In October 2012, the US drama series, Chicago Fire made its debut. The show followed the story of the professional and personal lives of firefighters, paramedics, and rescue personnel of the Chicago Fire Department, and proved to be a big hit with audiences.
How big? Very. Shortly after Chicago Fire hit screens it was followed by multiple spin-off shows. Each of these shows revolved around different public services in the city of Chicago, Illinois, and each helped to keep the franchise going.
Incidentally, some viewers know this franchise as the Chicago shows, while others refer to them under the collective title of One Chicago. But if you’re a complete newbie to these shows, you’re probably asking the question, how the heck do I watch them and in what order?!
Well, fear not. Below I’ll explain all the key details of the Chicago shows, including the viewing order. For all the information and more, keep reading.
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Understanding the Chicago shows
As highlighted above, the first series to appear was Chicago Fire which hit screens back in October 2012. The first episode was simply titled ‘Pilot‘ and it kicked off a run of 24 episodes.
These episodes were a big hit with audiences, peaking at over 8 million viewers at one point, and this ensured a second season would follow. But before that second season began production, the team behind Chicago Fire also had their eye on a spin-off show.
To help get this spin-off show off the ground, the showrunners created a backdoor pilot. This backdoor pilot arrived in the shape of ‘Let Her Go‘ – the 23rd episode of Chicago Fire season one – which focused on the Chicago Police Department.
This pilot proved successful, and not long after the second season of Chicago Fire started airing in late 2013, spin-off show Chicago P.D. made it onto screens at the beginning of 2014. The two shows then aired concurrently until May 2014, with both getting a renewal for further seasons.
In September 2014 Chicago Fire season three began airing alongside Chicago P.D. season two. However, the makers of the Chicago shows weren’t content with just two shows on the air and plans were put in place once again to develop another series.
With the 19th episode of Chicago Fire (titled ‘I Am the Apocalypse‘) came yet another backdoor pilot. This story centred around a Chicago Medical team, and helped pave the way for a whole new show called Chicago Med.
Chicago Med made its debut in November 2015, running alongside season four of Chicago Fire and season three of Chicago P.D.. At this point in time there were now three Chicago shows on the air, but this still wasn’t quite enough.
Once again, another backdoor pilot was created, but this time during the third season of Chicago P.D.. The episode was called ‘Justice‘ – the 21st episode of the season – and it focused on a prosecution team.
With the backdoor pilot working its magic, the fourth Chicago show made its debut in 2017. This show was called Chicago Justice, and it appeared on screens alongside season six of Chicago Fire, season five of Chicago P.D., and season three of Chicago Med.
Unfortunately, Chicago Justice didn’t grab the same attention its predecessors did, and was cancelled after just one season. However, the other three shows continued to prove extremely popular and remained on air with Chicago Fire running through seasons seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, and thirteen; Chicago P.D. working through seasons six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, and twelve; and Chicago Med clocking up seasons four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten.
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Series breakdown
To date, the shows/seasons breakdown as follows:
- Chicago Fire – Thirteen seasons/274 episodes
- Chicago P.D. – Twelve seasons/243 episodes
- Chicago Med – Ten seasons/198 episodes
- Chicago Justice – One season/13 episodes
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Watching the Chicago shows in order
If you have never watched any of the Chicago shows before, and you are only now just finding your way into this little universe, hopefully the following show/season list will ease you in nicely.
The viewing order
- Chicago Fire: Season One (2012 – 2013)
- Chicago Fire: Season Two (2013 – 2014)
- Chicago P.D.: Season One (2014 – 2014)
- Chicago Fire: Season Three (2014 – 2015)
- Chicago P.D.: Season Two (2014 – 2015)
- Chicago P.D.: Season Three (2015 – 2016)
- Chicago Fire: Season Four (2015 – 2016)
- Chicago Med: Season One (2015 – 2016)
- Chicago P.D.: Season Four (2016 – 2017)
- Chicago Med: Season Two (2016 – 2017)
- Chicago Fire: Season Five (2016 – 2017)
- Chicago Justice: Season One (2017)
- Chicago P.D.: Season Five (2017 – 2018)
- Chicago Fire: Season Six (2017 – 2018)
- Chicago Med: Season Three (2017 – 2018)
- Chicago Fire: Season Seven (2018 – 2019)
- Chicago P.D.: Season Six (2018 – 2019)
- Chicago Med: Season Four (2018 – 2019)
- Chicago Fire: Season Eight (2019 – 2020)
- Chicago P.D.: Season Seven (2019 – 2020)
- Chicago Med: Season Five (2019 – 2020)
- Chicago Fire: Season Nine (2020 – 2021)
- Chicago P.D.: Season Eight (2020 – 2021)
- Chicago Med: Season Six (2020 – 2021)
- Chicago Fire: Season Ten (2021 – 2022)
- Chicago P.D.: Season Nine (2021 – 2022)
- Chicago Med: Season Seven (2021 – 2022)
- Chicago Fire: Season Eleven (2022 – 2023)
- Chicago P.D.: Season Ten (2022 – 2023)
- Chicago Med: Season Eight (2022 – 2023)
- Chicago Fire: Season Twelve (2024)
- Chicago P.D.: Season Eleven (2024)
- Chicago Med: Season Nine (2024)
- Chicago Fire: Season Thirteen (2024 – 2025)
- Chicago P.D.: Season Twelve (2024 – 2025)
- Chicago Med: Season Ten (2024 – 2025)
Please note: I’ve listed the shows and seasons in the best order possible, taking into account their air dates (hence why a few of them move around a little). To keep things easy, watch each season as it comes.
However, please bear in mind as the shows are all linked, some crossovers may take place within the seasons. As such, if you’re watching season-by-season, some crossover episodes won’t line-up exactly.
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And finally, who are the main cast members in the Chicago franchise?
Notable names in the Chicago TV franchise include Jesse Spencer, Taylor Kinney, Monica Raymund, Lauren German, Charlie Barnett, David Eigenberg, Eamonn Walker, Yuri Sardarov, Christian Stolte, Joe Minoso, Teri Reeves, Kara Kilmer, Dora Madison, Steven R. McQueen, Miranda Rae Mayo, Annie Rosende, Daniel Kyri, Adriyan Rae, Hanako Greensmith, Jake Lockett, Jocelyn Hudon, Dermot Mulroney, Jason Beghe, Jon Seda, Sophia Bush, Jesse Lee Soffer, Patrick John Flueger, Marina Squerciati, LaRoyce Hawkins, Archie Kao, Elias Koteas, Amy Morton, Brian Geraghty, Tracy Spiridakos, Lisseth Chavez, Benjamin Levy Aguilar, Toya Turner, Nick Gehlfuss, Yaya DaCosta, Torrey DeVitto, Rachel DiPillo, Colin Donnell, Brian Tee, S. Epatha Merkerson, Oliver Platt, Marlyne Barrett, Norma Kuhling, Dominic Rains, Steven Weber, Kristen Hager, Jessy Schram, Luke Mitchell, Sarah Ramos, Darren Barnet, Philip Winchester, Joelle Carter, Monica Barbaro, and Carl Weathers.
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Thank you for stopping by It’s A Stampede! to read this post about the Chicago shows – I hope it has proved useful. For more posts, be sure to check out the recommended reads below.
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