# Movie/TV characters' great apartments **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 14, 2016, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-characters-great-apartments/748941 "2016-03-14T02:46:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [March 16, 2016, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-characters-great-apartments/748941/41 "2016-03-16T19:07:43Z")
\*\*_MAD Magazine \*\*\* explained Elizabeth Taylor’s house in **The Sandpiper** by having her say that, as a Beatnik artist, she went around nude all the time and used the money she saved on clothes to buy it._ \*The opening panel of the satire (titled _ **The Sinpiper** _) showed a dilapidated shack perched on the edge of a cliff in the background, not a palacial glass home. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2016, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-characters-great-apartments/748941/42 "2016-03-16T19:17:44Z")
Dexter’s apartment was pretty nice. The place Veronica Mars shared with her dad, The Sunset Cliffs Apartments, is a cool spot–actually better in real life than the show I think. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-characters-great-apartments/748941/43 "2016-03-17T01:01:04Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > You’re joking, but seeing as Hepburn served as a courier for the Dutch Resistance during the German occupation, she might actually have been able to help. I did not know that. Ignorance Fought! Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-characters-great-apartments/748941/44 "2016-03-17T01:06:57Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > Greg Brady’s swingin’ bachelor pad (he “occupied” his dad’s den) is, for a teenager, not bad. The Bradys also lived in a 3BR house with 6 kids and a live-in maid. (and two ovens as well) I remember thinking that “Alice” inhabited an awfully nice-looking apartment, considering that she was a widow with a teenage son who worked at a greasy spoon diner. Maybe her husband had plenty of life insurance, IDK. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-characters-great-apartments/748941/45 "2016-03-17T03:46:48Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > In my experience, apartments (and hotel rooms) are contained within a rectangle. So I’m confused by apartments that don’t do that. Jerry Seinfeld’s apartment in his sitcom clearly didn’t do that. The bathroom and bedroom were on the same wall as the door to the apartment (so the apartment must have been L-shaped?). But the few views we saw of the hallway didn’t seem to leave room for the bedroom and bathroom. If you’re making a TV show (especially with a live audience) you go with whatever looks best on stage, no matter how screwed up or downright impossible the floorplan would be in real life. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-characters-great-apartments/748941/46 "2016-03-17T03:49:42Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > In Big Bang Theory they don’t come in directly from the outside, either – They come into the foyer, then walk up three flights around the perpetually broken elevator (that Leonard is responsible for)… Remind me how, again, please? > [@standingwave](#): > > I’ve always wondered what the exterior of [Frasier’s apartment] building must look like. I don’t think we’re ever shown it. These may be of interest, though: > **[Frasier](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frasier#Sets_and_settings)** > > Frasier (/ˈfreɪʒər/) is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee (as Grub Street Productions), in association with Grammnet (2004) and Paramount Television. > The series was created as a spin-off of the sitcom Cheers. It continues the story of psychiatrist Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer), who returns to his hometown, Seattle, as a radio show host... > **[Inside Frasier Crane's Plush Seattle Digs](https://www.thrillist.com/home/photo-tour-of-frasier-crane-s-seattle-apartment)** > > Not pictured: Tossed salad and scrambled eggs. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-characters-great-apartments/748941/47 "2016-03-17T04:08:44Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > If you’re making a TV show (especially with a live audience) you go with whatever looks best on stage, no matter how screwed up or downright impossible the floorplan would be in real life. Jerry had an end apartment, though, so it made sense to me. The apartment was a little bit L-shaped around the truncated hallway. I had an end apartment once that was a little odd like that. My bathroom was right next to my neighbors bathroom, and my kitchen was against the end of the hallway; I had 2 1/2 outside walls, so I got lots of windows, and heat was included, so I could crank it up in the winter. BTW, I kinds like that on both _Friends_ and TBBT, the illustrate a phenomenon that I saw in NYC all the time in older buildings-- the nice, spacious apartment with the view that probably cost $4000/month (in NY dollars), across the hall from the smaller apartment that overlooked the alley, and cost $1,400/month. Now, Monica had a rent controlled apartment, and may have been paying who knows-- $600 a month? and Penny’s one bedroom has an even smaller kitchen than Chandler and Joey’s apartment, and so maybe they guy’s pay $1,800, split two ways, and Penny pays $1,200. But that set up totally looks familiar. I was the person in the crappy apartment overlooking the alley a few times in Manhattan, but it meant I was in a decent building that attracted the tenants who could afford the nice place across the hall. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-characters-great-apartments/748941/48 "2016-03-17T04:15:03Z")
[Gull Cottage](http://hookedonhouses.net/2011/09/12/gull-cottage-in-the-movie-the-ghost-and-mrs-muir/) in the movie _The Ghost and Mrs. Muir_ was pretty spectacular. Also [Windward House](http://www.cageyfilms.com/2013/11/haunting-classic-the-uninvited-1944/) in the 1944 version of _The Uninvited_, one of my absolute favorite movies. ---
