Chicago Fire's Creators Wanted To Avoid Becoming A Remake Of This Beloved Firefighting Drama
"Chicago Fire" premiered on NBC in October 2012, a little more than one year after the finale of the Denis Leary-led dramedy "Rescue Me." Though both are among the best firefighter shows ever made, they're quite different, and that was very much intentional considering how soon "Chicago Fire" came after "Rescue Me" ended.
In an interview with EMS1 a week ahead of the "Chicago Fire" debut, Executive Producer Danielle Gelber explained that the biggest difference wasn't just the setting — "Rescue Me" was set in New York, while "Chicago Fire" was, obviously, set in the Windy City — the key difference was tone. While "Rescue Me" was one of many shows from the era of Peak TV that centered on the so-called "difficult man" archetype in Leary's flawed protagonist Tommy Gavin, "Chicago Fire" avoided the "dark underbelly" of firefighting and instead focused on the "optimistic, hopeful, [and] positive" parts.
"It's a time in this country for heroism and hope, for people to focus on something ... that is rooted in the reality of human experience, and is real genuine drama," Gelber said. The EMS1 story also notes that Steve Chikerotis, a veteran of the Chicago Fire Department who worked as the technical advisor to "Chicago Fire," was not a fan of "Rescue Me" anyway. Perhaps it shouldn't be surprising that the former firefighter would prefer the more-flattering series.
Chicago Fire and Rescue Me were hits in very different ways
Though not always remembered alongside the greatest shows of the 21st century like "Mad Men," "Breaking Bad," and "The Americans," "Rescue Me" was absolutely a peer to these critically acclaimed series. After "Rescue Me" narrowly avoided becoming a half-hour comedy on HBO, the series flourished on FX. Premiering in 2004 and running for seven seasons before wrapping up in 2011, "Rescue Me" earned eight Emmy nominations, including two nods for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama for star Denis Leary. (He lost to "24" lead Kiefer Sutherland and "Boston Legal" star James Spader.) The series was no slouch in the ratings department either. When it aired, the first episode was the eighth-most-watched premiere in basic cable history.
"Chicago Fire" is not the critical darling that "Rescue Me" was — The Boston Globe even dismissively made that comparison in the headline of a review — but it became a major hit. Though the numbers for the first couple episodes were low enough that one of the "Chicago Fire" co-creators thought the show would be canceled, the show gained momentum. In 2024, "Chicago Fire" was NBC's #1-rated non-sports program and the fourth-most-watched broadcast drama — and viewership numbers were even down that season compared to the previous one. "Chicago Fire" also launched the wildly successful "One Chicago" franchise, with sister shows "Chicago Med" and "Chicago P.D." becoming bona fide hits of their own.