# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/41 "2021-01-18T15:13:28Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > “Columbo” worked for the LAPD and the show was shot in Los Angeles. Columbo! :smack: How could I have forgotten _Columbo_? One of the fun things about _Columbo_ vs the earlier shows is the bad guys were always fat cats. So we got to see a different, and much more fancy-pants slice of greater LA than we did on _Dragnet_ or _Emergency_. As well as hear what passes for a patrician accent in LA-speak. Which reminds me of **[_Quincy, M.E._](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quincy,_M.E.)**. (Whose wiki url Discourse’s Onebox won’t parse, so you’ve got to click.) And then of course there’s the finest movie ever made. Filmed right where it’s set: > **[Raising Arizona](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_Arizona)** > > Raising Arizona is a 1987 American crime comedy film directed by Joel Coen, produced by Ethan Coen, and written by Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars Nicolas Cage as H.I. "Hi" McDunnough, an ex-convict, and Holly Hunter as Edwina "Ed" McDunnough, a former police officer and his wife. Other members of the cast include Trey Wilson, William Forsythe, John Goodman, Frances McDormand, Sam McMurray, and Randall "Tex" Cobb. > The Coen brothers set out to work on the film with the intention of making a film ... ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/42 "2021-01-18T15:54:57Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Banacek, on the other hand, was filmed, except for establishing shots, entirely in LA. Didn’t know Boston had palm trees! There must be an appropriate Old Polish Proverb for that, right? 😄 ---
**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, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/43 "2021-01-18T16:09:44Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > And then of course there’s the finest movie ever made. Filmed right where it’s set: Funny, your link went to Raising Arizona when it should have gone to: > **[Used Cars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Used_Cars)** > > Used Cars is a 1980 American satirical black comedy film co-written and directed by Robert Zemeckis. The story follows Rudy Russo (Kurt Russell), a devious salesman, working for affable, but monumentally unsuccessful used-car dealer Luke Fuchs (Jack Warden). Luke's principal rival, located directly across the street, is his more prosperous brother, Roy L. Fuchs (also played by Warden), who is scheming to take over Luke's lot. The film also stars Deborah Harmon and Gerrit Graham, and the supportin... 🙂 I actually once bought a car from Roy L. Fuchs Pre-owned Automobiles, or at least, the actual dealership used for filming. ---
**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, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/44 "2021-01-18T16:14:39Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > There must be an appropriate Old Polish Proverb for that, right? There’s an old Polish proverb that said, no matter the coldness of the winter, the palm trees will never touch the snow. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/45 "2021-01-18T16:30:02Z")
The Clint Eastwood movie ‘Gran Torino’ was filmed and took place in the Detroit area. The ‘Gran Torino’ movie team set up headquarters in a vacant lot across from my wife’s friend’s house in Grosse Pointe. That was in the brief period when Detroit was becoming a favored moviemaking location, before incoming Governor Snyder shut down the party, saying it wasn’t cost-effective for Michigan to offer tax breaks to Hollywood to use Michigan as a filming location. What a buzz killer. My first car was a '73 Gran Torino, so it was fun to see Clint’s character’s prized vehicle, although his was a '72. ---
**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, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/46 "2021-01-18T17:25:56Z")
> [@solost](#): > > before incoming Governor Snyder shut down the party, saying …“Get off my lawn!”? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/47 "2021-01-18T17:43:19Z")
Three Fugitives (Nick Nolte, Martin Short) was set and filmed in Seattle. Mostly. Of course, there are some severe geographical errors, like a car chase down a street in Tacoma turns a corner and is 30 miles away in downtown Seattle. Or the scene near the Canadian border where they are clearly on the Sumner-Buckley highway with Mt. Rainier in the distance, which is well over 100 miles from Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/48 "2021-01-18T17:45:49Z")
Not very interesting: Inspector Morse was filmed in Oxford. A bit more interesting: Witness was filmed in Lancaster County, PA. (We went to Zimmerman’s store and gawped.) Quite interesting (at least to me): Blade Runner, set in LA, used the [Bradbury Building](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradbury_Building) in LA as the apartment building where J.F. Sebastian lives. j ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/49 "2021-01-18T18:24:26Z")
My sister recommended to me a BBC detective show that’s now on Netflix called Hinterland, that takes place in Wales in and around Aberystwyth, near where our Grandfather was born. The show makes great use of the beauty and bleakness of the Welsh countryside; it’s practically a supporting character. > **[Hinterland (TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinterland_(TV_series))** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > Hinterland — Y Gwyll (Welsh for 'the dusk') in the original Welsh language version — is a Welsh noir police procedural series broadcast on S4C in Welsh. The main character, DCI Tom Mathias, is played by Richard Harrington. On 27 November 2013, a second series was announced by S4C. The English-language version, with brief passages of Welsh dialogue, aired on BBC One Wales. When it was shown on the BBC in 2014, it was the first BBC television dra... ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/50 "2021-01-18T18:29:39Z")
