# How come so many shows are set in New York? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 11, 2001, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-shows-are-set-in-new-york/75831 "2001-08-11T19:13:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [August 12, 2001, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-shows-are-set-in-new-york/75831/21 "2001-08-12T22:39:40Z")
One of my favorite confusion of location was the Father Downing Mystery series. Supposed to be Chicago, right? So where did they film it? Chicago? Hollywood? New York? Nope. Denver! If you ever catch a rerun check out the license plates of the non-essential cars and some of building names like “Mile High Cleaners,” etc. I knew a lady who was had the responsibility of making sure the mountains to the west of Denver did not appear in the outdoor scenes. She said she missed occasionally. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2001, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-shows-are-set-in-new-york/75831/22 "2001-08-12T23:21:28Z")
“Dowling” not “Downing”. Jeez, the one word I absolutely had to spell correctly in the post and of course, I blew it. ---
**Author:** ![Arken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@Arken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arken)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2001, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-shows-are-set-in-new-york/75831/23 "2001-08-12T23:31:44Z")
> [@](#): > > One was about these 19th century cowboys that got lost in a canyon outside of houston and ended in modern times. What the FUCK are these people thinking. Houston is built on mostly flat, coastal prarie wetlands. Hehe. That reminds me of a part of the Stand miniseries… Trash Can Man is blowing up a power plant. The caption says he was in Indiana. There are snow-capped mountains in the distance. I’ve been in this state for years and haven’t seen any snow-capped mountains yet. I wonder where they’re hiding. ---
**Author:** ![ToddEverett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e8c25b/32.png) [@ToddEverett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToddEverett)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2001, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-shows-are-set-in-new-york/75831/24 "2001-08-13T00:21:25Z")
Rather famously, you don’t have to look too closely in the Jackie Chan film “Rumble in the Bronx” to see the Vancouver skyline. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2001, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-shows-are-set-in-new-york/75831/25 "2001-08-13T03:09:20Z")
> [@](#): > > Houston is built on mostly flat, coastal prarie wetlands. Well, how many years did _Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman_ run with a setting of Colorado Springs? They never showed a single mountain (such as Pike’s Peak that is about 12 miles west of–and 8,000 feet higher than–the town) in the whole show. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2001, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-shows-are-set-in-new-york/75831/26 "2001-08-13T06:02:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TV time \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Studoggie \* > > \*\* > > > > Also, has there ever been a TV show in Houston? It is the fourth largest city in the US. (Although it does have HUGE city limits) \*\* > > Didn’t Matt Houston used to jet back and forth between L.A. and Houston in the first season of “Matt Houston”? > > I think they were hoping for a double dipping of demographics to help the ratings. \*\* I believe Matt Houston was set in L.A. and some unnamed city in Texas. My reference sources don’t indicate that any city was specified. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2001, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-shows-are-set-in-new-york/75831/27 "2001-08-13T06:44:53Z")
Of course, the Drew Carey Show is set in Cleveland, and the references to this city are pretty much dead on. One would almost suspect that Mr. Carey knows his way around this city. Hmmm… (Yes, I do know it’s common knowledge that Drew grew up in Cleveland.) ---
**Author:** ![JS\_Princeton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/57b2e6/32.png) [@JS\_Princeton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JS_Princeton)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2001, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-shows-are-set-in-new-york/75831/28 "2001-08-13T09:34:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Gilligan \* > \*\*The 80’s sitcom “Family Ties” was set in Columbus, OH, although there was practically nothing indicating this. I remember a “Discover Columbus” poster on the wall at the dad’s work, but no other references. Not that there is much that they could have used. \*\* They managed to put in Ohio and Columbus references every once in a while. I remember one episdoe had the family looking for a cereal cartoon character hiding somewhere in their Ohio. They got out a huge map of Ohio and tried to track him down. Finally they divined he was somewhere on the corner of Willow and 16th in Columbus… only they were wrong… he was under a bus in Dayton. Need I mention my homestate (Minnesota) television shows? There’s Coach for the first seasons and MTM show. Neither of which did a very good job of portraying the state. Movies is a different matter, we’ve been far better represented. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2001, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-shows-are-set-in-new-york/75831/29 "2001-08-13T12:21:05Z")
Does the world (or this board) _really_ need an anecdotal listing of every television show that had a purported location? ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2001, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-shows-are-set-in-new-york/75831/30 "2001-08-13T13:17:37Z")
The side effect of this, of course, is that people that don’t live in the US have mostly developed a certain viewpoint of how the US is “really” set up. Based on my long debates with foreign clients during BS sessions: - 99% of Americans live in New York, Boston, or California. - They typically live in high-rise apartments, renovated brownstone tenements, or in heavily treed subdivisions filled with $1,000,000 homes that can hold 10 children in comfort. - On the East coast, they all take taxis. Everywhere. - On the West coast, the kids all drive restored 60’s and 70’s musclecars that are worth about $30,000. - These people are witty, funny, “elite”, creative, successful, mostly rich, have “culture”, and are “cool”. - The rest of the US is filled with a mixed bag of lowbrow cultural sterotypes made up primarily of hicks, hillbillies, Texans driving Cadillacs, corrupt politicians wearing seersucker suits, racists of all types including the Klan, poor trash of all races living in single and double-wide’s, and of course occasional white seperatists living in cabins in Montanta with assault rifles. :rolleyes: Given the numerous snide comments made on this Board in the past by some certain prominent Dopers from the East Coast and California, I have no doubt some of these views are held by US residents as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-so-many-shows-are-set-in-new-york/75831.md?page=1)