TV Watch: What's With Bad Chicago Shows

We got stuck watching The Loop because it was nestled between The Simpsons and The 4400 (night of the "The's"). It's pretty bland - with every shot framed like an Olan Mills photo. Actors are always centered when they can be, evenly spaced if not.

This blandness hits stark contrast to the real Loop here in Chicago, which is usually a chaotic soup of people, street music and background noise. Like My Boys before it, The Loop asserts that all you need to prove you're in Chicago is a few stock exterior shots and fake backgrounds. This is even more egregious since the show is titled after the city's bustling core and make even less attempts to have any real connection to it.

I miss working near The Loop. It's practically a city within a city and is full of life and character. Perhaps if this show had some similarity to it, I'd want to watch it.