**Portlandia** was indeed filmed here in Portland. Some of it was right down the street in my neighborhood. They used local businesses (changing the signage sometimes) and local actors, and paid homeowners to use their houses. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/51 "2021-01-18T18:37:32Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > **Portlandia** was indeed filmed here in Portland…They used local businesses (changing the signage sometimes)… Which caused the show to have its own very meta, ‘Portlandia’ style controversy in true ‘life imitates art imitating life’ fashion: > **[The Real Feminist Book Store From Portlandia Has a Message for the IFC Show:...](https://www.vulture.com/2016/09/portlandia-real-womens-book-store-cuts-ties-with-show.html#comments)** > > Dude in a dress jokes are lazy, reactionary, and actively harmful.” ---
**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, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/52 "2021-01-18T19:07:46Z")
Movie locations for “The Godfather”, some of which were the real thing. Others such as the Corleone compound which is supposed to be in Long Beach, NY is actually in Staten Island. > **[Filming Locations for The Godfather (1972)](http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/g/Godfather.php)** > > Travel guide to filming locations for The Godfather (1972), around New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Sicily. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/53 "2021-01-18T19:29:31Z")
“Big Little Lies” was filmed in Monterey. ---
**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, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/54 "2021-01-18T19:34:13Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > **Portlandia** was indeed filmed here in Portland. Some of it was right down the street in my neighborhood. They used local businesses (changing the signage sometimes) and local actors, and paid homeowners to use their houses. A friend of my wife lives in Portland – she’s not a professional actress, but as she’s done a little acting, and is in a wheelchair, she was cast in a season 6 episode in which Kath and Dave were temporarily disabled. ---
**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, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/55 "2021-01-18T19:45:04Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Quite interesting (at least to me): Blade Runner, set in LA, used the [Bradbury Building](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradbury_Building) in LA as the apartment building where J.F. Sebastian lives. Me, too. I love the Bradbury building. Some very good TV episodes and movies were filmed there. We must not be the only one - the recenter Bosch novels have characters that have offices there. So I guess it wasn’t a rain soaked abandoned (30 story!) low-rent district hell hole in 2019 after all. (but the Million Dollar Movie house is not doing so well as a theater.) ---
**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, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/56 "2021-01-18T21:20:10Z")
Most of _The Sopranos_ was filmed in Northern New Jersey. There was at least one notable exception, however. The episode “Pine Barrens” was not filmed in the Pine Barrens, because they couldn’t get permission to film there. It was instead shot at a state park in New York. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/57 "2021-01-18T21:36:08Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > 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 Forgive me if this is a stupid question, but why wouldn’t a Santa Fe locomotive be in New Jersey (where a scene in a railyard with the Twin Towers in the background would most likely be shot?) Don’t locomotives travel all over the place? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/58 "2021-01-18T21:42:53Z")
Much of Animal House was filmed in Eugene, Oregon. ---
**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, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/59 "2021-01-18T21:47:55Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Forgive me if this is a stupid question, but why wouldn’t a Santa Fe locomotive be in New Jersey (where a scene in a railyard with the Twin Towers in the background would most likely be shot?) Don’t locomotives travel all over the place? Freight cars do; locomotives generally don’t. The Atcheson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway was strictly a western railroad, and didn’t have tracks any further east than Chicago. While it’s not uncommon to see a freight car for a railroad that’s far away from “home,” locomotives nearly always stay on their home railways. If a set of train cars needs to move from one railroad onto another, they’ll usually be switched to a different set of locomotives (with a different crew) when they are moved onto the second railroad. An exception would be if a railroad is temporarily renting some locomotives from another system, but that would be fairly unusual. Below is a route map from the mid-1990s, showing the trackage for the Santa Fe (blue) and Burlington Northern (green) railroads before their merger. I couldn’t find one that was specifically from the 1970s, but older maps also show Chicago as the ATSF’s eastern terminus. [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/BNSF_Map.png) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/BNSF_Map.png) ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/60 "2021-01-18T21:48:35Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Banacek, on the other hand, was filmed, except for establishing shots, entirely in LA. Didn’t know Boston had palm trees! I completely lost interest in _Stumptown_ after initially appreciating the Portland location use–but then they showed the Aloha Motel (still okay, Aloha {pronounced a-LOW-ah} is actually a Portland suburb) and it had PALM TREES all around it and the sky had nary a cloud in it while people were dressed in long sleeves. Sorry, Cobie, I get it you didn’t want to have to film outside of LA but that was egregious. Yucca plants grow here, but palm trees outside of a skeezy motel? Never happen in the REAL Stumptown! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764.md?page=4)