Dick Wolf continues to be NBC's go-to guy.
The network is prepping a potential spinoff of Wolf's sturdy freshman drama Chicago Fire, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
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The Taylor Kinney starrer about a team of Chicago firefighters and paramedics has been a solid performer on Wednesdays for the network this season. Since its modest bow in the fall, the series of late has been besting ABC's Connie Britton critical darling Nashville in its Wednesdays at 10 p.m. slot in the advertiser-coveted adults 18-49 demographic. On Feb. 27 it also scored another major ratings hurdle when it outrated CBS' long-running procedural CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as well.
The potential spinoff would likely air as a back-door pilot this season, should the Wolf-produced series deliver a fitting episode that centers on the Chicago police department. Chicago Fire creators and EPs Derek Haas and Michael Brandt, EP Matt Olmstead and Wolf would oversee the Universal Television and Wolf Films project, which could see some of the first-year drama's cast transfer as well.
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The potential Chicago Fire spinoff becomes the latest back-door pilot this season, joining The Vampire Diaries' The Originals, which airs in April; and CBS' NCIS: LA entry, NCIS: Red, which aired this month.
For his part, Wolf is no stranger to spinoffs. The Law & Order mastermind successfully spun two series off the legal procedural in the long-running Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: CI. Additionally, Wolf is also on board to executive produce a half-hour comedy pilot for NBC -- Girlfriend in a Coma, which is currently testing actresses to replace Christina Ricci in the Liz Brixius which co-stars Miranda Cosgrove.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit
