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Chicago PD celebrates its fourth anniversary

By Maria Smith

CHICAGO PD -- Season: 1 -- Pictured: (l-r) LaRoyce Hawkins as Detective Kevin Atwater, Amy Morton as Sgt. Trudy Platt, Marina Squerciati as Officer Kim Burgess, Brian Geraghty as Officer Sean Roman, Jon Seda as Det. Antonio Dawson, Jason Beghe as Sgt. Hank Voight, Sophia Bush as Det. Erin Lindsay, Jesse Lee Soffer as Det. Jay Halstead, Patrick Flueger as Det. Adam Ruzek, Elias Koteas as Det. Alvin Olinksy -- (Photo by: Paul Drinkwater/NBC)
CHICAGO PD -- Season: 1 -- Pictured: (l-r) LaRoyce Hawkins as Detective Kevin Atwater, Amy Morton as Sgt. Trudy Platt, Marina Squerciati as Officer Kim Burgess, Brian Geraghty as Officer Sean Roman, Jon Seda as Det. Antonio Dawson, Jason Beghe as Sgt. Hank Voight, Sophia Bush as Det. Erin Lindsay, Jesse Lee Soffer as Det. Jay Halstead, Patrick Flueger as Det. Adam Ruzek, Elias Koteas as Det. Alvin Olinksy -- (Photo by: Paul Drinkwater/NBC) /
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Chicago PD aired its first episode four years ago Monday, becoming the first spinoff of NBC’s One Chicago franchise. Happy anniversary, Chicago PD!

Today is the fourth anniversary of Chicago PD! It was on Jan. 8, 2014 that NBC aired the series premiere of PD and officially turned One Chicago into a franchise, so today we’re celebrating the beginnings of the Intelligence Unit.

Chicago PD season 1 looked a lot different than Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) and his team look now, in the middle of the show’s fifth season and with their 100th episode just around the corner.

The first episode “Stepping Stone” surprised audiences when Julia Willhite (Law & Order: SVU alum Melissa Sagemiller) was shot and died right out of the gate.

That left fan favorite Antonio Dawson (Jon Seda) without a partner, and proved that this wasn’t going to be just another cop show—it was going to get in your face, just like Voight does in every episode.

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But this anniversary is important for another reason as well: it officially made our One Chicago world turn from one show into a franchise.

Watch One Chicago on fuboTV: Watch over 67 live sports and entertainment channels with a 7-day FREE trial!

Before 2014, all we had was Chicago Fire. But the arrival of Chicago PD, and its subsequent success in the ratings, proved that we had not just one show but an entire universe to explore.

And that then set the stage for further expansion with third series Chicago Med in 2015, followed by the launch of Chicago Justice in 2017. Without the premiere of PD, and that strong first season, NBC wouldn’t have continued building the franchise, so today’s a big day in the big picture as well.

The show has changed since then, of course. We’ve seen three main cast members leave (Archie Kao didn’t make it out of Chicago PD season 1, while Brian Geraghty moved on after season 3, and Sophia Bush voluntarily left after the show’s fourth season) and one who left then came back (Jon Seda).

And like many TV shows, the characters have moved forward with their lives, whether it’s through promotions, engagements (and then the breaking of them), marriages, or family deaths. When we look back at the first season, it seems like an incredibly different show.

But that tells us how much staying power PD has—that it’s still kicking butt and taking names four years later, no matter what changes around the show or inside of it.

Look back at Chicago PD season 1 with this teaser from 2014 and see just how far our favorite police drama has come since then:

Next: Which Chicago PD alum celebrated a birthday?

Join us in wishing Chicago PD a happy anniversary in the comments! Don’t miss the next new Chicago PD season 5 episode on Wednesday at 10 p.m. on NBC.

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