January 8. It’s a date that might not immediately stand out as one of note to a casual One Chicago fan; however, the hardcore Day 1 fans will know exactly why the date is such a historic and special date for Chicago PD and the franchise as a whole.
So what exactly is so special about this particular date? January 8 is essentially the day the One Chicago franchise became an actual franchise, for it was on January 8, 2014, that NBC debuted the first season of Chicago PD. The show’s launch came just months after Wolf Entertainment aired a backdoor pilot in the first season of Chicago Fire, which earned immediate buzz and led to a swift turnaround in bringing the spinoff to the air as part of NBC’s midseason schedule during the 2013-14 TV season.
The Chicago PD series premiere introduced fans to the show’s core unit including several characters who are still a part of the show today. What always surprises some fans is that the Chicago PD season 1 cast consisted of only three stars from the backdoor pilot: Jason Beghe (Sergeant Hank Voight), Jon Seda (Antonio Dawson), and LaRoyce Hawkins (Kevin Atwater). The backdoor pilot featured several notable actors who did not return for the spinoff including Scott Eastwood, JB Smoove, and Kelly Blatz, leading to the addition of several iconic characters in the first season.
Introduced in the pilot episode of Chicago PD’s debut season, “Stepping Stone,” were Sophia Bush (Erin Lindsay), Jesse Lee Soffer (Jay Halstead), Patrick John Flueger (Adam Ruzek), Marina Squerciati (Kim Burgess), Archie Kao (Sheldon Jin), Elisa Koteas (Alvin Olinsky), and Amy Morton (Trudy Platt). These characters would, of course, all go on to become central characters within the One Chicago Universe, leaving an immeasurable mark on the franchise in their varying tenures.
In the first episode of the series, fans watched as Sergeant Hank Voight and the Intelligence Unit worked their first case together as a team. The case watched the unit work to bring down a Colombian drug ring responsible for the murders of several local drug dealers and the distribution of tainted drugs threatening the lives of countless individuals.
The episode served as a memorable entry into the franchise, while also establishing the interconnectivity of the franchise via appearances from members of the Chicago Fire cast. The Chicago PD premiere featured guest appearances from Monica Raymund, Lauren German, David Eigenberg, and Yuriy Sardarov, setting the stage for what would become the standard for the franchise, which has brilliantly found ways to create a shared universe where characters regularly interact with each other in small crossover moments.
It’s a universe that has become one of the strongest franchises within all of television, one that isn’t just set within a shared world, but actually brings its characters together frequently. None of this would have been possible if not for the launch of Chicago PD which truly was the first step in the One Chicago franchise becoming what it is today. Without the success of Chicago PD, we likely never would have gotten Chicago Med or Chicago Justice, and the One Chicago Universe would have never become a reality.
Thankfully, NBC saw something special in the world Dick Wolf and the Wolf Entertainment team created in Chicago Fire and allowed the universe to expand in new ways that helped give way to the One Chicago franchise. NBC never looked back and we’re glad they did not as we cannot imagine a world without Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, and Chicago Med, and the many amazing characters who have been a part of the franchise over the years.