# The Joy of Sets: what are your favorite/least favorite movie/TV sets? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 9, 2008, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-sets-what-are-your-favorite-least-favorite-movie-tv-sets/448644 "2008-05-09T01:43:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-sets-what-are-your-favorite-least-favorite-movie-tv-sets/448644/61 "2008-05-11T04:24:25Z")
This thread makes me think of the model home in **Arrested Development** , itself a minor character in the show. Everything looked splendid and luxurious, but there were constant gags about how everything was fake and cheap. Really, not an easy trick to pull off in a set: false false reality. Hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-sets-what-are-your-favorite-least-favorite-movie-tv-sets/448644/62 "2008-05-11T07:26:50Z")
[QUOTE=Randy Seltzer] This thread makes me think of the model home in **Arrested Development** , itself a minor character in the show. Everything looked splendid and luxurious, but there were constant gags about how everything was fake and cheap. Really, not an easy trick to pull off in a set: false false reality. Hilarious. [/QUOTE] Just another point as to why that show is one of the best things of televisions this decade. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-sets-what-are-your-favorite-least-favorite-movie-tv-sets/448644/63 "2008-05-12T03:14:46Z")
vote number three for _rear window_. the. best. set. ever. construction went into the floor of the sound stage something like 15 or 20 feet deep to create hitchcock’s vision. and if memory serves, they planted real grass in the courtyard. my favorite other set is the interiors for _the haunting_ the original, not that abomination of a remake! i thought those sets were real for years until i listened to the dvd commentary. to date i’ve never seen a set so crammed full of stuff. it’s meant to be creepy and claustrophobic - and it succeeds brilliantly. ---
**Author:** ![Tabula\_Rasa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@Tabula\_Rasa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabula_Rasa)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-sets-what-are-your-favorite-least-favorite-movie-tv-sets/448644/64 "2008-05-12T03:25:16Z")
Hill Street Blues had great sets. I found that my anxiety about the plot was intensified by my anxiety that the plumbing in the precinct house could fail at any moment. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was one of the worst sets a good movie ever had. The cactus rose which was such a big deal in the plot was nailed to an “X” of wood like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree stand. The Seavers’ house in Growing Pains was wrong in lots of indeterminate ways. I’m thinking that having one’s psych patients pass through one’s family’s living room is a sub-good idea. Also, the masses and spaces just felt wrong. Note to Sampiro: I’ve ordered the books. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-sets-what-are-your-favorite-least-favorite-movie-tv-sets/448644/65 "2008-05-12T03:29:12Z")
[QUOTE=Randy Seltzer] This thread makes me think of the model home in **Arrested Development** , itself a minor character in the show. Everything looked splendid and luxurious, but there were constant gags about how everything was fake and cheap. Really, not an easy trick to pull off in a set: false false reality. Hilarious. [/QUOTE] What was brilliant was that “the secret room” was referenced at least a couple of times during the series, but so casually (literally in passing by Tobias and his father-in-law) that you forgot about it until halfway through the final season. Then it became a major plot point. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-sets-what-are-your-favorite-least-favorite-movie-tv-sets/448644/66 "2008-05-12T04:17:14Z")
No love for _Malcolm in the Middle_? Its interior condition reminds me so much of my house as I grew up, and it’s completely believable as the home of 2 on-the-edge parents of 4 boys. And _Frasier_’s layout is easy to envision: Imagine the building basically in the shape of a +. You could fit 4 of Frasier’s style of apartment on each floor, provided the arms of the + are wide enough; on top of that, it’s easy enough to subdivide each floor into 8 or 12 units the same way for lower-rent apartments. Put the elevator shaft running down the middle, and you’re good to go. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-sets-what-are-your-favorite-least-favorite-movie-tv-sets/448644/67 "2008-05-12T12:53:04Z")
I like the Nanny’s set, with its large living/entertaining room, Sheffield’s office and the small kitchen downstairs, and the one hallway and small bedrooms upstairs. And Fran’s house in Queens was true to form, right down to the plastic covered furniture. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-sets-what-are-your-favorite-least-favorite-movie-tv-sets/448644/68 "2008-05-12T14:29:56Z")
How about **Cheers**? Great set. For movies. . .say what you will about the acting and stories, no one does sets like George Lucas in ANY of the six **Star Wars** movies. Lord of the Rings doesn’t touch Lucas for imagination. Scorcese and Coen Brothers are two directors who use incredible sets and/or actual locations. The bowling alley in **Big Lebowski** , the Lundegaard’s home in **Fargo** are both great. The opening scenes of **Gangs of New York** uses an incredible design. . .both the interior during the march to battle, and the battleground itself. ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-sets-what-are-your-favorite-least-favorite-movie-tv-sets/448644/69 "2008-05-12T14:34:05Z")
