Since most people only talk about TV shows that are successful, it can be easy to forget how unlikely it is for a series to ever air, let alone last for several seasons. Despite that fact, the One Chicago franchise has produced several shows that have been airing for many years. During the 2025-2026 TV season, Chicago Fire season 14, Chicago PD season 13, and Chicago Med season 11 will air. Thanks to that longevity, Chicago Med also reached a huge milestone during that season since its 200th episode was produced.
There are many reasons why the One Chicago franchise has been so successful. For example, the shows have featured compelling storylines, fantastic actors, and some underrated characters. Even though there are many things that the One Chicago franchise has done right, that doesn't mean that everything about it works. Unfortunately, the truth is that there is an issue with the franchise that affects all three of the current shows.
One Chicago's promotional posters just don't work
During each new television season, the major networks release posters for their top shows. Since the One Chicago franchise is a huge deal for NBC, it makes perfect sense that the network released posters for Chicago PD, Chicago Fire, and Chicago Med. The problem is that the most recent posters for the shows don't work, and a group image for all three shows perfectly shows what the problems are. To be clear, this isn't intended to be an attack on anyone who worked on the franchise's posters, as it takes skill to do what they've accomplished, just an attempt to say that changes are needed.
Throughout the history of the One Chicago franchise, the shows have been pretty fantastical at times. However, one of the appeals of the franchise has always been that, at least in theory, Chicago P.D., Chicago Fire, and Chicago Med depict the grounded worlds of the people who work in law enforcement, firefighting, and medicine. The first problem with the One Chicago posters is that they don't represent the grounded tone of the shows at all. Instead, the posters seem like they should be for an action movie or something like that.
The second issue with the posters is that they look so generic that it feels like they could have been produced by AI. While this article doesn't claim that is the case at all, the posters would work a lot better if they each felt unique in some way. Instead, the posters are all collages of the show's stars looking worried for no clear reasons.
The final issue with One Chicago's posters is that they don't seem to serve their intended purpose. A poster is supposed to entice potential viewers to want to watch the show or movie they are advertising. However, as a One Chicago fan, the franchise's posters actually make me less interested in watching. While that may just be my personal reaction to the images, I feel confident that I'm not the only one who is baffled by the posters' design.