7 TV Shows Set In Chicago That Get It Right
I’m a Chicagoan and I feel an immense amount of pride for my city. Chicago is more than just The Bean (no one that lives here goes there), deep dish pizza, and the romanticism of the North Side.
Chicago has 77 distinguished neighborhoods that all have their own flair and feel and the city itself is so beautiful, even during the harsh winters. Many shows and movies only take a look at the city from the North Side and forget about the West and South Side, which can make true Chicagoans searching desperately for an authentic feel on screen. My love for the city always comes out even more when I am watching a show or movie that actually portrays Chicago how it is and doesn’t give in to stereotypes and influencer culture of the city. If you love Chicago, here are 4 shows that actually feel like the city.
The Chi
The Chi is a coming-of-age story about families and residents of the South Side of Chicago and how their lives become undeniably linked together by coincidences. The Chi isn’t perfect but it does get a lot of things right about Chicago. Lena Waithe is the creator of the show and she utilized Chicago rappers in the show to showcase the talent that comes from the city. The food is relatively represented correctly for the South Side, showing corner stores, hole-in-the-wall spots with great food, and even the lack of food is South Side areas that create a food desert. Unfortunately, there is also the prevalence of violence in the South Side neighborhoods and The Chi does get it right in the sense that it can happen randomly and many residents will take revenge into their own hands.
The Bear
The Bear has become one of the most popular television shows. The Bear follows Carmy, a fine dining chef who returns home to run his family sandwich shop after there’s a death. The Bear gets quite a few things right about Chicago. One of them being the diverse food culture here and how cutthroat working in the restaurant business can be here. There are so many people and many owning restaurants in the city have to keep up with the fast paced environment while also providing extraordinary service or they won’t get the influencer stamp of approval. The sports banter in the show is also very accurate because us Chicagoans take our fandoms seriously.
Easy
Easy is definitely one of the shows that focuses in on the North Side, which is totally fine because that is also a big part of the city. Easy is basically just about a bunch of adults living in Chicago trying to figure out how to date, spice up their marriages, and deal with the complexities of technology-based relationships. Easy showcases a lot of local cafes and restaurants that will have you watching and saying “I know where that is!”. The neighborhoods are referenced correctly, so the characters in the show do give a more authentic feel to what it’s like living in certain North Side neighborhoods. Visually, Easy is a love story to the city of Chicago and the people who decide to inhabit these areas.
One Chicago Franchise
The One Chicago Franchise includes shows like Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, and Chicago Med. All three of these shows are so hilariously dramatized at times that you will be so confused as to how a story line is actually happening, but outside of that, all three shows utilize actual Chicago places and feel like the city. Much of the dialogue and the characters portray a mostly accurate depiction of living in Chicago and the shows really using local places in filming is helpful. There have been a handful of times this year already where I have been redirected to work because an area is shut down for filming, so that always swells my sense of Chicago Pride.