I just finished watching the HBO series Rome on DVD. Everything from the forum to the giant houses of the ruling class to the shanties of the plebs looked real and used. It was clear the producers had a love for that period in history and tried to portray as many details of daily life as possible to give us an idea of what it might have been like to live in ancient Rome. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-sets-what-are-your-favorite-least-favorite-movie-tv-sets/448644/70 "2008-05-12T14:36:25Z")
**Barney Miller** has a very good set–Small jail cell, a few desks, Miller’s small private office and the bathroom down the hallway. The pilot showed Miller’s apartment, which was the typical small NYC apartment that a detective could afford. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-sets-what-are-your-favorite-least-favorite-movie-tv-sets/448644/71 "2008-05-12T14:42:42Z")
[QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer] For your recognition of my rockingness, you will also be granted a relatively painless death when the time comes. [/QUOTE] At this point I must point out that a common cause of death in [Chiclids](http://www.mine-engineer.com/hobby/fish/fish1.htm) is [Goldfish](http://sitemaker.umich.edu/misamuel.dt/admin_view/da.data/624695/Photo/goldfish.jpg) head ingestion; the relatively large head of the feeder goldfish lodges in the Chiclid gut and kills him. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-sets-what-are-your-favorite-least-favorite-movie-tv-sets/448644/72 "2008-05-12T14:51:26Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] The best thing about the house in Roseanne is that it changed over the years realistically - Dan put on some additions, and it grew and changed organically. [/QUOTE] He did? I remember when Mark and Becky moved in the attic bedroom just sort of appeared. The same with David/Darlene’s basement apartment. The basement was a dingy hole until they found a sparkling clean room down there. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-sets-what-are-your-favorite-least-favorite-movie-tv-sets/448644/73 "2008-05-12T15:00:47Z")
I like Hobbiton quite a bit. It was built in a swamp, and I guess it was a major pain in the ass, but it looks good (except for a few places where it obviously looks like a swamp). I’m less fond of the interior of Bilbo’s house, though. Too much roundness. My all time favorite is the Lindsay home in _Sirens_. I don’t know if one could really call it a set, as it’s Norman Lindsay’s actual home. All I can say is, he had a really nice place. For affordable housing, I like the Weasley house in the Harry Potter movies. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-sets-what-are-your-favorite-least-favorite-movie-tv-sets/448644/74 "2008-05-12T16:20:59Z")
I thought they did a pretty good job of maintaining the illusion that you were really inside a smallish single-wide mobile home with Jim Rockford’s place. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-sets-what-are-your-favorite-least-favorite-movie-tv-sets/448644/75 "2008-05-12T16:23:23Z")
**Dallas** had some great sets- Southfork was huge and stately but believeable. Ewing Oil offices seemed to ooze power and wealth. **Leave it to Beaver** had a set more believable than the cast. Loved the double pocket doors going into Ward’s office, when you went in there you usually were into some serious trouble. **Andy Griffith’s** sheriff’s office was timeless from the simple desk and file cabinet to the two cells with the cistern (and usually the keys) between them. **The Brady Bunch** had the worst- one bathroom for eight people and that wretched astroturf yard. There are way too many of the couch in the middle of the living room, stairway in the back sets to count, I personally have never seen a house with either of these. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-sets-what-are-your-favorite-least-favorite-movie-tv-sets/448644/76 "2008-05-12T16:31:16Z")
Well, he did build on to the back of the house. Remember how they used to do the laundry on the porch? ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-sets-what-are-your-favorite-least-favorite-movie-tv-sets/448644/77 "2008-05-12T16:41:36Z")
The Overlook Hotel in The Shining. I thought they filmed in a real hotel but the interior is just a movie set. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-sets-what-are-your-favorite-least-favorite-movie-tv-sets/448644/78 "2008-05-12T16:58:03Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] Well, he did build on to the back of the house. Remember how they used to do the laundry on the porch? [/QUOTE] Exactly. Didn’t they always do laundry on the porch? I can’t remember it ever happening in the basement and it always struck me because Roseanne did more laundry than any sitcom mom (except for maybe Marge Simpson). ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-sets-what-are-your-favorite-least-favorite-movie-tv-sets/448644/79 "2008-05-12T17:09:16Z")
[QUOTE=BobLibDem] **The Brady Bunch** had the worst- one bathroom for eight people and that wretched astroturf yard. [/QUOTE] Nitpick: six people. The kids all shared one bathroom, but Carol and Mike had a master bath. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2008, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-sets-what-are-your-favorite-least-favorite-movie-tv-sets/448644/80 "2008-05-12T17:10:27Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] I thought they did a pretty good job of maintaining the illusion that you were really inside a smallish single-wide mobile home with Jim Rockford’s place. [/QUOTE] Ooh, good one. I’ve never been in a small English inn, but Fawlty Towers is the kind of place I’d want to stay in. The little up-down set of stairs Basil was always crossing looked like something you might be forced to do if you were contorting an old house into an inn. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-sets-what-are-your-favorite-least-favorite-movie-tv-sets/448644.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-joy-of-sets-what-are-your-favorite-least-favorite-movie-tv-sets/448644.md?page=5)