There's No County General Here

By Scott Smith in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 9, 2006 8:12PM

Back in the waning days of the late 1990s, Chicagoist’s college roommate came to visit us. Since he was a big "ER" fan (remember this was the late 90s when the show was still good), he demanded to see where “County General” was. We had to delicately break it to him that there was no such place though we did take him by its doppelganger, the old Cook County Hospital building. We further shattered his illusions by driving him past Michigan and Wacker to illustrate how George Clooney and Anthony Edwards would have been idiots to talk a walk down by the river during their breaks from saving lives.

Now comes word from Crain’s that the Chicago Film Office will soon offer a map for friends like ours who want to see some of the famous Chicago locales that have popped up in the movies and TV like Daley Plaza, Lower Wacker Drive and the “L.” The sights toured by the Crain’s writer are pretty basic. We’re hoping the CFO goes beyond creating a downtown walking tour and helps direct more adventurous tourists to some of the the city’s neighborhoods.

If you’d like to read more about how Chicago looks in movies both big and small, check out our occasional feature Chicago on DVD.