# Biggest city without a TV show based in it **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 1, 2003, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-city-without-a-tv-show-based-in-it/146086 "2003-01-01T20:30:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [January 1, 2003, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-city-without-a-tv-show-based-in-it/146086/1 "2003-01-01T20:30:48Z")
Well? Nearly every major city has had a TV show based in it. What’s the biggest one without one? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-city-without-a-tv-show-based-in-it/146086/2 "2003-01-01T20:41:24Z")
I’m not going to run a search but I know there was a thread about this a few months back. I think Tulsa, Oklahoma was the answer. ---
**Author:** ![Lure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@Lure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lure)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-city-without-a-tv-show-based-in-it/146086/3 "2003-01-01T20:42:01Z")
Houston or Phoenix?Excepting football games.Only a guess,don’t watch the major networks prime time series. ---
**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:** [January 1, 2003, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-city-without-a-tv-show-based-in-it/146086/4 "2003-01-01T20:43:45Z")
I thought so, too. I searched back six months and didn’t find anything (using “biggest city show” as the criteria). For some reason, Sacremento came to mind, but I think that was the “Biggest City Without an Interstate”. ---
**Author:** ![RichietheGrenzlander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/87869e/32.png) [@RichietheGrenzlander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RichietheGrenzlander)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-city-without-a-tv-show-based-in-it/146086/5 "2003-01-01T20:50:09Z")
Philadelphia. ---
**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:** [January 1, 2003, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-city-without-a-tv-show-based-in-it/146086/6 "2003-01-01T20:58:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RichietheGrenzlander \* > \*\*Philadelphia. \*\* _American Dreams_ is set in Philadelphia of the 60’s. ---
**Author:** ![Ave\_Minerva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@Ave\_Minerva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ave_Minerva)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-city-without-a-tv-show-based-in-it/146086/7 "2003-01-01T20:59:34Z")
Richie, there’s a TV show called “The Hack” or “Hack” that is being filmed here in Philly now. I’m not sure if it has premiered yet. And there’s that skit on Mad TV with the two rather large women that is set in Philly. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-city-without-a-tv-show-based-in-it/146086/8 "2003-01-01T21:02:37Z")
Houston had two shows that lasted a single season set there, both airing in the same year, in the late eighties. They were the only two to ever be set there. So it’s disqualified if you mean ever, but currently it would be. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-city-without-a-tv-show-based-in-it/146086/9 "2003-01-01T21:43:05Z")
Wasn’t _thirtysomething_ set in Philadelphia? ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-city-without-a-tv-show-based-in-it/146086/10 "2003-01-01T22:09:45Z")
Houston had _Matt Houston_ Philadelphia had, in addition to those already mentioned, _Philly_ and _American Bandstand_. Sacramento had _Eight is Enough_. Here’s a table of the twenty largest cities in the US–I’m assuming that the US is what’s being referred to in the OP. All we have to do is find a tv show for as many on this list as we can, and the highest one left would be our winner. The three numbers listed are population, area, and density. ``` 1 New York city, NY *...... 7,322,564 308.9 23,705 2 Los Angeles city, CA..... 3,485,398 469.3 7,427 3 Chicago city, IL......... 2,783,726 227.2 12,252 4 Houston city, TX......... 1,630,553 539.9 3,020 5 Philadelphia city, PA.... 1,585,577 135.1 11,736 6 San Diego city, CA *..... 1,110,549 324.0 3,428 7 Detroit city, MI......... 1,027,974 138.7 7,411 8 Dallas city, TX.......... 1,006,877 342.4 2,941 9 Phoenix city, AZ *....... 983,403 419.9 2,342 ``` 10 San Antonio city, TX… 935,933 333.0 2,811 11 San Jose city, CA… 782,248 171.3 4,567 12 Baltimore city, MD… 736,014 80.8 9,109 13 Indianapolis city, IN \*… 731,327 361.7 2,022 14 San Francisco city, CA… 723,959 46.7 15,502 15 Jacksonville city, FL \*… 635,230 758.7 837 16 Columbus city, OH… 632,910 190.9 3,315 17 Milwaukee city, WI… 628,088 96.1 6,536 18 Memphis city, TN \*… 610,337 256.0 2,384 19 Washington city, DC… 606,900 61.4 9,884 20 Boston city, MA… 574,283 48.4 11,865 I can’t think of any shows set in Phoenix, San Antonio, San Jose, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, or Memphis. ---
