# Characters from Wisconsin (in shows not set there) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [December 24, 2020, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-from-wisconsin-in-shows-not-set-there/928823 "2020-12-24T15:15:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2020, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-from-wisconsin-in-shows-not-set-there/928823/42 "2020-12-26T04:20:26Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > Note that Laura was born in Wisconsin (near Pepin) so although the TV show had a lot of fiction, it was based on real people > > Brian Haven’t read any of the _Little House_ books since childhood, but if memory serves, _Little House in the Big Woods_ is about the childhood of her eventual husband Alonzo Wilder. Which took place in Wisconsin. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2020, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-from-wisconsin-in-shows-not-set-there/928823/43 "2020-12-26T06:40:33Z")
> [@digs](#): > > That could be a thread of its own. We’re surrounded by Poorly-Named Towns. I mean, how lazy do you have to be to start a city, and just shrug and say “Ehh… I like Berlin. I’ll just call this dirt road full of goats… New Berlin.” > > … But we’ll mispronounce it "New _BURR’_ –lin. Wisconsin has both a Berlin and a New Berlin; both of them are pronounced as you note. My understanding is that both towns were originally pronounced burr-LINN, but changed their pronunciation during WWI, when there was strong anti-German sentiment in the U.S. That doesn’t excuse the other pronunciations, of course. My home town of Green Bay has a number of French names of streets and such which sound goofy, because they’re pronounced in a variant Belgian accent – when I was in high school, I dated a girl who lived on Grignon (pronounced GRIG-nun) Street; a few blocks over was Beaupre (BOO-pree) Street. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2020, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-from-wisconsin-in-shows-not-set-there/928823/44 "2020-12-26T07:13:42Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > > [@N9IWP](#): > > > > Note that Laura was born in Wisconsin (near Pepin) so although the TV show had a lot of fiction, it was based on real people > > > > Brian > > Haven’t read any of the _Little House_ books since childhood, but if memory serves, _Little House in the Big Woods_ is about the childhood of her eventual husband Alonzo Wilder. Which took place in Wisconsin. Incorrect. _Little House in the Big Woods_ was set in Wisconsin and is about the Ingallses when Laura was about 5. _Farmer Boy_ was about Almanzo’s childhood in New York state. Enoch Wallace in _Way Station_ by Clifford Simak was a Wisconsinite. Not a huge surprise as Simak was a native. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2020, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-from-wisconsin-in-shows-not-set-there/928823/45 "2020-12-26T18:15:20Z")
> [@kitap](#): > > > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > > > > [@N9IWP](#): > > > > > > Note that Laura was born in Wisconsin (near Pepin) so although the TV show had a lot of fiction, it was based on real people > > > > > > Brian > > > > Haven’t read any of the _Little House_ books since childhood, but if memory serves, _Little House in the Big Woods_ is about the childhood of her eventual husband Alonzo Wilder. Which took place in Wisconsin. > > Incorrect. _Little House in the Big Woods_ was set in Wisconsin and is about the Ingallses when Laura was about 5. _Farmer Boy_ was about Almanzo’s childhood in New York state. > > Enoch Wallace in _Way Station_ by Clifford Simak was a Wisconsinite. Not a huge surprise as Simak was a native Wow. I got just about everything wrong. Memory apparently does _not_ serve. Thanks for the correction. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2020, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-from-wisconsin-in-shows-not-set-there/928823/46 "2020-12-26T18:31:49Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > I think Wisconsin gets used a lot in comedies because it sounds funnier than Minnesota or Oregon, or whatever. Back in the '90s, I co-hosted a radio quiz show. As a joke, the DJ and I were going to end the series with a scandal. “Mike” was going to phone in with the answer to the question before it was asked. Of course, the answer was “Wisconsin.” Sadly, the show was cancelled before we had time to retire the series. Just my luck… 😠 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2020, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-from-wisconsin-in-shows-not-set-there/928823/47 "2020-12-26T18:39:20Z")
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