# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/61 "2021-01-18T21:54:05Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > All the exterior campus scenes were shot at USC in downtown Los Angeles. Which I was attending at the time. When were you at USC? I was there in the mid 1980s and I can’t remember if Paper Chase was still being filmed at the time. I do remember a part of an episode of Remington Steele being filmed right outside the residence building I lived in. ---
**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, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/62 "2021-01-18T21:58:20Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > The Atcheson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway was strictly a western railroad, and didn’t have tracks any further east than Chicago. Too late to add: during the early-mid '70s, when _McCloud_ was on air, in the New York/New Jersey area, most freight locomotives would have been badged as Penn Central (or maybe one of its precessor lines: Pennsylvania Railroad, New York Central Railroad, or New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad), Chessie System, or Norfolk & Western, as those were the three major freight railroads which were serving the region. ---
**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, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/63 "2021-01-18T21:58:32Z")
Well thanks, that’s pretty damn interesting. So the most likely explanation is an unplanned reshoot that took place in the L.A. area, simply because that’s where the cast and crew were, at the time. ---
**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, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/64 "2021-01-18T21:59:39Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > So the most likely explanation is an unplanned reshoot that took place in the L.A. area, simply because that’s where the cast and crew were, at the time. Either that, or a second unit shoot, where the second unit didn’t travel to New Jersey. ---
**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, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/65 "2021-01-18T21:59:59Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > An exception would be if a railroad is temporarily renting some locomotives from another system, but that would be fairly unusual. Good summary. And even more unusual in the 70s. Shared power is more common now, but still rare. In the “not really NYC” scenes of McCloud I mentioned, a big chunk of the visible cars were Santa Fe as well. It really stood out. It was like SF send them to the storage tracks, where SF parks their own cars when not in use. Probably did, come to think of it, to keep the TV crew away from the active tracks. ---
**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, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/66 "2021-01-18T23:11:25Z")
Odd how ATSF/BNSF do not actually have tracks going to Santa Fe. A spur line was put in, but it seems to be mostly idle and not now owned or operated by BNSF. ---
**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, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/67 "2021-01-18T23:13:02Z")
Most of **Bullitt** was filmed in San Francisco. My wife always laughs at the chase scene in which the cars are changing city locations in an instant. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/68 "2021-01-18T23:38:15Z")
Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman starred in _The Change-Up_, a forgettable comedy about a stressed-out married man and his playboy best friend, who end up in each other’s bodies, _Freaky Friday_-style. Whole buncha meh, but it was both filmed and set in Atlanta. Locals would recognize Phipps Plaza Mall, Piedmont Park, and the little plaza outside what was then the SunTrust building in Midtown. Wikipedia says some of the bar scenes were filmed at Joe’s on Juniper, a fairly well-known Midtown bar. ---
**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 19, 2021, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/69 "2021-01-19T01:35:51Z")
“Suits” takes place in New York and was filmed there for the first two seasons, after which they switched to filming in Toronto. It makes for a convincing enough faux-Midtown Manhattan, aside from the occasional red streetcar in the background. Then there’s a Season 3 episode where two characters meet on a sidewalk, with the CN Tower clearly visible behind them. Just as you’re thinking “wow, how the hell did the production staff miss that?”, one character greets the other with “What a coincidence, running into you here in Toronto!” ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2021, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/70 "2021-01-19T02:24:21Z")
_Miracle on 34th Street_ shot most of its exteriors in New York City, especially those involving the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. _Charade_ was shot in Paris. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2021, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/71 "2021-01-19T02:24:59Z")
> [@solost](#): > > The Clint Eastwood movie ‘Gran Torino’ was filmed and took place in the Detroit area. It should be noted, however, that the story was originally written as being in Minneapolis, which makes far more sense as a place to set a story with so many Hmong people. Apparently the changed setting is due to a combination of the tax incentives Michigan had and Eastwood’s thought that a former auto worker made better sense in Detroit. There is a neighborhood of Detroit (Osborn) with a couple thousand Hmong though, so it’s not totally absurd. > **[Filming Locations for Gran Torino (2008)](https://movie-locations.com/movies/g/Gran-Torino.php)** > > Travel guide to filming locations for Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino (2008), around Detroit. I’ll note after looking those up that basically none of the 3 “neighborhoods” (actually independent cities, Royal Oak, the Grosse Pointes, Highland Park) are within 5 miles of each other, but you have to take what you can get making movies, and I doubt the Osborn neighborhood had anything remotely reasonable to film at. ---
**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 19, 2021, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/72 "2021-01-19T02:29:44Z")
_Leverage_’s pilot was set, and filmed in, Chicago, while its first season was set, and filmed in, Los Angeles. After its first season, the production was moved to Portland, OR, but the setting of the show was moved to Boston for seasons 2-4. For its fifth and final season, the setting was moved to Portland, thus matching the production location once more. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2021, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/73 "2021-01-19T02:40:31Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Much of Animal House was filmed in Eugene, Oregon. Yes, but is it set in Eugene, Oregon? Although the University of Oregon was the setting, they didn’t want to be identified and “Faber College” was made to be as generic as possible. Is there anything about the film that indicates it takes place in Oregon? (Actually, I attended the University of Oregon in Eugene in 1972. I wasn’t aware that Animal House was later filmed there.) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2021, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/74 "2021-01-19T02:41:41Z")
I thought that the original story was about Dartmouth College. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2021, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/75 "2021-01-19T02:50:01Z")
Chris Miller’s original story _Night of the Seven Fires_ was set at Dartmouth, and he incorporated characters he knew there in the movie, but the movie incorporated incidents from other writer’s experiences at other colleges. I wouldn’t say there was a particular setting. ---
**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 19, 2021, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/76 "2021-01-19T03:24:31Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Yes, but is it set in Eugene, Oregon? No. It’s set in a town called Faber (remember the mayor saying, “Mr. Marshal, the streets of Faber are yours”?). Where Faber is, isn’t really mentioned in the movie, and if it was, was mentioned only once or twice. But the book by Chris Miller makes it clear that Faber is in Pennsylvania. It goes into a bit of detail about the town and the college also–it was founded by Emil Faber, who built a pencil factory, around which the town named Faber grew. Emil Faber prospered, and used his wealth to build Faber College. The book contains plenty of little bits of trivia like this that help to explain ambiguities in the movie. ---
**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 19, 2021, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/77 "2021-01-19T04:58:20Z")
You maybe right, but in Eugene it’s generally understood to be a movie taking place in Eugene. Could be wishful thinking, though. ---
**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 19, 2021, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/78 "2021-01-19T07:42:01Z")
… And there was always a green Volkswagen in the background. 😏 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2021, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/79 "2021-01-19T08:26:16Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Moving north, _The Streets of San Francisco_ was filmed there; that’s one town that’s hard to fake. Likewise the entire _Dirty Harry_ franchise. And likewise the 1998 Dr. Dolittle with Eddie Murphy, set in and around San Francisco and filmed there. I was pleased to see that TIME Magazine agreed with me that it was the worst film of the year. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2021, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764/80 "2021-01-19T08:33:45Z")
> [@susan](#): > > You maybe right, but in Eugene it’s generally understood to be a movie taking place in Eugene. Could be wishful thinking, though. I think that happens when a movie is filmed in a town that’s not a typical filming location. The locals proudly consider it “their” movie. _Groundhog Day_ was filmed in Woodstock, Illinois. It’s _supposed_ to be taking place in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, but the residents of Woodstock still tend to ignore that detail. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-or-film-that-were-actually-filmed-in-the-place-where-they-are-set/930764.md?page=5)