# Any Shows "take place" in your hometown? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 18, 2005, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-take-place-in-your-hometown/295092 "2005-03-18T02:14:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-take-place-in-your-hometown/295092/1 "2005-03-18T02:14:34Z")
The upcoming NBC sitcom, [The Office](http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/about/), based on the British sitcom of the same name, is set in Scranton. From what I’ve heard, there are some Scranton-specific references in the show, such as one of the characters went to Bishop O’Hara High School (next town over, but so what), ate lunch at so-and-so place, etc. Scranton is merely the setting, not the punchline, which is nice. Any TV shows set in your hometown? NYC and LA dopers, give the rest of us small towners a chance to answer, too. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-take-place-in-your-hometown/295092/2 "2005-03-18T02:20:56Z")
Recently, only crappy ones: _Nash Bridges, Full House, Dharma & Greg, Presidio Med_. **Monk** is an exception, except it’s usually quite conspicuous that they rarely actually film around here. Growing up, I used to love that **Simon & Simon** was filmed in my hometown (and they did do a lot of location shooting). ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-take-place-in-your-hometown/295092/3 "2005-03-18T02:28:18Z")
_Savannah_ was set in Savannah, though it wasn’t shot here aside from some setup shots. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-take-place-in-your-hometown/295092/4 "2005-03-18T02:35:47Z")
No, but, the city I live in now is the butt of a LOT of jokes on Canadian TV. ---
**Author:** ![Torgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-take-place-in-your-hometown/295092/5 "2005-03-18T03:03:06Z")
I’m still holding my breath for _CSI: St. Paul._ ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-take-place-in-your-hometown/295092/6 "2005-03-18T03:06:18Z")
_Mr. Belvedere_ was set in Pittsburgh. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-take-place-in-your-hometown/295092/7 "2005-03-18T03:41:14Z")
Homecide:Life on the Streets, The Wire. ---
**Author:** ![Skellington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Skellington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skellington)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-take-place-in-your-hometown/295092/8 "2005-03-18T05:08:55Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > _Mr. Belvedere_ was set in Pittsburgh. So is queer as folk. Yum 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-take-place-in-your-hometown/295092/9 "2005-03-18T05:12:07Z")
Miami Vice, CSI: Miami, and Nip/Tuck are a few of the shows set in my hometown of Miami. I can’t think of any Orlando shows off the top of my head, though. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-take-place-in-your-hometown/295092/10 "2005-03-18T05:19:51Z")
“All in the Family” and its spinoff, “Archie Bunker’s Place,” were set in my old neighborhood of Astoria, Queens. Was either show accurate? Well, yes and no. Everyone in Astoria knows people who talk like Archie… but in all the years those shows were on the air, you never saw a SINGLE Greek! You can’t spent 5 minutes in Astoria without running into 20 Greeks! ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-take-place-in-your-hometown/295092/11 "2005-03-18T05:28:58Z")
I can’t think of any Orlando shows, either, although I had to think twice when I saw advertisements for “The O.C.”. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-take-place-in-your-hometown/295092/12 "2005-03-18T06:58:01Z")
Well, I was born in Point Pleasant, NJ, which is the setting for the show **Point Pleasant**. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-take-place-in-your-hometown/295092/13 "2005-03-18T07:25:12Z")
Matlock. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-take-place-in-your-hometown/295092/14 "2005-03-18T07:41:33Z")
> [@Scott\_plaid](#): > > Homecide:Life on the Streets, The Wire. One episode of Homicide even featured several scenes shot at my grandmother’s house in Dundalk. Reno 911 claims to be shot in Reno, but only the opening sequence really was. There are palm trees in the show, for christ’s sake. The closest palm tree has got to be 500 miles away (and 4000 feet lower elevation). ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-take-place-in-your-hometown/295092/15 "2005-03-18T07:48:57Z")
Not so’s you’d notice it. Our little Oregon town (which has a gorgeous courthouse) was used as a backdrop for a made for a 1986 TV movie called [Penalty Phase](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091741/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxsbT01MDB8dHQ9b258ZmI9dXxwbj0wfHE9cGVuYWx0eSBwaGFzZXxodG1sPTF8bm09b24_;fc=1;ft=20) , starring Peter Strauss and Melissa Gilbert (of Little House on the Prairie fame). A decade earlier, a TV show called [Movin’ On](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071012/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxsbT01MDB8dHQ9b258ZmI9dXxwbj0wfHE9bW92aW4nIG9ufGh0bWw9MXxubT1vbg__;fc=2;ft=20;fm=1) filmed an episode in and around our little town. Movin’ On aired 1974-76 and starred Claude Aiken and Frank Converse as long-haul truckers who would invariably find themselves enmeshed side trips on the journey. (I’m not sure if we ever saw them deliver a load). Roosevelt Grier also appeared as a semi-regular. (Pun intended) ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-take-place-in-your-hometown/295092/16 "2005-03-18T08:00:25Z")
My hometown is a relatively small Texas town whose only possible claim to fame is being the birthplace of the late tejana singer Selena. No shows were ever set there, I don’t imagine. A few shows have been set in Houston, where I currently reside, but I’ve never seen any of them. There certainly haven’t been any recently. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-take-place-in-your-hometown/295092/17 "2005-03-18T08:27:45Z")
Long-running series _Happy Days_ and _Laverne and Shirley_ were set in Milwaukee, but neither ever did location filming there. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-take-place-in-your-hometown/295092/18 "2005-03-18T11:53:37Z")
Lots of John Hughes’ movies were set here, but not here. (Evanston, IL, but he called it Shermer, much to the consternation of Jay and Silent Bob.) _The Breakfast Club_, while supposedly based on Evanston Township High School, was filmed two towns over at Main East High School, I believe. I don’t know if he did any filming here or not. I don’t know of any TV shows set here though. But then again, I don’t pay much attention to the settings of TV shows unless they’re integral to the plot, like \*Angel \*in LA. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-take-place-in-your-hometown/295092/19 "2005-03-18T11:58:42Z")
Quite a few shows have been set in Chicago, including The Bob Newhart Show and ER. ER does a few days of location shooting here each year, but the only show I can think of that was filmed entirely on location here (as opposed to in a studio) was _Cupid_. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-take-place-in-your-hometown/295092/20 "2005-03-18T12:09:17Z")
[_The FBI_](http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/F/htmlF/fbithe/fbithe.htm), starring Efram Zimbalist, Jr., was supposedly set in Washington, DC. The opening credits sequence, which featured our hero driving to his office, was hilarious to anyone who knows even a little about the geography of DC. Man, was he ever _lost!_ Many of the episodes took place in and around Washington, but the scenery was always dominated by some very California-style mountains. Other than those scenes behind the opening credits, I don’t think they ever filmed any of it more than a few miles from Hollywood. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-shows-take-place-in-your-hometown/295092.md?page=2)