# TV series set in Chicago? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 23, 2013, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-set-in-chicago/653733 "2013-03-23T12:45:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-set-in-chicago/653733/41 "2013-03-25T00:47:51Z")
I love _Due South_, but since I’ve been living in Toronto, it’s painfully obvious that the series was filmed here, not in Chicago (despite the exteriors in the opening credits). In a lot of episodes, you can see Canadian flags flying in the background, the CN Tower, TTC streetcars, etc. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-set-in-chicago/653733/42 "2013-03-25T03:45:40Z")
Yep, it’s a much shorter list of TV shows that were set in Chicago and actually **shot** in Chicago as well. _The Chicago Code_ was a notable, if short-lived, example. _Boss_ was as well, I’m pretty sure. Oh, yeah, also the short-lived and lamented Jeremy Piven vehicle _Cupid_. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-set-in-chicago/653733/43 "2013-03-25T05:27:43Z")
Good point, **fiddlesticks**. For shows both \*set \*in Chicago and \*filmed \*in Chicago, the list gets very short. And IMHO, \*Crime Story \* (season one) and \*Chicago Code \* (season only) are the best of the best of that short list. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-set-in-chicago/653733/44 "2013-03-25T13:49:49Z")
_Chicago Fire_ is filmed in Chicago, and makes great use of the city for locations. Also, a lot of the guest actors are from the Chicago theater scene. It makes a nice change from _The Good Wife_, which is filmed in New York. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-set-in-chicago/653733/45 "2013-03-25T15:25:47Z")
> [@h.sapiens](#): > > _Chicago Fire_ is filmed in Chicago, and makes great use of the city for locations. Also, a lot of the guest actors are from the Chicago theater scene. It makes a nice change from _The Good Wife_, which is filmed in New York. The block next to mine is very picturesque and gets used a lot for filming that show. Which means MY block gets the honor of being lined with trailers for 48 hours at a stretch. ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2013, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-set-in-chicago/653733/46 "2013-03-25T17:33:51Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > The Bob Newhart Show! This is the first thing that came to my mind. ---
**Author:** ![patrician](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@patrician](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/patrician)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2013, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-set-in-chicago/653733/47 "2013-03-27T12:37:33Z")
Chicago Hope - a really good hospital show that got overrun by St. Elsewhere. It had a good cast including Marty Patinkin, Mark Harmon, Christine Lahti, Peter MacNicol, etc and great guest stars. It ended production in 2000. Bosom Buddies has an opening shot with the boys running along a beach with palm trees. Definitely a California location - even the architecture in the long shots is clearly of that La La land look. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-set-in-chicago/653733/48 "2013-03-27T14:21:57Z")
Also Early Edition. And Buck Rogers is set in New Chicago where the L train is replaced by that one flying shuttle but thing. ---
**Author:** ![James\_Otto\_Sweet\_Heart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@James\_Otto\_Sweet\_Heart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Otto_Sweet_Heart)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2013, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-set-in-chicago/653733/49 "2013-03-27T15:51:29Z")
> [@breezman](#): > > Perfect Strangers was set in Chicago. I **loved** that show when I was a kid and the Family Matters show was a spin off and so that show was also set in Chicago as well as Mary-Kate and Ashley’s Full House follow up named Two Of A Kind. 🙂 🙂 🙂 God bless you and them always!!! Holly (a day one fan of the girls) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-set-in-chicago/653733/50 "2013-03-27T16:12:01Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > The actual Hill Street from the name is in downtown LA. IIRC, the show creators said it was set in a city somewhere between Boston and Chicago. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I read somewhere that they were thinking Pittsburgh. I believe some of the creators and actors went to school there. I also recall reading the Pittsburgh hypothesis. ---
**Author:** ![wombattver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b77776/32.png) [@wombattver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wombattver)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-set-in-chicago/653733/51 "2013-03-29T05:07:51Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I read somewhere that they were thinking Pittsburgh. I believe some of the creators and actors went to school there. Pittsburgh is correct. There is a a very rough area known as the “Hill District.” Steven Bochco went to college in Pgh, at what is now Carnegie Mellon. ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-set-in-chicago/653733/52 "2013-04-26T11:26:38Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I also recall reading the Pittsburgh hypothesis. but, you could still fill a couple of pages with references to Buffalo streets and institutions. I’m sure the writers and etc. drew on many diverse places and situations to create the believable montage. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-set-in-chicago/653733/53 "2013-04-26T16:26:17Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I love _Due South_, but since I’ve been living in Toronto, it’s painfully obvious that the series was filmed here, not in Chicago (despite the exteriors in the opening credits). > > In a lot of episodes, you can see Canadian flags flying in the background, the CN Tower, TTC streetcars, etc. Well, that makes sense, cause a lot of Chicogoans are people from Toronto that liked the cold, but it just wasn’t dirty enough. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-set-in-chicago/653733/54 "2013-04-27T01:30:22Z")
No one has mentioned the first half-season of _ **Crime Story** _ with Dennis Farina? One of the best series ever, and it took me back to the Chicago where I used to spend my summers as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-set-in-chicago/653733/55 "2013-04-27T06:27:40Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > No one has mentioned the first half-season of _ **Crime Story** _ with Dennis Farina? One of the best series ever, and it took me back to the Chicago where I used to spend my summers as a kid. It was mentioned in post #11. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-set-in-chicago/653733/56 "2013-04-27T07:27:47Z")
I always figured _Hill Street Blues_ was set in Isola. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-set-in-chicago/653733/57 "2013-04-27T16:23:35Z")
_Hoarding: Buried Alive_ just featured someone in Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-set-in-chicago/653733/58 "2013-04-27T16:28:40Z")
Chicago Fire has been renewed. ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-set-in-chicago/653733/59 "2013-04-28T01:36:18Z")
How many TV shows, especially sitcoms, are really set anywhere? If you’d never been to either city and someone told you _Perfect Strangers_ was set in Indianapolis, how long would it take you to notice it wasn’t? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-set-in-chicago/653733/60 "2013-04-28T02:55:53Z")
Anyone remember a short-lived comedy called _The Loop_ about a young executive at a Chicago-based airline and his circle of wacky friends and coworkers? I liked it, and Mimi Rogers was especially milfy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-set-in-chicago/653733.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-series-set-in-chicago/653733.md?page=4)