Chicago on Film: The Chicago Code Premieres Tonight

Kate Stahl — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 08:01:00 CST

Chicago is looking good on the small screen this season, and tonight marks the premiere of Fox's The Chicago Code, a new cop drama from Shawn Ryan, the creator of The Shield, who's also originally from Rockford. The show stars Chicago native Jennifer Beals as the city's first female police superintendent, along with Jason Clarke as a tough Polish cop, cutie Matt Lauria of Friday Night Lights as his young partner, and Delroy Lindo as a corrupt alderman (not that our city knows anything about those).

The coolest part of the new show is that it's filming almost exclusively in Chicago, and not just in our picturesque lakefront locales. The cast has been spotted filming on the South Side and in Boystown, the Loop, and Chinatown, though Millennium Park and Michigan Avenue will also make appearances. And to keep the plot lines - ranging from shady construction deals to organized-crime busts - super legit to Chicago, a current local homicide detective reads every script for inaccuracies.

Ryan recently spoke with Chicago Magazine and was quick to point out that while he's trying to show the real Chicago, he's not going to exploit real-life headlines (perhaps because the generous tax breaks he's getting from the state?). "We are showing the city’s underbelly," Ryan said. "But it's fictional. I look at the city with a great deal of fondness." So do I, so I can't wait to see what it looks like on The Chicago Code, premiering tonight at 8 p.m. on Fox.

Source: IMDb Pro

Chicago on Screen: Shameless Premieres on Showtime

Kate Stahl — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 08:01:00 CST

If it's one thing Chicagoans love, it's watching our fair city on film, and this weekend, the city is hitting the small screen with the premiere of Shameless, Showtime's newest series, based on a British hit show and featuring Oscar and Golden Globe nominee William H. Macy, Desperate Housewives' Felicity Huffman's fab hubby.

Macy plays Frank Gallagher, a working-class Chicagoan with a brood of six children, including 18-year-old Fiona, played by Emmy Rossum. The family is super dysfunctional - Frank is an alcoholic who spends more time drinking than with his kids - but the children are smart and independent . . . mostly because they have to be.

Macy has deep local roots; he moved to Chicago after graduating college in 1971 and spent the next nine years working in theater here. Macy recently sat down with Time Out Chicago for a lively interview and told them Chicago is his "favorite city in the country. It’s absolutely the most beautiful city in the country." But, he said, he wouldn't live here again because "it’s too freakin’ cold." He probably has a point.

The show will be filmed in both Los Angeles and Chicago. So far, the cast has been spotted filming near West Ogden Avenue, on the El, and downtown. Shameless premieres this Sunday on Showtime at 9 p.m. local time.

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Chicago on Film: The Chicago Code Premieres Tonight

Chicago on Screen: Shameless Premieres on Showtime