# The 50 states of television **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 24, 2004, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-50-states-of-television/246756 "2004-05-24T06:08:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-50-states-of-television/246756/1 "2004-05-24T06:08:36Z")
I was taking a long train ride this past weekend and to pass the time I started seeing if I could name a TV show set in each of the fifty states. The only rules were that the shows have to have run on national networks, where the show was actually filmed doesn’t matter, and shows that travel from one location to another (Knight Rider, X-Files, The Fugitive) don’t count, or only count if there’s one state that could be considered a ‘headquarters’. I could only get about half. I figured you guys could fill out the rest of the list pretty easily **Maine:** Murder, She Wrote **Vermont:** Newhart **Massachusetts:** Cheers St. Elsewhere Ally McBeal The Practice Boston Public **Rhode Island:** Family Guy **Connecticut:** Who’s the Boss? **New York:** All in the Family Barney Miller Hill Street Blues Diff’rent Strokes Night Court NYPD Blue **New Jersey:** Down the Shore **Virginia:** The Waltons **North Carolina:** The Andy Griffith Show **Georgia:** Designing Women **Florida:** Miami Vice Golden Girls Empty Nest **Arkansas:** Evening Shade **Ohio:** The Drew Carey Show **Illinois:** Chicago Hope Married… With Children **Wisconsin:** Laverne & Shirley (the first half, anyway) Happy Days That 70’s Show **Minnesota:** The Mary Tyler Moore Show **Kansas:** Little House on the Prairie **Texas:** Dallas **Colorado:** South Park Mork & Mindy **Washington:** Fraiser Twin Peaks **Nevada:** Vega$ Bonanza **California:** Beverly Hills, 90210 Beverly Hillbillies Streets of San Francisco **Alaska:** Northern Exposure **Hawaii:** Hawaii Five-O Magnum, P.I. Most of my TV watching was 10-25 years ago. Does it show? ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-50-states-of-television/246756/2 "2004-05-24T06:11:29Z")
**Michigan** Home Improvement ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-50-states-of-television/246756/3 "2004-05-24T06:15:28Z")
Hmm, maybe I could clear up those rules a bit. 1. Fiction only 2. No local TV shows 3. The setting of the show is what’s important. The actual filming location doesn’t matter. 4. Shows where each episode takes place in a different location don’t count, or only count if there’s an identifiable ‘headquarters’. X-Files, therefore, might count for Washington, D.C., but wouldn’t count for New Hampshire, Oregon, Ohio, Michigan, or any of the other places where episodes have taken place (i.e., places that Vancouver could be made to look like). ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-50-states-of-television/246756/4 "2004-05-24T06:19:06Z")
**Washington** Frasier ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-50-states-of-television/246756/5 "2004-05-24T06:19:23Z")
**Georgia** Dukes of Hazzard ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-50-states-of-television/246756/6 "2004-05-24T06:20:13Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > **Washington** > > Frasier I swear I actually went back to look for that one. :smack: :wally ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-50-states-of-television/246756/7 "2004-05-24T06:36:21Z")
**South Dakota** Deadwood **Pennsylvania** Grand ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-50-states-of-television/246756/8 "2004-05-24T06:38:45Z")
**Missouri** Mama’s Family Grace Under Fire The John Larroquette Show **Virginia** JAG The Waltons **Ohio** Family Ties Homefront **Wisconsin** Picket Fences **New Jersey** The Sopranos **Pennsylvania** ThirtySomething Mr. Belvedere Boy Meets World **Georgia** Designing Women **New Mexico** Quantum Leap **Illinois** The Bob Newhart Show Chicago Hope ER ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-50-states-of-television/246756/9 "2004-05-24T06:39:59Z")
\*_New Mexico_ Roswell ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-50-states-of-television/246756/10 "2004-05-24T06:53:02Z")
Indiana: [One Day at a Time](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072554/). ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-50-states-of-television/246756/11 "2004-05-24T06:56:33Z")
**Kentucky** The first time I ever saw the “Behind The Laughter” episode of “The Simpsons,” they were identified as a Northern Kentucky family. I know that the state was rotated from broadcast to broadcast, but I couldn’t think of anything else set in my home state. I mean, sure, there’s a lot of hick shows, but most of them could have been set in any number of Southern states and/or West Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![Asylum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@Asylum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asylum)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-50-states-of-television/246756/12 "2004-05-24T07:02:53Z")
**Maryland** Homicide, life on the streets **Washington D.C.** Murphy Brown ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-50-states-of-television/246756/13 "2004-05-24T10:36:56Z")
**Arizona** Alice **Indiana** One Day at a Time ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-50-states-of-television/246756/14 "2004-05-24T11:04:24Z")
**Arizona** \*The New Dick Van Dyke Show Probe Cade’s County Greetings From Tucson\* (?) _Little House on the Prairie_ was actually set in Walnut Grove, Minnesota. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-50-states-of-television/246756/15 "2004-05-24T11:06:52Z")
**Puerto Rico** The Flying Nun **Wyoming** Yogi Bear **North Dakota** F-Troop **Mississippi** Gomer Pyle (I’m not gonna swear to those last three.) What states are we left with? Utah Oregon Idaho Nebraska (Too bad we can’t include Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom) Iowa Alabama Where did Gomer Pyle and F-Troop take place? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-50-states-of-television/246756/16 "2004-05-24T11:09:14Z")
**Kansas** Smallville ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-50-states-of-television/246756/17 "2004-05-24T12:00:36Z")
**New York** Third Watch **Florida** CSI: Miami **Nevada** CSI **California** Monk ---
**Author:** ![Walkabout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walkabout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walkabout)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-50-states-of-television/246756/18 "2004-05-24T12:03:40Z")
**Alaska** - Northern Exposure More states that were missed: **Delaware Louisiana Montana New Hampshire Oklahoma South Carolina Tennessee West Virginia Wyoming** I’ve lived in West Virginia all my life, but I can’t think of any shows that have been set here. The only thing I can think of is that both Andy Griffith and the Clampetts had some relatives from Wheeling, and there was an episode or two of the X-files set here. Hillbillies and aliens. Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-50-states-of-television/246756/19 "2004-05-24T12:38:07Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > **Mississippi** > Gomer Pyle > > (I’m not gonna swear to those last three.) Could be. I thought Gomer was stationed at Camp Lejune, NC. **Mississippi** In the Heat of the Night **Tennessee** Daniel Boone ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-50-states-of-television/246756/20 "2004-05-24T12:41:29Z")
**Louisiana** : _Frank’s Place_ was set in New Orleans. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-50-states-of-television/246756.md?page=2)