Police station exterior used in multiple shows
You have questions. I have some answers.
Q: Is the 21st precinct building in “Chicago P.D.” the same building that is shown in the credits of “Hill Street Blues”?
A: Yes. That is the exterior of the famous Maxwell Street Station in Chicago, now in the National Register of Historic Places. According to one history, the fortresslike structure was designed in 1888 in what was called “the wickedest police district in the world.” It is currently home to the University of Illinois at Chicago police department.
Q: My wife and I recently started watching “The West Wing” on Netflix and we had over 100 episodes to go when Netflix said the show was leaving on Christmas Day. Any idea if the show will be available on another streaming service — possibly HBO Max, since they did a “West Wing” reunion recently?
A: One of the more challenging aspects of the explosion of streaming services is tracking the movement of shows from one to another. But you guessed correctly in this case: “The West Wing” is now on HBO Max.
Q: We loved following “New Amsterdam” and “The Resident.” Will they be coming back?
A: Yes. “The Resident” returned on Fox Jan. 12. A year ago, NBC renewed “New Amsterdam” through the 2022-23 season, but it has not yet set a return date.
Q: In a Dick Powell movie, from what I recall, his character died and returned to Earth as a German shepherd to find his killer. Does that storyline ring a bell, and do you know the name of the movie?
A: It did ring a bell, although not quite the one you heard. The movie is “You Never Can Tell,” with Dick Powell, from 1951.
According to the Turner Classic Movies website, the plot – and I am not making this up – involves a billionaire leaving his fortune to his dog, King. Someone poisons the dog and the estate’s trustee (Peggy Dow) is wrongly accused of his death. King leaves animal purgatory to return to Earth as a “hum-animal” (a human with some animal traits) to save the accused.
That hum-animal, played by Powell, is a private detective with, TCM says, “a taste for kibble.” He saves the day with help from another hum-animal, a former racehorse named Goldie ( Joyce Holden). Since all of this may make you want to see how this all plays out, the movie has been released on DVD.
Q: I have been watching and rewatching “JAG” for years. I am wondering why Admiral Chegwidden left the show with just one season left. I always thought that was weird.
A: Various reasons have been offered for John M. Jackson’s leaving the role of A.J. Chegwidden on “JAG,” including that he had done all he could with the character at that time, and he wanted more time to watch his son Conor Jackson play pro baseball. And the show might have kept going longer than one more season but for other factors, including star David James Elliott’s decision to leave the series. As for Jackson, he has continued to act on various television series, for example in a recurring role on “Bones.”
He did return to the character of Chegwidden at times in an episode of the “JAG” spinoff “NCIS” and several episodes of “NCIS: Los Angeles.” (By the way, Chegwidden’s middle name is Jethro, the same middle name Gibbs has on “NCIS.”)