CHICAGO’S STAR TURN
12 ways the city hogged the pop culture spotlight in 2017
On a recent episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Larry David is watching a preview of a TV show with Lauren Graham’s Bridget, a foul- mouthed NBC censor prone to telling graphic stories about her sexual past.
On the show within the show, Jerry O’Connell and Ali Larter are playing detectives about to inspect a murder scene. Larry: What’s the name of this show? Bridget: “Chicago Homicide.” Larry: Oh, my God, you poor kid. Bridget: It’s not that bad, people love it. Larry: People love THIS? Bridget: People love anything with ‘ Chicago’ in the title, it’s been proven. [ Larry lets loose with a hearty laugh.]
Laugh if you will, Mister Larry David, but ask the folks at the real- life NBC how much they love those shows with “Chicago” in the title, from “Chicago Fire” to “Chicago Med” to “Chicago P. D.”
OK, so “Chicago Justice” lasted just 13 episodes, but maybe that’s because folks who watch “Chicago Fire” and “Chicago Med” and “Chicago P. D.” mistakenly believed they’d already seen “Chicago Justice” before actually watching “Chicago Justice” because they were experiencing “Chicago”titled overload.
Not that the Chicago TV universe is confined only to shows with “Chicago” in the title. Just one example: Showtime’s longrunning hit “Shameless,” which is set in Chicago and admittedly films mostly in Los Angeles — with a few weeks of filming in the Chicago area every year — was recently renewed for its ninth season.
Emmy Rossum has been playing South Side spitfire Fiona Gallagher for a third of her life. That’s Chicago strong.