Dick Wolf's One Chicago Shows Ranked, According To Rotten Tomatoes

No drama franchise has made a bigger impact on the 2010s and 2020s than Dick Wolf's "One Chicago" universe. Filming live on the streets of the Illinois metropolis and heavily intertwining its characters together into one big nest of complicated, messy public servants, it manages to make audiences feel as if they're spending their Wednesday nights with a chaotic extended family willing to do anything to bring evildoers to justice. Sure, sometimes the storylines are bizarre, and they often even have the same (easily fixable) problem. But there's still a lot of heart on display in all four of the shows in the quadrilogy.

But which member of the clan stands at the tip-top of the mountain? Which show has audience members the most excited for their Wednesday night journey through the Windy City? We used the audience scores at Rotten Tomatoes to figure out which of the One Chicago dramas is the most highly acclaimed by audiences. The results are surprising, but prove that when it comes to dramas fans definitely like them dark.

It's perhaps unsurprising that the only One Chicago show to have been met with cancellation at press time bears the lowest audience approval score at Rotten Tomatoes. Still, 69% is nothing to sneeze at, even though "Chicago Justice" lasted for just one season.

Airing from 2016 to 2017, the series covered the criminal justice system of Chicago in a way that went beyond the cuffing and collaring that takes place on "Chicago PD." Filled with attorneys and judges, it covers courtroom and legal proceedings at the state attorney's office and also throws in a bit of political intrigue for good measure. That naturally hooks it into "PD" for crossover material, and it included "Chicago PD's" Antonio Dawson (Jon Seda), brother of "Chicago Fire" vet Gabriela Dawson (Monica Raymund). Ultimately, it feels like more of a throwback to Dick Wolf's storied "Law & Order" franchise, which may be why it couldn't distinguish itself among its brethren. 

While each episode ranks well on IMDb, with no outing hitting below a 7.5, audiences didn't tune in for the series. Ultimately, "Chicago Justice" was cancelled in 2017 when it failed to compete well in the Nielsens. But the series has lived on through other Wolf shows: Assistant State's Attorney Peter Stone (Philip Winchester) pops up in "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" during Season 19 and 20 and makes an appearance on "Chicago Med," while Antonio Dawson returned to "Chicago PD," where he stayed a main character until Seda departed the drama in 2019.

Next up is the stalwart medical drama "Chicago Med." Set within the confines of Gaffney Chicago Medical Center — based on the real life Rush University Medical Center — the series follows the sometimes-outlandish but always engrossing lifesaving efforts of the doctors and nurses who work there. The show doesn't skimp on the personal drama, either, and often follows the doctor's medical crisis, love lives, and other disasters.

It's climbed to a 75% audience approval score, reflecting the fact that viewers still love the show, but — after lots of casting changes and a few heartbreaking deaths — might be growing tired of the drama's formula. On IMDb, the most popular episode is "Never Let You Go," a Season 4 episode that sees the doctors cope with a hostage crisis. Nonetheless, it will be allowed another season to entertain TV fans, as it's been renewed for a tenth season.

The show with the second-highest number of audience plaudits is "Chicago Fire," which takes a look at the goings-on at Firehouse 51. At 88%, it's one of only two One Chicago shows to get close to near-unanimous audience approval at Rotten Tomatoes.

Never skimping on the disasters, the show weds fiery disasters with interpersonal drama, friendships, family issues, and medical disasters. The crew often also has to deal with bureaucracy from the political side of the fence, as the city and state workers pop in to wag their fingers at the squad's outrageous behavior. The members of Firehouse 51 are a closely knit chosen family, and that feeling is probably what has helped propel it to the higher end of the ratings scale. They fight and love each other like families, but they don't always play nice.

The most popular episode on IMDb, "My Miracle" from Season 5, centers around the squad, a life-or-death situation, and Casey (Jesse Spencer) and Dawson's romance. It's pure, concentrated early "Chicago Fire" and stands as an understandable benchmark for the program. And the show's ratings will continue to fluctuate, as it's been renewed for Season 13.

What sits atop the One Chicago throne in audience popularity? None other than "Chicago PD," the grittiest and most emotionally unforgiving experience of all of the "One Chicago" programs. The show takes a deep look at life in the city's police department, in part following the city's intelligence unit, in part focusing on the city's beat cops. It is not a gentle show, featuring fearless depictions of addiction and crime, and every character doesn't get a happy ending.

It definitely doesn't go out of its way to avoid ugliness — main characters die violently with alarming regularity. The quality of the writing and acting combined with that sense of unpredictability may be why the show has a 90% Rotten Tomato score, an incredibly impressive feat for a drama that's 11 seasons old and will begin its 12th in September. The top-rated episode on IMDb? "Homecoming" from Season 5, which tackles the death of Alvin Olinsky (Elias Koteas). We'll see if Season 12 ends up bringing that rating down, or if it will help the show maintain its laudibly high position in the rankings.