"Early Edition's" city of publication is Chicago

Roger Ebert reviews movies with partner Gene Siskel there

Medical dramas like "E.R." and "Chicago Hope" run their practices in the Windy City

"Married with Children" always opened their show at Buckingham Fountain

"The Oprah Winphrey Show" not only changed the talk show circuit, but also the neighborhood around where the show is produced

Web posted on: Friday, July 03, 1998 1:10:06 PM EDT

From CNN Showbiz Correspondent Jim Moret

CHICAGO (CNN) -- For the cast of the CBS series "Early Edition" the assignment is clear: Shoot a successful TV show outside the panache and glitz of Hollywood or the attitude and congestion of New York City.

Actor Kyle Chandler stars in "Early Edition," which revolves around a Chicago daily newspaper.

"The paper's a main character, as well as ... the city. You can't go wrong -- you go downtown, anywhere, and you've got a beautiful background," said Chandler.

"Early Edition" is one of the growing number of series choosing Chicago as their kind of town.

For more than a decade, the Buckingham Fountain was the show opener for "Married with Children." Now, Chicago streets co-star as the backdrops for television's "Chicago Hope" and "E.R."

"It's in the middle of the country, and it's got the best of both worlds in it," says William H. Macy, a former Chicago resident and once a character on "E.R." "It's not New York in that it's got this Midwestern work ethic; it's not L.A. in that it's faster."

You want talk shows? We got talk shows.

"The Oprah Winfrey Show" has become a main tourist attraction that has transformed its Chicago neighborhood. Talk show hosts Jerry Springer and Jenny Jones have also set up shop in Chicago.

Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert also give the city two thumbs up. Siskel's a movie critic for the Chicago Tribune and Ebert's a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. Every week from Chicago they review films on their syndicated TV show "Siskel and Ebert at the Movies."

Even Hollywood movie executives are finding their productions lured to Chicago. Consider the recent Bruce Willis action flick "Mercury Rising," Julia Roberts' "My Best Friend's Wedding" and the upcoming Samuel L. Jackson thriller "The Negotiator."

"It's cost-effective to shoot there, and the people welcome you with open arms, so I love it," says Sherry Lansing, chairwoman of the Motion Picture Group of Paramount Pictures.

The producers of the "U.S. Marshalls" and "The Fugitive" also set their movies in Chicago.

"You have the El train, you have landmarks that people all over this country certainly know like the Wrigley building or Sears Tower, says Stephen Brown, President of Production for Kopelson Entertainment. "You have Lake Michigan and real, identifiable American Landmarks."

Not quite midway between Tinsel Town and the Big Apple, the Windy City has just the right mix of panache and attitude to hold its own in the film and TV industry.