The brains behind the hit medical drama reveal their plans for the upcoming season and how they use reality to fuel fiction.
Behind every show are dozens or even hundreds of people who help to make the magic happen. The actors we see on screen are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the immense talent involved in making ideas a reality. A perfect example of this are Andrew Schneider and Diane Frolov, the executive producers of NBC’s hit medical drama Chicago Med.
We got a chance to talk with them and hear about the creative process behind the show, learn more about the roadmap of where they’re heading, and delve into where these incredible stories come from. Writers bring the show to life, but it’s the producer’s job to envision where this show is going not just in one episode, but over the course of a season or even multiple season. Much of their work and their stories are grounded in reality and very much in line with the heart beat of the city they’re based in on and off camera, Chicago. Check out our talk with them below:
Andrew Schneider and Diane Frolov
What kind of obstacles are you going to take us on this season?
Andrew: One thing, beside exploring two new romances, we want to explore the financial issues that are in medicine and the pressure it puts on both doctors and administrators.
Diane: We’re also coming off of the shooting and we’re going to see how that’s going to affect Sarah and how it affects other people in that community. That’s going to be a big story line for Sarah and for Charles. Then we’re going to be with Ethan and April, and how do you have a relationship in a work place, that’s hierarchal and how do you maintain an integrity in it.
Andrew: There’s a power differential. He’s a doctor, she’s a nurse and they will argue about cases and treatment but it’s going to be his say because finally it’s his responsibility so it creates a tension in the relationship because they don’t have an equality in their workplace situation.
Diane: I think their obstacles are going to be emotional obstacles and then as Andrew mentioned, financial, and a number of ethical dilemmas that our characters are going to be involved in.
When you’re writing each season, are you guys thinking “What’s the audience going to think after each episode?”
Diane: Yea, that’s very important to us. The story, they resonate with one another very often, there’s a theme running through them and we’re hoping that the audience is picking that up and walks away with that theme.
Andrew: Also, we deal a lot with ethical issues and people falling on different sides of ethical issues. Medicine can be a very grey area and how you treat the patient and when is it time to let a patient go and when is it time to resuscitate a patient. We also like it that the audience might take one side or the other. The audience might go, oh geez, I didn’t know this could happen! That’s all.
How often is it that you have a season completely written or filmed and then you hear about a case and you save it for next season.
Diane: A lot of times. All the time. We get these great cases and we can’t fit them in, or they just don’t work and these are things we love. We’re going to come back and do them.