Chicago Trilogy

     Last year, Sam suggested I watch a couple of episodes of Chicago Med- for parrot-related reasons- basically, one of the doctors adopts a parrot(looks like a blue-crowned conure)which is diagnosed with PTSD by the psych attending of the hospital. The doctor who adopted him also has PTSD, which is why they get along so well.

     I found it to be a high quality show, and ended up watching most of season 1, whatever was available on Hulu. I have a personal theory that the parrot is actually bonded to the actor, based on body language.

     This year, in a TV dry week, I watched the available episodes of Chicago P.D. and Chicago Fire

     what they have done with these three shows is not unprecedented- I remember(and have backup) for the old TV Show "Emergency!" crossing over with "Adam 12" and "CHiPS" but these were quick jaunts, and what the Chicago Trilogy has is actually a shared universe, like the CW DC shows, where characters from one will show up on another show, or are related to characters on another show, and often plots spill over from one show to the other.

     I love this kind of Universe building in media, where characters exist in a larger world, where their story is not in a vacuum- what the Chicago universe does so well is to have it be an everyday thing. These characters all know each other, have real relationships, and affect each other. Where the Chicago shows excel and stand out, is the casual nature of these stop-ins. It's brilliant marketing, as one show directs you to the others, but it also gives you a sense of neighborhood.

Chicago Fire was the first one- exploring the lives and work of a single firehouse- a family pulled together by their responsibility to the people around them

Chicago P,D, was the second show, focusing on both beat cops and the elite intelligence unit that investigates and combats major offenses

Chicago Med is the third, and focuses on the emergency department at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center

Let me say at this point, there are no transformers on these shows at all. That we know of...

Here are some more of these TV crossovers, including ones I mentioned