Chicago Fire

CHICAGO – The most TV-centric column yet advising What to Watch on DVD, Blu-ray, Netflix, Amazon, On Demand, and more is another nearly random collection of offerings that you can use to guide your way through the new releases shelf at Best Buy, the On Demand section on Vudu, the store on iTunes, and maybe even Netflix and Hulu. Pick your favorites. This is the way we’d rank these new releases if you have a free night this weekend or money to burn next week.

CHICAGO – When you’re in as much of a ratings struggle as NBC, it makes sense to shake things up and that’s exactly what they’re doing in the Fall with a new show or an old show in a new time every single night of the week. “Chicago Fire,” “Revolution,” “The Biggest Loser,” “Parks and Recreation,” and “Parenthood” are moving.

CHICAGO – When putting on an awards show in Chicago, getting local talent to hand out awards was as easy as calling the production of “Chicago Fire,” currently filming here. The 2012 Best of the Midwest Awards in December had “CF” cast members David Eigenberg and Christian Stolte to present accolades, and comedy improvisor Susan Messing won Best Actress at the event.

CHICAGO – The Underground Night Club in Chicago was the scene on December 4th for the annual “Best of the Midwest” Awards, celebrating a year of cinema at the Midwest Independent Film Festival. The Fest Director Mike McNamara hosted the event and with his co-presenters gave out nine awards, including the Best Feature Film to “Liberal Arts,” directed by Josh Radnor (“How I Met Your Mother”).

CHICAGO – One of the most anticipated gatherings in the local acting community is the annual Chicago Acting in Film Meetup (CAFM) Holiday Party, and this year’s bash is moving to downtown digs at the Hard Rock Hotel on December 10th, 2012. The co-directors of CAFM are actors Grace McPhillips and Steve Scholz.

CHICAGO – I might be more forgiving of the dramatic failings of the saga of Matthew Casey if I had never met Tommy Gavin. For years, we felt the pain and drama of life as a firefighter on FX’s “Rescue Me,” and, while I had some issues with that show, it definitely casts NBC’s “Chicago Fire” in a different light. However, even without Denis Leary’s hit show, I don’t think this melodrama would work. It just doesn’t connect on a realistic level like we need shows like this to do. I don’t expect it to burn for long.

CHICAGO – The Windy City has a new television show set here, and all last summer the cast of “Chicago Fire” have been busy shooting the series for the fall season. One of the main characters, Hallie Thomas, is a major TV role breakout for actress Teri Reeves. “Chicago Fire” makes it’s premiere on Wednesday, October 10th, 2012, on NBC at 10pm ET/9pm Central.

CHICAGO – The 2010-11 season was a very interesting one for network television. After a few years of undeniable failure, most of the networks found at least one new notable hit. FOX is building an entire night of comedy around Emmy-nominated breakout “New Girl.” ABC is ecstatic over the loyal followings for “Revenge” & “Once Upon a Time” (and “Suburgatory” has the potential to truly breakout in its sophomore season).

CHICAGO – NBC revealed their Fall schedule today and there were multiple surprises including comedies moving to Tuesday and Friday nights (we were wondering where all of the sitcoms would go) and a Fall cycle of the hit singing show “The Voice.”

CHICAGO – While some television fans (including myself) continue to mourn the absence of “Community” from the NBC lineup, the network has announced that they have picked up not one…not two…but ten new pilots, eight of which are listed as comedies. The list of new shows has some known names attached to them as well, including Jason Ritter and Roseanne Barr.