NBC is continuing its stay at Chicago Med.

The network has ordered five more episodes of the Chicago Fire spinoff, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

The announcement brings the freshman drama's first season to 18 episodes.

NBC's decision is no surprise given the series' solid ratings thus far, as well as the continued performance of sister series Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D., which both received early renewals for next season.

The order for five additional episodes instead of the standard back-nine order may be attributed to several factors.

In addition to Chicago Med's later fall launch, NBC also has several yet-to-be-scheduled midseason series including another new hospital drama, Heartbreaker starring Melissa George. Heartbreaker was originally supposed to premiere in fall with Chicago Med set for a midseason debut, but the two switched places to accommodate George's pregnancy. 

The duo came onboard the series in late August following the departure of original showrunner Andrew Dettmann (CSI). 

The series, which hails from Universal Television and Wolf Films, stars Nick Gehlfuss, Yaya DaCosta, Torrey DeVitto, Rachel DiPillo, Colin Donnell, Brian Tee, S. Epatha Merkerson and Oliver Platt. 

For NBC, Chicago Med's order comes after the network already picked up a full season of hit Blindspot and gave the newcomer an early season two renewal. However, other rookie series like Truth Be Told and The Player did not fare so well. Both went off the air quietly after seeing their original episode orders trimmed.

Original Article Source: The Hollywood Reporter