TV Review: NBC’s ‘Chicago P.D.’

NBC premieres Chicago P.D., from executive producer Dick Wolf, on Wednesday Jan. 8, 10 p.m. ET. The following are reviews from TV critics around the web, compiled by B&C.

“Dick Wolf is no stranger to taking a success — even a moderate one — and spinning it off into franchises. So Chicago Fire, his NBC drama, begets Chicago P.D., a series distinguished primarily by its solid casting and Jason Beghe’s performance as a cop who loves his city almost as much as he relishes beating information out of suspects. If some of NBC’s procedural development has felt like CBS Lite, file this one under CBS Dark — which could end up doing for the Windy City, for good or ill, what Law & Order: Special Victims Unit did for New York.”
—Brian Lowry, Variety

Chicago P.D. is, in many ways, a throwback to an earlier, male-dominated era of crime shows, yet it carves out room for strong female characters who are good at their jobs and taken seriously by their colleagues — and the writers.”
—Alessandra Stanley, New York Times

"Chicago P.D., premiering Wednesday, eschews computers that watch your every move, android cops of the future, trumpet-playing female Texas Rangers, master criminals working with the FBI, border cops with Asperger's syndrome, modernized Sherlock Holmeses, agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and resurrected literary figures from the 18th century tracking supernatural criminals in the present day.”
—David Wiegand, San Francisco Chronicle

“Designed for people who want the legal clock turned back, not just to before the Constitution, but before the Magna Carta, Chicago P.D. is an insult to Chicago, police departments and viewers alike. Against stiff competition, it claims the title of NBC's worst series since last fall's similarly atavistic and quickly canceled Ironside, which at least had Blair Underwoodgoing for it.”
—Robert Bianco, USA Today

“Like its predecessor, Chicago P.D. has a retro vibe recalling the 1970s and '80s, when it was hard to turn the channel without running into a drama about cops or emergency workers — shows such as Hill Street BluesThe Rookies and T.J. Hooker.
—Greg Braxton, Los Angeles Times