They might not all have Chicago in the title, but they've got enough drama.
Here are some of the binge-worthy, lesser-known medical series that'll give you your drama fix – Chicago-style – but with their own twist of adrenaline.
10. "HawthoRNe" (2009-2011) Christina Hawthorne is a headstrong Chief Nursing Officer who's not about to let anyone mess with her patients or her staff. This series shines a light on the nursing side of hospital life, where Christina navigates bureaucracy, budget cuts, and the challenges of keeping a hospital in check.
It's got the kind of moral dilemmas and patient advocacy that'll have you cheering from your couch, plus enough romantic intrigue to keep things steamy in the ward.
9. "3 lbs" (2006) Rotten Tomatoes score: 21% This is the short-lived tale of two neurosurgeons: one a seasoned and slightly jaded genius, the other a rising star with experimental techniques. Their brains are the battlefield as they lock horns over how to tackle the most complex organ of the human body. Their cases range from the bizarre to the miraculous, with a dose of philosophical musings on the nature of consciousness.
"3 lbs" gives a nod to the heavy weight of the brain and the decisions that can tip the scales of life or death.
8. "Pure Genius" (2016-2017) Rotten Tomatoes score: 26% Billionaire tech genius James Bell builds Bunker Hill, a state-of-the-art hospital filled with techy toys and a team ready to cure the incurable. It's where medicine meets innovation on an unprecedented level – think 3D printing organs, robotic surgeries, and medical mysteries solved with cutting-edge technology.
The young, hotshot staff break new ground in medicine while also navigating the personal glitches that no algorithm can solve.
7. "Mercy Point" (1998-1999) Rotten Tomatoes score: 30% Imagine "ER" meets "Star Trek," and you've got "Mercy Point." Set in the future, this space station hospital orbits a distant planet. The staff deals with intergalactic diseases and cosmic emergencies, with patients ranging from humans to aliens with six hearts.
Each episode dives into the personal and professional challenges faced by the crew, like performing surgery in zero-G or treating a space virus that turns your bones to jelly.
6. "Monday Mornings" (2013) Rotten Tomatoes score: 52% Every Monday morning, the surgeons of Chelsea General face the "311" – a brutal review of their week's complications and mishaps. The show follows the doctors' attempts to navigate their personal demons and the high-stakes world of brain surgery.
Expect a rollercoaster of neurotic genius surgeons, life-and-death decisions made on the fly, and the weekly dreaded 311 meetings where careers and egos are on the operating table.
5. "Black Box" (2014) Rotten Tomatoes score: 61% Meet Dr. Catherine Black, a famous neurologist harboring a secret – she's bipolar.
The series is a peek into the mind of a woman who studies minds while battling her own. Her journey is a tightrope walk between brilliance and madness, with each case presenting a new neurological puzzle or a mirror to her own struggles.
4. "A Gifted Man" (2011-2012) Rotten Tomatoes score: 66% What if your dead ex-wife came back to remind you about your Hippocratic Oath? That's what happens to top-notch, high-flying surgeon Michael Holt when his deceased ex, Anna, starts appearing with life lessons. He's pulled between his plush, private practice and Anna's clinic for the underprivileged.
There's plenty of soul-searching, operations that aren't just on the body, and spirited debates (pun fully intended).
3. "Heartbeat" (2016) Rotten Tomatoes score: 71% Dr. Alex Panttiere is a world-renowned heart-transplant surgeon with a side of rebellion. She's one of the few women in the testosterone-fueled field of cardiothoracic surgery and she plays by her own rules.
The series pumps along as Alex balances slicing hearts in the OR, her complicated love life, and her role as a single mother.
2. "The Night Shift" (2014-2017) Rotten Tomatoes score: 78% When the sun sets, the drama rises at San Antonio Memorial's emergency room where the night shift team battles more than just the clock. Led by a former military doc, the staff includes a rag-tag team of eccentric characters, each with their own quirks and secrets.
They've got war veterans, rule-breaking surgeons, and the kind of love entanglements that make you want to call a Code Blue on their hearts.
1. "Saving Hope" (2012-2017) Rotten Tomatoes score: 84% At Hope Zion Hospital, Chief of Surgery Charlie Harris ends up in a coma and finds himself wandering the hospital in spirit form. His fiancée and fellow surgeon, Alex Reid, races to save lives while grappling with Charlie's condition. Patients come and go, some see Charlie, some don't.
The staff at Hope Zion deal with medical mysteries, ghostly encounters, and the drama of the living in this one.
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