Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Chicago Med resuscitated; Fixer Upper’s end nigh
Now that Law & Order: True Crime has finished with the Menendez brothers trial, Chicago Med can finally come off the bench and start Season 3.
The medical drama returns at 9 p.m. today on NBC, so all you fans can stop sending me emails asking when.
The series is part of Dick Wolf ’s Chicago franchise of dramas that includes Chicago Fire (returns 9 p.m. Jan. 4) and Chicago P.D. (9 p.m. Wednesday).
A fourth series, Chicago Justice, never caught on and ended after one season, 20162017.
The prolific 70-year-old Wolf made his mark beginning in 1990 with with NBC’s Law & Order programs. They include:
Law & Order (1990-2010), 456 episodes.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999-), 400-plus episodes and counting.
Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001-2011), 195 episodes.
Law & Order: Trial by Jury (2005-2006), 13 episodes.
Law & Order: LA (20102011), 22 episodes.
Law & Order: True Crime: The Menendez Murders (eight episodes) was the first in Wolf’s planned anthology series that will follow one case per season. It starred Edie Falco as Leslie Abramson and Gaston Villanueva and Gus Halper as Lyle and Erik Menendez.
The first three Law & Order series alone would be enough to cement Wolf’s television legacy. Twenty years for Law & Order ties it with Gunsmoke for the most seasons for an American drama, although Gunsmoke (1955-1975) ended with more episodes — 635.
Special Victims Unit is still going strong in Season 19 and could very well break the season record.
Aside: The iconic opening “chung-chung” or “doinkdoink” sound effect of every L&O episode was synthesized by composer Mike Post. He combined six or seven sounds to get it just right.
For the record, the longestrunning prime-time scripted series in American TV history is The Simpsons, currently in its 29th season. And that doesn’t count the three years the gang appeared as cartoon shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show.
Imagine — 29 years and Bart is still in the fourth grade. And, d’oh, a 30th season has already been ordered.
For the curious, Anthony E. Zuiker created four CSI series for CBS. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, launched in 2000 and ran for 15 seasons. It was set in Las Vegas. That was followed by CSI: Miami (2002-2012), CSI: NY (20042013) and CSI: Cyber (20142016).
Back to Wolf. Perhaps it was the lack of success of Law & Order: Trial by Jury and Law & Order: LA (the first set outside New York) that convinced Wolf to diversify and move on to Chicago with Chicago Fire (2012-), which follows the firefighters and paramedics working at Firehouse 51 of the Chicago Fire Department.
Chicago P.D. (2014-) was next and follows the officers and detectives of the Chicago Police Department’s 21st District. Chicago Med (2015-) covers the doctors, nurses and staff of Gaffney Chicago Medical Center.
At the center of all this lifesaving excitement are Dr. Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss), the head of the ER, who has a budding romance going with Dr. Natalie Manning (Torrey DeVitto), emergency pediatrics resident.
Others in the large ensemble are heart surgeon Dr. Connor Rhodes (Colin Donnell) cardiothoracic specialist, Dr. Ava Bekker (Norma Kuhling), and head of psychiatry Dr. Daniel Charles (Oliver Platt).
Dr. Sarah Reese (Rachel DiPillo) is a psychiatry resident, and former Navy flight surgeon Dr. Ethan Choi (Brian Tee) works in the ER.
The nursing staff includes April Sexton (Yaya DaCosta) and Maggie Lockwood (Marlyne Barrett). April’s brother, Noah Sexton (Roland Buck III), joins the ER as its newest resident.
Sharon Goodwin (S. Epatha Merkerson) is the veteran head of the hospital.
In tonight’s episode, “Speak Your Truth,” the docs try to bring justice to the former patient who shot Dr. Charles in last season’s finale; epidemiologist Robin Charles (Mekia Cox) is discharged from rehab after the removal of her benign brain tumor; and Maggie sticks up for a patient.
Fixer Upper, 8 p.m. today on HGTV. It’s the fifth and final season for Chip and Joanna Gaines turning hopeless houses into showplaces. The couple announced the end in their blog in September.
“While we are confident that this is the right choice for us,” they wrote, “it has for sure not been an easy one to come to terms with. How bittersweet to say goodbye to the very thing that introduced us all in the first place.”
In tonight’s episode, a biochemistry professor wants a house with lots of bedrooms and acreage that can accommodate his growing brood.
Dancing With the Stars,8 p.m. today on ABC. Season 25 comes to an end tonight when the coveted mirror ball trophy is awarded.