicago Fire Season 12 is far off, given the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. The Writers Guild of America strike began on May 2, 2023, and the Screen Actors Guild started to strike on July 14, 2023. So, when could the strikes possibly end?

According to Matt Belloni from Puck, the strikes may take far longer than many expect. The strikes could last until early 2024, profoundly impacting many network television shows. Belloni expressed concern that negotiations between the guilds and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers won’t happen until the 2024 Academy Awards, which air on March 10, 2024.

If the strike lingers until March 10, it would be the longest strike the WGA and SAG-AFTRA have ever had. There’s a good chance that negotiations will happen before this.

Will Taylor Kinney rejoin the ‘Chicago Fire’ Season 12 cast as Kelly Severide?

'Chicago Fire' star Taylor Kinney as Kelly Severide
‘Chicago Fire’ star Taylor Kinney | Adrian S. Burrows Sr./NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
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Chicago Fire Season 12 will air at some point, though it’s unclear if Taylor Kinney will rejoin the cast as Kelly Severide. Kinney abruptly left the show during season 11 for a leave of absence and to deal with a “personal matter.” The show writers explained that Severide went to train at an arson investigation program. NBC hasn’t addressed whether Kinney is coming back.

Even if Kinney does return, he might not be in the season as much as some fans hope. A new agreement shows NBC agreed to cut the show’s costs by having the stars appear in fewer episodes.

Elements of this story were originally reported by The Direct and Deadline.

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