**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:** [March 17, 2016, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-characters-great-apartments/748941/49 "2016-03-17T04:17:11Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I don’t think we’re ever shown it. They did, very briefly, in the episode where the easy chair came crashing to the ground. It was at street level. It’d be interesting to view that scene again, just to see if we can make out any details. It happened so fast and was unexpected. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-characters-great-apartments/748941/50 "2016-03-17T04:18:44Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Remind me how, again, please? If I recall correctly, the elevator in TBBT is broken because Leonard and the guys are experimenting with rocket fuel, in the kitchen. Some key measurement is off, and the resulting explosion would have destroyed the apartment. Sheldon is planning to take the container outside before it explodes, but they run out of time. So he ditches the canister in the elevator, hits the button to the close the door, and BOOM. Building management never fixes it. ---
**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:** [March 17, 2016, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-characters-great-apartments/748941/51 "2016-03-17T04:23:55Z")
> [@ddsun](#): > > Sheldon is planning to take the container outside before it explodes, but they run out of time. So he ditches the canister in the elevator, hits the button to the close the door, and BOOM. Leonard was trying to take it out, but Sheldon stopped him and ditched the canister as you describe. So Sheldon actually saved his life, one of the reasons he’s stayed his roommate for so long. He does so out of gratitude, both for saving his life and not ratting him out to the owners of the building, or to the authorities. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-characters-great-apartments/748941/52 "2016-03-17T04:29:17Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Neil Simon lampshaded this in one of his plays (_The Goodbye Girl_, I think) by having his character saying they had the apartment “on a sublet from Mary Todd Lincoln”. Speaking of lampshading: In Daredevil, Matt Murdock’s swank corner apartment also comes with a garish electronic billboard next door, which makes the unit uninhabitable to anyone but a blind person (Matt), who thus pays significantly lower rent for it. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-characters-great-apartments/748941/53 "2016-03-17T12:57:45Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > Speaking of lampshading: In Daredevil, Matt Murdock’s swank corner apartment also comes with a garish electronic billboard next door, which makes the unit uninhabitable to anyone but a blind person (Matt), who thus pays significantly lower rent for it. Actually, to any blind person (except, arguably, Daredevil), the fact that it’s a corner apartment probably wouldn’t have any more of a draw than a non-corner apartment. Unless he really likes getting cross-drafts. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-characters-great-apartments/748941/54 "2016-03-17T14:00:25Z")
Well, in that particular case the amount of potential exits is a selling point 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-characters-great-apartments/748941/55 "2016-03-17T16:41:50Z")
> [@ddsun](#): > > If I recall correctly, the elevator in TBBT is broken because Leonard and the guys are experimenting with rocket fuel, in the kitchen. Some key measurement is off, and the resulting explosion would have destroyed the apartment. Sheldon is planning to take the container outside before it explodes, but they run out of time. So he ditches the canister in the elevator, hits the button to the close the door, and BOOM. > > Building management never fixes it. > [@terentii](#): > > Leonard was trying to take it out, but Sheldon stopped him and ditched the canister as you describe. So Sheldon actually saved his life, one of the reasons he’s stayed his roommate for so long. He does so out of gratitude, both for saving his life and not ratting him out to the owners of the building, or to the authorities. I missed that one. My thanks to you both. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2016, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-characters-great-apartments/748941/56 "2016-03-17T22:45:40Z")
Oh! And, while it’s a bit of a “cheat” (there might not be enough examples for their own thead), but [Adam Jensen’s apartment from _Deux Ex: Human Revolution_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uows0Si9gVg).\* And, of course, it’s immediate ancestor, [Deckard’s apartment from _Blade Runner_](http://interiorator.com/deckards-apartment/). The latter, however, while great and appropriate, I find just a tad too cluttered for my (personal) tastes—I guess I prefer just the right combination of “airy” and “spooky.” \*It lacks the requisite giant, uncovered, slow-moving backlit fan, true, but it _does_ have a prominent mirror smashed in anguish. ---
**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:** [March 17, 2016, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-characters-great-apartments/748941/57 "2016-03-17T23:01:14Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I missed that one. My thanks to you both. It’s one that takes place mostly in Penny’s apartment after Leonard and Sheldon have an argument. He tells her in a series of flashbacks how they wound up as roommates, and why he continues to live that way. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-characters-great-apartments/748941/58 "2016-03-18T03:03:53Z")
I always like Mork & Mindy’s apartment. Mork had his own loft in the attic. (Of course, he’d have to go downstairs to go to the bathroom, but maybe Orkans dont’ have to do that…) That’s one thing I hated about growing up in Orange County: no attics and no basements. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-characters-great-apartments/748941/59 "2016-03-18T03:33:15Z")
Harry Bosch’s house was destroyed in the Northridge Earthquake, but he rebuilt on the same spot. I’m not sure if the second one looked like the original. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2016, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-characters-great-apartments/748941/60 "2016-03-18T03:43:51Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Is there ANY apartment which wouldn’t be improved if it came with Audrey Hepburn wrapped in a towel? Hmm, I don’t know. She’s been dead a while. I’ve mentioned this one before, but Mad About You had a huge apartment (though it did have that weird sloping floor). When they decide to have a baby, they say, and we can convert the storage area to a nursery. Yeah, in NYC they’re paying for a bedroom and using a second bedroom as a random junk/storage room. Right. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-characters-great-apartments/748941.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-tv-characters-great-apartments/748941.md?page=4)