The nominations for the 2023 Emmy Awards have officially been announced, and there weren’t too many surprises about which shows garnered the most nominations in major categories like Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Drama Series. There were of course also snubs that have had fans talking, including Elizabeth Olsen not getting a nom for Love & Death and Star Trek being left out of the major categories. Personally, I was bummed to see that another show was left out of a particular category yet again: Chicago Fire. The snub had me flashing back to what showrunner Derek Haas commented back in late 2022, and he’s certainly not wrong!
What The Showrunner Said About Chicago Fire’s Stunts
While Chicago Fire has a lot going for it after eleven full seasons, the show has been delivering cinematic stunts on the small screen going back to 2012. In fact, Severide’s bridge sequence from the Season 11 fall finale was so impressive that I took the time during an interview with co-showrunners Derek Haas and Andrea Newman to say that it was one of the cooler stunts that the show had ever done.
As you can see in a behind-the-scenes clip below, actor Taylor Kinney did much of the bridge stunt himself:
After my mention of the bridge stunt during our interview in December, Haas responded that he thought Fire does stunts “better than anyone,” and even though it’s a safe show, “it’s scary when you actually shoot on a bridge that’s open and they’re fifty feet up in the air and dangling from ropes.” I then noted to the co-showrunners that the sequence of Severide on the bridge felt like it was out of a film rather than a network TV show, and Haas said:
I'm so glad you said that! Do you know what's crazy? Here's the thing. There's an Emmy… for stunts, and it states that the Emmy campaigners or whatever always go to whatever is the cable show. So they're saying their stunts are better than [ours]. Our stunts are the best on television, hands down. We do it 22 times a year. It's insane.
Andrea Newman agreed with her fellow showrunner and named some examples of what Fire does that viewers won’t find on just any TV show, including “running into fires and leaping off buildings and jumping through glass and collapsing.” With every season other than the ninth (which was shortened due to COVID-19 production challenges) running for at least twenty episodes, that’s eleven seasons and nearly 250 episodes of stunts that haven’t been acknowledged by the Emmys.
How Stunts Are Rewarded At The Emmys
There are currently three categories for stunts at the Emmy Awards: Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Comedy Series, Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Drama Series, and Outstanding Stunt Performance. While I’m not qualified to weigh in on specific stunt performers and Chicago Fire wouldn’t qualify for anything in a Comedy category, surely the original One Chicago show deserves at least a nomination!
That’s not to say that the shows that were nominated for 2023 were undeserving, of course. Those that are in the running are Prime Video’s The Boys, Disney+’s The Mandalorian, ABC’s The Rookie, CBS’ S.W.A.T., and CBS’ FBI: Most Wanted, with Most Wanted actually sharing a TV universe with Chicago Fire.
I have nothing against The Rookie, S.W.A.T., and Most Wanted, but if the Emmys were actually going to honor network TV dramas instead of just those on cable and streaming, couldn’t Chicago Fire have at least been nominated? Honestly, pick any episode of the show from the seasons available streaming with a Peacock Premium subscription, and you could find an award-worthy action sequence. I don’t necessarily expect a network TV show to win against the likes of The Boys and The Mandalorian, but some recognition for Fire would be nice!
If there’s a silver lining, then we can always say that maybe a nomination will come next year. Chicago Fire was renewed for the 2023-2024 TV season, so it will return to NBC for Season 12… once the WGA writers strike is fully resolved, anyway! For now, you can check out our 2023 TV schedule for some summer viewing options and root for your non-Chicago Fire favorites to win at the Emmys.