**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:** [January 1, 2003, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-city-without-a-tv-show-based-in-it/146086/11 "2003-01-01T22:15:57Z")
_One Day at a Time_ was set in Indianapolis. ---
**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:** [January 1, 2003, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-city-without-a-tv-show-based-in-it/146086/12 "2003-01-01T22:27:00Z")
_GAH_ coding error. Anyhoo, _Alice_ was set in Phoenix. So the title appears to go to San Antonio. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-city-without-a-tv-show-based-in-it/146086/13 "2003-01-01T22:36:56Z")
When this was done a while back I thought the two finalists were San Antonio and Tulsa. And since Friends has been featuring Tulsa as Chandler’s work site…does this bring it down to San Antonio? ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-city-without-a-tv-show-based-in-it/146086/14 "2003-01-01T22:39:32Z")
What show was set in Portland, Oregon? ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2003, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-city-without-a-tv-show-based-in-it/146086/15 "2003-01-01T22:40:41Z")
Number Six, where did that data come from? ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-city-without-a-tv-show-based-in-it/146086/16 "2003-01-02T00:33:05Z")
What about Kansas City? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-city-without-a-tv-show-based-in-it/146086/17 "2003-01-02T00:52:51Z")
2000 census numbers [Top 50 Cities in the U.S. by Population - 2000](http://geography.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.infoplease.com%2Fipa%2FA0763098.html) 1: New York, N.Y. 8,008,278 2: Los Angeles, Calif. 3,694,820 3: Chicago, Ill. 2,896,016 4: Houston, Tex. 1,953,631 5: Philadelphia, Pa. 1,517,550 6: Phoenix, Ariz. 1,321,045 7: San Diego, Calif. 1,223,400 8: Dallas, Tex. 1,188,580 9: San Antonio, Tex. 1,144,646 10: Detroit, Mich. 951,270 11:San Jose, Calif. 894,943 12: Indianapolis, Ind. 791,926 13: San Francisco, Calif. 776,733 14: Jacksonville, Fla. 735,617 15: Columbus, Ohio 711,470 15: Austin, Tex. 656,562 17: Baltimore, Md. 651,154 18: Memphis, Tenn. 650,100 19: Milwaukee, Wis. 596,974 20: Boston, Mass. 589,141 ---
**Author:** ![Road\_Rash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Road\_Rash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Road_Rash)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-city-without-a-tv-show-based-in-it/146086/18 "2003-01-02T00:56:57Z")
The TV show “Alice” took place in Phoenix. Number six, those stats are old. Probably from 1990. San Jose, I believe is in the top 10. Houston is over 1,900,000. ---
**Author:** ![Road\_Rash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a8b319/32.png) [@Road\_Rash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Road_Rash)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-city-without-a-tv-show-based-in-it/146086/19 "2003-01-02T00:58:57Z")
Good job Astro ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2003, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-city-without-a-tv-show-based-in-it/146086/20 "2003-01-02T01:03:12Z")
Never mind here’s whole list Top 50 Cities in the U.S. by Population - 2000 1: New York, N.Y. 8,008,278 2: Los Angeles, Calif. 3,694,820 3: Chicago, Ill. 2,896,016 4: Houston, Tex. 1,953,631 5: Philadelphia, Pa. 1,517,550 6: Phoenix, Ariz. 1,321,045 7: San Diego, Calif. 1,223,400 8: Dallas, Tex. 1,188,580 9: San Antonio, Tex. 1,144,646 10: Detroit, Mich. 951,270 11: San Jose, Calif. 894,943 12: Indianapolis, Ind. 791,926 13: San Francisco, Calif. 776,733 14: Jacksonville, Fla. 735,617 15: Columbus, Ohio 711,470 15: Austin, Tex. 656,562 17: Baltimore, Md. 651,154 18: Memphis, Tenn. 650,100 19: Milwaukee, Wis. 596,974 20: Boston, Mass. 589,141 21: Washington, DC 572,059 22: Nashville-Davidson, Tenn. 1,569,891 23: El Paso, Tex. 563,662 24: Seattle, Wash. 563,374 25: Denver, Colo. 554,636 26: Charlotte, N.C. 540,828 27: Fort Worth, Tex. 534,694 28: Portland, Ore. 529,121 29: Oklahoma City, Okla. 506,132 30: Tucson, Ariz. 486,699 31: New Orleans, La. 484,674 32: Las Vegas, Nev. 478,434 33: Cleveland, Ohio 478,403 34: Long Beach, Calif. 461,522 35: Albuquerque, N.M. 448,607 36: Kansas City, Mo. 441,545 37: Fresno, Calif. 427,652 38: Virginia Beach, Va. 425,257 39: Atlanta, Ga. 416,474 40: Sacramento, Calif. 407,018 41: Oakland, Calif. 399,484 42: Mesa, Ariz. 396,375 43: Tulsa, Okla. 393,049 44: Omaha, Neb. 390,007 45: Minneapolis, Minn. 382,618 46: Honolulu CDP,2 Hawaii 371,657 47: Miami, Fla. 362,470 48: Colorado Springs, Colo. 360,890 49: St. Louis, Mo. 348,189 50: Wichita, Kans. 344,284 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-city-without-a-tv-show-based-in-it/146086.md?page=2)