You’d see ponderosa pine in West Virginai on The Waltons or the mountains of Minnesota on Little House on the Prairie, or Tarzan in Griffith Park, but is this sort of thing as common as it was back when I watched more TV than I do now?
Most TV film/studios are still in So. Cal, so if they want something set in another state but don’t want to shoot on location, they I would say absolutely. On location filming is more common than it was in the 50’s, but there are still tons of prodcutions that are made on studio lots, or using nearby locations.
I’d say TV producers use British Columbia, particularly the Vancouver area, as a stand in these days. Vancouver is often nicknamed “Hollywood North” and is the third largest film production center in North America, behind L.A. and New York.
Here’s a list of TV shows shot in Vancouver. Current ones include Eureka, Painkiller Jane, Psych, Smallville, and Stargate Atlantis.
Past popular shows such as 21 Jump Street, MacGuyver, and The X-Files were also filmed there.
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I believe only the first 5 seasons of The X-Files was filmed “out there.”
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A really obvious one recently is that the scenes in current episodes of Heroes that take place in 17the Century Japan are shot in California. The backdrop, the soil, the grass, the plants; it looks like a parched sub-desert rather than Japan…
Paraphrased from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me: “Isn’t it amazing how the scenery in England in no way resembles that of Southern California?” …as they drove out of London down PCH. 
The outdoor shots in both My Name Is Earl and The Office are quite obviously shot in California. MNiE is not specific about where it’s supposed to be, but The Office is supposed to be PA.
Monk seems also to be mostly shot in southern California, as I see plenty of palm trees, Spanish architecture and flat terrain, most of which are not predominant in San Francisco. Then again, for all I know, they may shoot some scenes in Vancouver, too.
In one scene in that film, you can see a mountain range in the background of a scene that’s supposed to be in downtown London. (It was added in post-production: again poking fun at old movies’s penchant for filming “foreign” scenes in California.)
Definitely SoCal. There was an episode where Monk is accidentally on a boat that takes off and he winds up in the water. Right outside San Diego, judging from the Coronado Island bridge in the background.
Charmed is another big offender. Show some external scenes in the opening credits or as cut scenes of San Francisco landmarks, then film entirely in SoCal. (Blue street signs, parkways with palm trees, the “manor” supposedly on Prescott…)
I don’t have much to add, but I remember my mom rolling her eyes at Little House on the Prairie when, during the show, a tumble weed rolled by. “There are no tumbleweeds in Minnesota,” said she.
That statement changed my perception of television ever since.
Also, I’ve been on the lookout for tumbleweeds 'round these here parts ever since. Never saw a one. Guess she was right. The TV lied.
God, you guys are such nitpickers. What kind of freak would be able to recognize San Francisco by its bridges?!
I would just add that the old TV series “The Fugitive” was set all over the USA. However, all of the location shots in actuality were within a two hour drive from Los Angeles.
That’s nothing. Star Trek:TOS’s location shots were almost all at Mormon Rocks!
One of the Alias DVD extras was about various locations around L.A. that they used to simulate all the exotic locales they were supposedly going to.
Semi-related. Matlock was filmed in Wilmington, NC. One scene Matlock is on the Fulton County courthouse steps (supposedly in downtown Atlanta), and he shouts to a hotdog vendor. It then cuts to a shot of the vendor responding. The vendor is standing at the riverfront with the USS North Carolina right behind him.
Nip/Tuck was mostly shot in Los Angeles - the yachting scenes at the El Segundo marina (easily recognized by the two office towers). Of course, this season is set in LA, which will probably make things easier.
(A lot of the external shots were made on the lot where I work - a careful observer will see a few office buildings taking on the role of hospital or cafe or somesuch as needed.)
CSI: NY is filmed in Los Angeles for the most part. Lord knows, it interrupts my commute often enough. I believe all the exteriors in “Heroes” are in Southern California.
I can recall one exception, when they actually filmed in Reno (I watched the episode when I lived there thirty years later - little had changed)
I watched an episode of ST:Enterprise where they went back to 21st century Detroit. They were pretty careful to show only closeups of buildings until the very end where the Detroit police drove in - with the “Detroit Mountains” showing clearly behind them. :smack: