With hundreds of shows set or filmed in Chicago every year, it’s easy to see how one might expect shows to become repetitive, or not showcase the city in an appealing light. Producer Dick Wolf has managed to, yet again, create a TV franchise that has captivated millions of viewers while showing Chicago and its heroes in a respectable and admirable light.

The Chicago TV franchise consists of three shows: Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, and Chicago Med. The shows are filmed exclusively in Chicago, and offer familiar sights that give the shows authenticity, and help promote the city of Chicago.

“Chicago, first of all, is a personality. I’ve always said Chicago is the lead of the show, so you’re acting with this incredible presence and you can’t find it anywhere else but Chicago,” said Jason Beghe, who plays Detective Hank Voight on Chicago P.D. to Michigan Avenue Magazine.

Chicago Fire is currently in its fourth season, and was renewed for a fifth season in early November. The show features Chicago Firehouse 51, and its firefighters, paramedics, and their day to day duties in the way of keeping the city safe. It also shows the personal lives of these heroes, including their relationships and personal issues.

Chicago P.D. is currently airing its third season, and was renewed for its fourth season at the same time as Chicago Fire. It was added to the franchise quickly after the first season of Chicago Fire began, because of the booming success of the original show.

Chicago P.D. is centered on an elite group of detectives in the Chicago Police Department’s Intelligence Unit, who work to fight some of the most violent and dangerous crimes throughout the city. Much like its predecessor, Chicago P.D. not only focuses on the police work of these detectives, but it highlights their personal lives.

“One [reason it works] is the look of Chicago—to me Chicago doesn’t look like anyplace else. I also think that you can’t get more extreme, sicker, weirder stories than Chicago politics in particular, so to have some of the outrageousness particularly that happens on P.D., you go, ‘Well, it’s Chicago, I kind of buy it.’ I also think our talent pool here is second to none,” said Amy Morton, who plays Sergeant Trudy Platt on Chicago P.D., to Michigan Avenue Magazine.

Chicago Med, the newest addition to the Chicago empire, premiered on November 17 of this year. It centers on the city’s newest trauma center, and the doctors, nurses, and others who work to save lives every day.

All three shows strive to accurately represent the city of Chicago, as well as the heroes who risk their lives to keep the city safe. According to a New York Times interview with Wolf, who also writes on Med, the actors do a lot of shadowing of actual Chicago firefighters, detectives, and doctors so that they can truly represent the heroes of Chicago and the environments that they work in as accurately as possible.

“We have [district attorneys] coming in, we have judges coming in, [and] we have coppers coming in, so everything that you see is at least based—and not even that loosely—on something that really happened to the real police; a case that happened in the city,” said Patrick Flueger, who plays detective Adam Ruzek on Chicago P.D., to Michigan Avenue Magazine.

All of the Chicago shows have received incredible reviews from viewers, and have maintained very consistent viewing numbers, according to tvbythenumbers.com. All three shows have several thousands of people watching each week, however, this should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Wolf’s work.

According to The Wall Street Journal, over twenty years ago Wolf began producing Law and Order: SVU, which is currently in its seventeenth season. Because of Wolf’s previous successes, IMBD predicts that the Chicago Trilogy will be around for a long time as well.

The city of Chicago has offered a lot of opportunities for the franchise that they would not have been able to find   anywhere else.

The landscape of Chicago is very different from those of than New York and Los Angeles, is a fresh scene for TV viewers, who are is familiar to a different group of viewers who reside in the Midwest.

“I think it’s a tremendous backdrop for a show about working-class people because it’s such a working-class city. I think it’s incredible,” said Joe Minoso, who plays Joe Cruz on Chicago Fire, to Michigan Avenue Magazine.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has been extremely supportive, and has guaranteed the city’s cooperation with the show. This includes easy access to using public locations, and even extends to having the city’s help in shutting down streets and redirecting traffic flow so that the show can film in various locations.

“You can’t pay people to run into burning buildings—it’s that simple. They’re doing it for another reason… and I thought that it would be completely credible in Chicago. It is the heart of the country; you can express Midwestern values on screen without being mocked or vilified about it,” said Wolf, to Michigan Avenue Magazine.

From time to time, the Chicago shows have crossovers, where the characters will play a role in one of the other shows, and where the plots will intertwine. In true Wolf fashion, the shows have had crossovers with Law and Order SVU. In the past, the crossovers have been spread over a series of three nights in succession.

As ratings are high and viewers keep demanding more, there is no doubt that Wolf has created yet another series that will undoubtedly last a long time. And as the city of Chicago continues to provide a landscape and a platform that intrigues and captivates audiences, it will undoubtedly remain a stronghold for not only the Chicago trilogy, but for TV shows of all types.