# Shows or film that were actually filmed in the place where they are set **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 18, 2021, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764 "2021-01-18T00:29:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/1 "2021-01-18T00:29:08Z")
In the thread “[Subtle inaccuracies in depictions of your city/region in fiction](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subtle-inaccuracies-in-depictions-of-your-city-region-in-fiction/930508/143)” many of the examples are of shows that were filmed in places that don’t really look like the place they’re supposed to be set. I mentioned _Breaking Bad_ as a counterexample, as a show that actually _was_ filmed where it was set (or perhaps more accurately, set where it was filmed, since Vince Gilligan decided to change the setting to Albuquerque after deciding to shoot in New Mexico for financial reasons). So, not wanting to further hijack that thread, what are some other shows or movies that actually were filmed where they were supposed to be set? In the other thread @kitap mentioned _Forever Knight_ as a show that was both filmed and set in Toronto. As I recall _The Walking Dead_ is both set and filmed in Georgia. I’m sure there is a ton of stuff that was set in Los Angeles and also filmed there. Probably the same for New York. _Law and Order_ and its spinoffs are shot in New York, I believe. ETA: And since I mentioned _Breaking Bad_, I guess _Better Call Saul_ should also be included. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/2 "2021-01-18T00:34:21Z")
Most Matlock episodes were supposedly located in Atlanta, but filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina. However, one episode had Matlock vacationing in Wilmington. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/3 "2021-01-18T01:17:23Z")
I find some of the plots and characterizations in _Bosch_ to be very tiresome, but I can never get enough of the non-landmark LA locations that I instantly recognize: Strip malls, restaurants, apartment buildings, even parking lots. ---
**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:** [January 18, 2021, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/4 "2021-01-18T01:22:57Z")
Val Kilmer’s _ **The Saint** _ was actually filmed in Moscow, resulting in some bizarre transitions to anyone familiar with the city’s geography. The “American Embassy” was actually the Peking Hotel on Mayakovsky Square (the real one is a bit farther down the Garden Ring), and the river Kilmer and Elizabeth Shue were dunked in was the Yauza. _ **The Russia House** _ was also filmed in Moscow when I was a grad student there. One of the girls on my dorm floor (a Finn) actually met Sean Connery in the lobby of the hotel where he was staying and got to shake his hand. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/5 "2021-01-18T01:23:23Z")
From the IMDb trivia for [1984](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087803/?ref_=tttr_tr_tt): > Many of the scenes were shot on the days noted in Winston Smith’s diary. The scene where Smith enters his apartment and writes in his diary, dating the entry April 4, 1984, was filmed on April 4, 1984. > The movie was filmed during April, May, and June 1984. The closing credits declare that “This film was photographed in and around London during the period April-June 1984, the exact time and setting imagined by the author George Orwell.” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/6 "2021-01-18T01:23:40Z")
_Hawaii Five-0_ and _Magnum PI_. ---
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/7 "2021-01-18T01:27:23Z")
I heard the 1969 moon landing was shot on location. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/8 "2021-01-18T01:29:06Z")
> [@tripthicket](#): > > I heard the 1969 moon landing was shot on location. Depends whom you ask. ---
**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:** [January 18, 2021, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/9 "2021-01-18T01:31:12Z")
I don’t remember if the location was ever mentioned specifically, but _ **Drop Dead Fred** _ was clearly set (and filmed) in Minneapolis and St Paul. I saw the movie when I was living in Czechoslovakia and couldn’t believe my eyes! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/10 "2021-01-18T01:35:54Z")
Any Werner Herzog movie you care to name. He was a big believer in what he called the “Voodoo of Location.” Even in _Aguirre, the Wrath of God_, those actors really were in South America hauling stuff over the Andes. ---
**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/11 "2021-01-18T01:43:50Z")
There are tons of movies that are shot in Toronto but disguise the setting as some American city, so it was memorable to see _Scott Pilgrim vs. the World_ be openly shot and set in Toronto for once. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/12 "2021-01-18T01:45:16Z")
The Last Emperor was filmed in the actual Forbidden City. ---
**Author:** ![TiberiusNeroClaudius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@TiberiusNeroClaudius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TiberiusNeroClaudius)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/13 "2021-01-18T01:50:13Z")
TV shows “Route 66” and “Movin’ On”. ---
**Author:** ![TiberiusNeroClaudius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@TiberiusNeroClaudius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TiberiusNeroClaudius)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/14 "2021-01-18T01:52:20Z")
The 1988 miniseries “War and Remembrance” concentration camp scenes were filmed at Auschwitz; first time the Polish government gave permission ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/15 "2021-01-18T01:57:31Z")
_Cool Runnings_ was about the Jamaican Bobsled Team at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. The Calgary scenes were filmed in Calgary itself, in winter. ---
**Author:** ![TiberiusNeroClaudius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@TiberiusNeroClaudius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TiberiusNeroClaudius)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/16 "2021-01-18T02:00:22Z")
1954 movie “Riot in Cell Block 11” was filmed at San Quentin prison in California. One of the actors, Leo Gordon, was incarcerated there five years for armed robbery and the warden was initially reluctant to allow him there. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/17 "2021-01-18T02:01:29Z")
The Heist, with Pierce Brosnan, was set and filmed in San Diego, featuring the Del Mar Racetrack (where the surf meets the turf) as well as the Pacific Beach pier and the Mexican border crossing. Better yet, travel-times between the various locales were all correct. Fun movie. ---
**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:** [January 18, 2021, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/18 "2021-01-18T02:12:08Z")
_ **Poldark** _ and _ **Doc Martin** _ are both filmed in Cornwall. _ **Heartbeat** _ and _ **All Creatures Great and Small** _ are both filmed in Yorkshire. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/19 "2021-01-18T02:29:18Z")
How about halfway in the correct location? There was an early McCloud that stuck out to me. McCloud was chasing some suspect around a railroad yard. In some camera setups, you could clearly see the World Trade Center in the background, and the locomotives and cars were all primarily east cost lines. But then McCloud runs between cars and right past a Santa Fe locomotive. Who would go to that much trouble to fly the lead actor back and forth across country, especially for a scene that could (should) have just been filmed completely in one of the locations. Kojak seemed to film in actual NYC and then on a NYC backlot, sometimes in the same scene. Early season Adam-12 episodes were filmed in the Universal backlot, which means they were actually filmed in the proper location (Los Angeles) but not actually on location. This had the weird issue of making it look like it was filmed in NYC, because actual LA looks nothing like the backlot. ---
**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:** [January 18, 2021, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/20 "2021-01-18T02:40:35Z")
The four series in Dick Wolf’s Chicago franchise (_Chicago Fire_, _Chicago P.D._, _Chicago Med_, and _Chicago Justice_) are all filmed in Chicago – a combination of location shooting, and interior shoots at the Cinespace Chicago studio. @Just_Asking_Questions’ mention of Adam-12 reminded me – the TV series _Emergency!_ was filmed on location at a Los Angeles County fire station (Station 127, standing in for the fictional Station 51). My wife visited Station 127 a few years ago – the station stills get fans of the TV show who show up, and they sell commemorative T-shirts. 😃 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764.md?page=2)