The Chicago Code (2011)

It's extremely well cast, uses its Windy City locations beautifully and has an energy that grabs you pretty much from the first scene. Monday nights are really, really crowded, but you need to make room for this show.

The show is an intelligent addition to the Fox lineup, with both the broad canvas of "The Wire" and the street procedural of "NYPD Blue" in its DNA.

Smart and well-acted with clearly defined heroes and villains--all painted in varying shades of gray--this Chicago-set show feels familiar and new at the same time.

What Code is is a show that's not afraid to be just a little bigger than life, if only to guarantee that after a long day in the real world, those of us who like our TV cops at least as interesting as our TV criminals will want to come along for the ride.

Throw in Wysocki's rookie niece, some intra-force rivalry, those great Chicago locations and a Polish sausage or two, and you have a show that breaks the network code, and that alone is worth watching.

This cop series immediately delivers intense, richly interwoven drama that sets it apart both from other recent new shows and from well-established standard police "procedurals."

This is a very smart, well-produced, great-looking cop show, one that does familiar things but does them in interesting ways.

The action is fast, and I was pleased to find that scenes play out unpredictably. I do look forward to less explaining, though, and more insights.

Code is not a game-changer in a genre that likely won't be changed again for some time, but judging by the first three episodes it's already gripping television and Fox has found a competitive new drama.