Prime Video’s On Call is connected to Dick Wolf‘s TV universe — but there likely won’t be any onscreen crossovers.
During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Creator Tim Walsh explained how his show with fellow creator Elliot Wolf is separate from the One Chicago and Law & Order shows, which have all been produced by Dick Wolf.
“I do not want to do a crossover with any of the existing shows. I do believe we are in our own universe and they’re in their own universe,” Walsh noted. “However, expanding our universe into other first responders, we’re all very game to doing that. There are paramedics in Long Beach.”
On Call found a way to lean into Walsh’s roots as a producer on Chicago P.D. with a guest appearance from Monica Raymund, who played Gabriela Dawson in NBC’s Chicago Fire. But the intention is for On Call to create its own fictional world instead of connecting itself to an existing one.
“I came up on Chicago P.D. and I have an enormous amount of respect for network TV. It is deceptively difficult to write. However, with that being said, I wanted to take everything I did in that show and do the exact opposite [with On Call],” he explained to Us. “We want to let things breathe. It’s an R-rated show, which obviously network TV is not.”
Walsh continued: “I wanted this to be its own unique kind of animal and probably the lessons I took from other shows I’ve been on were things not to do quite honestly.”
On Call, which premiered on Thursday, January 9, is Wolf Entertainment’s first scripted streaming series. The gritty drama utilizes bodycam, dash-camera and cellphone footage to follow cops in the field and it marks Elliot’s first executive producer credit on a scripted show after he served for years as the head of digital at Wolf Entertainment.
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“I have to give a shoutout to my partner, Elliot Wolf. I would not be here without him. He sold the show prior to me coming on and he sold it with the vision of we were going to use the lenses of cell phones and bodycam and dash-cam, so all credit goes to him,” Walsh told Us. “He had the genius of seeing visually how much that could set us apart from other shows.”
The series also sets itself apart by introducing important conversations without picking sides.
“That was the goal of going into it was it’s not an anti-police or pro-police show. It’s pro-character — and the characters happen to be cops,” Walsh explained. “We started doing a lot of research from the jump including multiple ride-alongs with the Los Angeles Police Department, Sheriff’s Department and Long Beach police. You realize when you get in a car that it’s just another human being next to you.”
On Call’s mission is to “entertain” their audience, Walsh explained. “People are at a point in their lives where they don’t want to be preached at anymore. So we were very aware of that,” he continued. “It’s a complicated subject matter. We’re not ignoring that part of it. But we’re also saying that outside of the complicated subject matter, there’s also an incredibly important job that these people have to do. We wanted to focus on that part.”
On Call is currently streaming on Prime Video.
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