

Photo: Mathieu Young/SHOWTIME
"The Chi"
Premieres Sunday, January 7 at 10 PM ET/PT on Showtime
Premieres Sunday, January 7 at 10 PM ET/PT on Showtime
SHOWTIME will kick off 2018 with the premiere of its new one-hour drama series, THE CHI, which explores the humanity behind the headlines sensationalizing the South Side of Chicago. Produced entirely in its namesake city, THE CHI is a timely coming-of-age story centering on a group of residents who become linked by coincidence but bonded by the need for connection and redemption.
In THE CHI, Brandon (Jason Mitchell) the dreamer makes his own nearly impossible leap of faith to succeed in life and love with girlfriend Jerrika (Tiffany Boone); Emmett (Jacob Latimore) is the carefree teen thrust into complex responsibilities with guidance from his mother Jada (Yolonda Ross); and Ronnie (Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine) is the drifter whose struggle for reciprocal love calls into question his every pursuit. Pre-teen Kevin (Alex Hibbert), an unwitting eyewitness, must step past shattered illusions to return to the normal rites and passages of a childhood interrupted.
They’re all under the watchful eye of law enforcement, but Detective Cruz (Armando Riesco), a good neighborhood cop, works every case with justice, not incarceration, as his end goal. Their collective yearning to make their lives worthwhile and to overcome the roadblocks society has laid out for them, as well as their own personal flaws, drives the storytelling in this arresting, deeply felt series. Alongside an ensemble cast that includes Mitchell, Latimore, Mwine, Hibbert, Ross, Boone and Riesco, recurring on THE CHI are Sonja Sohn, Jahking Guillory and Steven Williams.