Continuing a successful freshman season built primarily on risk aversion, NBC has picked up Chicago Fire for the rest of the year, giving the coveted "back nine" to the solidly competent show. The Dick Wolf-produced procedural—about the very real dangers faced by Chicago's sexiest firefighters, as they run around putting out Chicago's hourly fires—has been steadily improving in the ratings, averaging around 8 million viewers in its time slot. That, combined with the fact that it's earnestly sincere, does an adequate job of balancing character arcs with fires-of-the-week, and also has lots of toned people who occasionally wear tank tops has made it something of a modest hit for the network that's finally feeling grateful and optimistic this year, hence the renewal. Should the show continue to grow, perhaps we can expect a Chicago Fire: Arson Investigation Unit spinoff, about Chicago's hottest arson investigators chasing Chicago's cutest pyromaniacs.
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