# TV show with fewest locations **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 26, 2016, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-with-fewest-locations/744261 "2016-01-26T13:52:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-with-fewest-locations/744261/1 "2016-01-26T13:52:58Z")
I’m guessing it’s going to be almost entirely sitcoms simply because of the nature of the format, but what TV show had/has the fewest number of regular locations, i.e. locations that appeared all or nearly every episode? For example, _Cheers_ occurred, with rare exceptions, entirely inside the bar. Its regular locations were primarily limited to the bar, the office, and the back room. Even the restroom only made relatively infrequent appearances. Of course _Cheers_ had the advantage of being a very large bar, so various places within the same “room” could essentially be used as a separate location. _Family Ties_ occurred almost entirely in their living room and kitchen, with occasional forays into the bedrooms. IIRC, _Alf_ occurred almost entirely in the living room, kitchen, and garage. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-with-fewest-locations/744261/2 "2016-01-26T14:06:17Z")
Barney Miller. I remember a friend telling me when that was on, “You like that show? Come on…They never leave that room, for God’s sake!” ---
**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:** [January 26, 2016, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-with-fewest-locations/744261/3 "2016-01-26T14:21:07Z")
> [@TV\_time](#): > > Barney Miller. I remember a friend telling me when that was on, “You like that show? Come on…They never leave that room, for God’s sake!” That was going to be my guess. Didn’t _All in the Family_ take place mostly inside the Bunker’s house? ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-with-fewest-locations/744261/4 "2016-01-26T14:25:18Z")
The infamously awful Canadian sitcom “The Trouble With Tracy” essentially only had two sets, a living room and an office, due to low budgets. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-with-fewest-locations/744261/5 "2016-01-26T14:27:05Z")
Friends was just the coffee shop and a couple of apartments. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-with-fewest-locations/744261/6 "2016-01-26T14:27:25Z")
> [@TV\_time](#): > > Barney Miller. I remember a friend telling me when that was on, “You like that show? Come on…They never leave that room, for God’s sake!” They did go to Barney’s home fairly often. ---
**Author:** ![Gothic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Gothic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gothic)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-with-fewest-locations/744261/7 "2016-01-26T14:30:33Z")
MASH, Barney Miller, Gilligan’s Island. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-with-fewest-locations/744261/8 "2016-01-26T14:36:07Z")
> [@TV\_time](#): > > Barney Miller. I remember a friend telling me when that was on, “You like that show? Come on…They never leave that room, for God’s sake!” They left that room a lot. We just didn’t get to follow them when they did. 🙂 _Barney Miller_ was going to be my contribution also. In the first couple seasons, we saw Barney’s apartment fairly often, and occasionally the homes of some of the other detectives. But as the show went on, it became the ultimate workplace sitcom, with all of the action taking place in the squadroom. ---
**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 26, 2016, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-with-fewest-locations/744261/9 "2016-01-26T14:49:13Z")
**On the Rocks** was all set inside the prison, usually the same cell block. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-with-fewest-locations/744261/10 "2016-01-26T14:53:40Z")
The Honeymooners rarely left the Kitchen/Dining room. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-with-fewest-locations/744261/11 "2016-01-26T16:24:42Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > _Barney Miller_ was going to be my contribution also. In the first couple seasons, we saw Barney’s apartment fairly often, and occasionally the homes of some of the other detectives. But as the show went on, it became the ultimate workplace sitcom, with all of the action taking place in the squadroom. Well, the squadroom and Barney’s office. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-with-fewest-locations/744261/12 "2016-01-26T16:29:24Z")
**Night Court** was pretty much the courtroom, the lunchroom, and Harry Anderson’s office. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-with-fewest-locations/744261/13 "2016-01-26T16:38:26Z")
Cheers, to me, is the ultimate winner, at least for a full budget show. It really is incredible how much story they got out of that bar location. In later seasons, they left it more, but all my best memories are in that bar. The OP had it right away. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-with-fewest-locations/744261/14 "2016-01-26T16:47:46Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > **Night Court** was pretty much the courtroom, the lunchroom, and Harry Anderson’s office. And the hallways between these locations. On the rare occasion they visited a character’s apartment, as I recall, the basic layout was always the same - door on the left, large living/dining area, kitchenette to the right, bedrooms unseen in the back somewhere. No doubt a recycled set, redressed for a particular character. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-with-fewest-locations/744261/15 "2016-01-26T18:44:44Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Friends was just the coffee shop and a couple of apartments. They showed movie sets (for Joey), office space (Chandler, Rachel), massage rooms (Phoebe), restaurants (Monica) and the museum and classroom (and the planetarium) for Ross. Plus there were a couple of episodes where they were on the road, to Vegas and the Caribbean. We also saw Phoebe’s apartment and the house where her brother lived, and there were several episodes in a hospital as the various characters gave birth. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-with-fewest-locations/744261/16 "2016-01-26T18:53:03Z")
> [@TV\_time](#): > > Barney Miller. I remember a friend telling me when that was on, “You like that show? Come on…They never leave that room, for God’s sake!” That was the show that immediately came to mind. The pilot and maybe another episode showed Barney’s home, as his wife was going to be a regular on the show (she was in the opening credits for the first few seasons) but the creators of the show realized that all the comedy was at the precinct and soon phased away any reference to Barney’s home life. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-with-fewest-locations/744261/17 "2016-01-26T18:56:35Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > I’m guessing it’s going to be almost entirely sitcoms simply because of the nature of the format …assuming you’re only considering fictional/narrative shows, and not things like talk shows. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-with-fewest-locations/744261/18 "2016-01-26T18:58:34Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > And the hallways between these locations. On the rare occasion they visited a character’s apartment, as I recall, the basic layout was always the same - door on the left, large living/dining area, kitchenette to the right, bedrooms unseen in the back somewhere. No doubt a recycled set, redressed for a particular character. Plus multiple hotel rooms, the roof, the basement, other courtrooms, the ledge outside Harry’s office, the elevators, a cabin in Alaska, various military offices, several boats, various ballrooms… they got out a lot more than you think. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-with-fewest-locations/744261/19 "2016-01-26T18:59:35Z")
ITT op learns what a 3 camera sitcom is ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-with-fewest-locations/744261/20 "2016-01-26T19:05:24Z")
If you count British shows on this OP, I have the winner. From 2004 the sitcom _ **The Smoking Room** _ ran for two seasons. The show was set in a workplace smoking room. Characters would enter and leave but the camera never leaves the room. I remember seeing this when BBC America used to actually air shows from England and when they used to air sitcoms. I really liked it and appreciated it’s unique structure. Telling a story with characters that came and went. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-show-with-fewest-locations/744261.md?page=2)