# TV shows and movies set in ambiguous time periods **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, movies\ **Created:** [February 20, 2025, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600 "2025-02-20T21:54:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/61 "2025-02-22T04:09:52Z")
Eraserhead Dystopic, Kafka-esque and as Lynch put it, “with an undertone of all-pervading happiness” ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/62 "2025-02-22T07:19:33Z")
I was also going to mention _Gotham_, which I am working my way through at the moment. It can be a bit cheesy and melodramatic at times, but the look and feel of it is really quite effective in that noir sort of way. Love the production design, wardrobes, etc. But it feels ‘in between’ times, like you can’t quite pin it down to a specific period. I will also nominate _The Incredibles_. It’s got that brilliant retro vibe but also the fantastical inventions, gadgets etc. Of course, more than a little inspired by the early Bond films, with the (CGI) set design straight out of Ken Adam’s dreams and music that John Barry would have loved. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/63 "2025-02-22T07:23:27Z")
Ah yes, _Gattaca_, good shout. A fantastic film and the production design, photography etc - just superb. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2025, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/64 "2025-02-22T10:50:45Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Samuel Johnson publishing his dictionary (1755) …in an episode featuring the poets Byron, Coleridge, and Shelley - none of whom were even **born** for another two to four decades. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2025, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/65 "2025-02-22T14:23:48Z")
I remember watching _ **UFO** _ in 1970–71. It was set ten years in the future, and there were huge technical advancements in automobiles, spacecraft, and just about everything else … except computers. SHADO was still getting rotating ball printouts on paper. _ **Time Tunnel** _ was similar. The technology was very advanced two years into the future, but instructions still had to be typed into the computers even in emergencies. I always wondered how Lee Meriwether managed to do it without hitting the wrong key even once. Also, the bridge crew in the first _ **Star Trek** _ pilot were getting their readouts on paper from thermal printers. Thank God that capability was largely eliminated in all subsequent iterations. (Paper printouts were occasionally seen when the plot called for it.) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/66 "2025-02-22T14:55:59Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > 2013’s “Nebraska” was shot in B&W and also best described as “the present day” regarding when it was set. (It’s worth watching just for the cemetery scene; IYKYK.) I have not seen that, but here’s the screenwriter in his earlier days: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/nfgFF1js_Z4/maxresdefault.jpg "Uncle Fran - On Expressing Feelings") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfgFF1js_Z4) > [@WildaBeast](#): > > And _Hello, Tomorrow!_ very much looks like the 1950s. The fashion, architecture, cars, etc. all look like they’re from mid-century America. But they have all sorts of whizz bang futuristic technology – robot waiters, automated delivery bots, regular space flight, hover cars (but they still look like 1950s cars, except they hover). I’ve seen it described as what people in the 1950s imagined the future would be like. That sounds interesting, I’ll have to track it down. Sounds similar to _Future '38_. It claims to be a recently discovered movie from 1938, about a man travelling to the far-off future of 2018. The result is a funny mish-mash of both eras, with internet terminals printing their answers on tickertape, and smart phones where you place a call through an operator. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2025, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/67 "2025-02-22T15:02:37Z")
FYI, _Hello, Tomorrow!_ is on Apple TV+. It was a ten-episode series. I don’t know if it’s going to get a second series. ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/68 "2025-02-22T15:33:58Z")
I probably missed it being mentioned already (even though I skimmed through the thread) but **The Flintstones** seems an obvious example. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/69 "2025-02-22T16:30:31Z")
**Top Secret!** gets a little confused about whether it takes place during the Cold War or WWII. Or the 1960s (Elvis and Beach Party films) or the 1980’s when it was released. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/70 "2025-02-22T16:49:33Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > **Top Secret!** gets a little confused about whether it takes place during the Cold War or WWII. Or the 1960s (Elvis and Beach Party films) or the 1980’s when it was released. I know, it — it all sounds like some bad movie. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/71 "2025-02-22T21:33:02Z")
/looks off to one side uncomfortably/ ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/72 "2025-02-22T21:39:48Z")
I accepted everything about The Flintstones until they celebrated Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/73 "2025-02-22T22:44:42Z")
Well, right in the theme song they’re called “the **modern** stone age family.” If the series went on longer they of course would also have gotten to Kwanzaa and Festivus. They’re moderner and modernest. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/74 "2025-02-22T23:01:52Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > “the **modern** stone age family.” There is the theory that the show takes place in the same era as the Jetsons, just on the ground level that the people of the flying cities have abandoned. (And the “dinosaurs” are genetically engineered servant beasts or something.) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/75 "2025-02-22T23:41:23Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I accepted everything about The Flintstones until they celebrated Christmas. Are you sure that wasn’t Schistmas? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/76 "2025-02-22T23:42:15Z")
Their calendar was marked “B.C.” (This is a great way to tell if antique coins are fake.) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2025, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/77 "2025-02-22T23:51:15Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > There is the theory that the show takes place in the same era as the Jetsons, just on the ground level that the people of the flying cities have abandoned. (And the “dinosaurs” are genetically engineered servant beasts or something.) This is a prime example of why fanwanking makes my brain vomit. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/78 "2025-02-23T01:32:26Z")
_ **Samurai Jack** _ not only started with the Hercules/Xena style mashed-together past but depicted a future so anachronistic in setting that quasi-canon is that Aku’s transporting Jack in time broke history itself. ---
**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:** [February 23, 2025, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/79 "2025-02-23T01:54:09Z")
I just remembered the Netflix adaptation of _ **A Series of Unfortunate Events** _. It’s impossible to pin down exactly when (and where) it’s taking place. The cars seemed to range from 1930s to 1970s. It’s been a while since I watched it, but I think the internet, or at least computers, also existed in their universe. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/80 "2025-02-23T03:48:04Z")
> [@Tzigone](#): > > > [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > > > A show I loved as a 50’s kid, but even then the temporal ambiguity nagged me: **The Roy Rogers Show**. 1951-57. Wild West cowboy adventures but with telephones and a jeep. > > Never watched that one. But I was happy when one wild west comic I read had a telephone. Because some businesses did have them in the 1880s and 1890s, which a common setting for wild west tales. Electricity makes me happy for those, too (I’ve read old newspapers, and even small cities out west tended to get electricity sooner - they were new cities that didn’t already have gas infrastructure). FWIW the jeep in Roy Rogers, driven by Pat Brady, was a 1946 Willys. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600.md?page=5)