Firehouse 51 is losing a couple of key crew members: Chicago Fire cast members Daniel Kyri and Jake Lockett are leaving the NBC drama at season’s end and won’t return if the show is renewed for a 14th season, our sister site Deadline reports.
The report says the cast exits are “part of an effort to trim the budget” of the long-running drama and come “amid rumblings about cuts across Wolf Entertainment’s NBC series.” It’s possible Fire’s remaining cast members will see another reduction in the number of episodes they appear in each season, following a similar reduction two years ago. A renewal for Season 14, while still not official, seems likely; our handy-dandy Renewal Scorecard has it as “a sure thing.”
Kyri debuted in Season 7 as firefighter Darren Ritter, becoming a series regular in Season 9. Lockett joined the cast in Season 11 as firefighter Sam Carver and was just elevated to series regular this season.
One silver lining: The current season of Chicago Fire is still in production, so “Darren and Sam may get a proper ending for their characters,” per Deadline.
Will you miss Ritter and Carver on Chicago Fire? Are you bracing for more #OneChicago departures? Hit the comments to share your thoughts on the news.