The One Chicago franchise, comprising three on-air shows, is one of the strongest franchises on television.
One Chicago Wednesday is one of the most entertaining programming blocks, featuring Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago P.D., which take viewers through a range of emotions and feelings.
More than a decade in, the shows consistently deliver stellar ratings, making renewals a no-brainer.
The upcoming broadcast season will feature fresh seasons of all three shows.
Few people engage with the franchise in a deeper manner than the TV Fanatic staff. If you read our opinions, you’ll see that we’re always ready to critique everything about the three shows, offering both love and disappointment, depending on the focus.
We recently learned that Toya Turner won’t be returning to Chicago P.D. after playing Kiana Cook for a single season.
Reacting to this news, One Chicago Fanatics broke into a spontaneous discussion in a Slack channel, and it became clear that we had gripes with the shows.
From a revolving door of cast members to undercooked stories and a shrinking character ensemble, this is not the One Chicago we know and love, and we aren’t sure things will improve in subsequent seasons.
Is One Chicago Going Stale?
“I may have hit my limit with One Chicago,” Jasmine Blu said. She explained:
“I’m already not interested in Chicago Fire with their casting BS. Taylor Kinney acts like he’s phoning it in and only there for the paycheck when he’s even onscreen. They do the stupidest stuff with Mouch and Hermann, sidelined Ritter, and then ousted him, and have gotten rid of Carver, who had the most story potential.”
Her comments echoed recurring criticism of Chicago Fire, where there is no effort to address the show’s weak points.
Some longtime fanatics like Paul Dailly jumped ship a long time ago.
“I used to be all-in on One Chicago, but I can’t remember the last time I watched any of them. P.D. used to be my favorite, but everything I’ve been reading about it has put me right off it,” he said.
He explained his major gripe. “My biggest issue with those shows, anyway, is that character arcs are discarded when the show is done with them.”
The youngest in the franchise, Chicago Med, is also struggling. “Med has always been my favorite, but I feel like I’m hate-watching at this point,” Jack Ori said.
Part of it is that many doctors are aggravating, and some stories, like Ripley’s, don’t make sense in the grand scheme of the show.
“All three shows are clearly inert,” Denis Kimathi said.
Is There a Way to Reactivate One Chicago?
All is never lost because a show, or three, had several bad seasons. Some decisions can recapture the magic they once had.
One of these things is to keep the characters that viewers know and love.
The second is some changes in the creative department of a show. A new showrunner could change everything for the better, like what happened with The Walking Dead in Season 9.
“I don’t think a new showrunner will save some of these series,” Jasmine said. “Med got a new showrunner and honestly, I’m not impressed,” added Jack.
“I feel like a new showrunner can never fix a show that’s past sell-by,” Denis said, echoing Jack and Jasmine’s sentiments. Okay, a new showrunner is a non-starter.
Another option was to bring back past cast members. However, many moved on to new projects or expressed little interest in revisiting the past, which might not happen.
Chicago P.D. fans were treated to a rare development when, after his abrupt exit, Jesse Lee Soffer was cast in FBI: International playing a slightly upbeat version of Jay Halstead.
However, no one was confident he would be open to returning to Chicago P.D. “I don’t know if Soffer even wants to come back to P.D.,” Jasmine said, adding, “Plus, they effed up his exit so much, I don’t see an avenue where it would even work.”
The only way Lee Soffer is returning to Chicago P.D. is as a director. But that’s for an episode or two, and he will be behind the cameras.
Is It AI? Just Tell Us!
One Chicago has stumbled in the last few seasons, and since we’re speculating, the writers’ room may have a new occupant: ChatGPT.
One Chicago Fanatics felt like it was the only way to explain some of the stories in the previous seasons.
Then someone said, “Don’t insult ChatGPT like that! Some of these scripts are worse than what it writes.”
There’s trouble on the horizon for One Chicago if these asinine decisions don’t stop.
How about one more? Cancel them before their legacy is ruined.
Watch Chicago Med Online
Watch Chicago Fire Online
Watch Chicago PD Online
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