# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/81 "2025-02-23T04:01:03Z")
From my fuzzy memory of it, the movie _It Follows_ had a very jumbled time aesthetic. ---
**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 23, 2025, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/82 "2025-02-23T07:56:27Z")
Yep that’s a good one. Very much an 80s vibe but if I remember rightly, they’ve got smartphones? Also, a much better film than you might expect, well worth watching. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/83 "2025-02-23T18:26:12Z")
Just watched the dark, body horror-heavy parable on aging in Hollywood “The Substance” with Demi Moore. It starts out with Demi’s character, a middle-aged former movie star, hosting an aerobics show, in leotard and leg warmers. It seemed to mirror Jane Fonda’s career arc by the 80s, and not only the outfits but the whole set design had a very 80s vibe, as well as the cars, which looked to be mostly 70s era muscle cars. So I assumed, for maybe the first half hour, that the movie took place in the 80s. But then flash drives, wide screen TVs and smart phones started showing up, and it was like…uhhh ok it’s modern day, I guess… ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/84 "2025-02-23T19:12:23Z")
**The Andy Griffith Show** ( 1960-1966 B&W era ) seemed to be in somewhat of an ambiguous time warp to me. Though the vehicles clearly date it from the early to mid 1960s, the show, barring them, it the settings/situations/dialog could be from 10 to 20 years earlier. Yes, it could be a product of being set in a rural mountain town though, as the only people appearing even the slightest bit current ( or dare I say, hip ) for the times are outsiders who visit the town for whatever reason. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/85 "2025-02-23T19:21:38Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Growing up, I watched a lot of TV shows set during WWII (e.g., _ **Combat!** _ and _ **12 O’Clock High** _). Whenever a female character appeared, my mother would say something like “Holy 1967 hairdo!” 🤨 I recently saw some clips from _Baa Baa Black Sheep._ Loved that show when I was a kid. I never noticed anything wrong. Now when I look at it I notice the Farrah Fawcett hairdos on the nurses who are conveniently stationed on the island. ---
**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, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/86 "2025-02-23T19:52:38Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Growing up, I watched a lot of TV shows set during WWII (e.g., _ **Combat!** _ and _ **12 O’Clock High** _). Whenever a female character appeared, my mother would say something like “Holy 1967 hairdo!” I used to love **Combat!** (I was 12 when it aired). Found out later that German viewers would giggle at hearing the Nazi Soldiers speaking German with strong American accents. ---
**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, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/87 "2025-02-23T20:47:16Z")
> [@BrickBat](#): > > Though the vehicles clearly date it from the early to mid 1960s, the show, barring them, it the settings/situations/dialog could be from 10 to 20 years earlier. I had always understood The Andy Griffith Show to be set in the present day (when it originally aired), but they purposely made the townsfolk seem a bit old fashioned. A big part of the premise of the show was that this small, rural town was kind of behind the times compared to the rest of the world. ---
**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 23, 2025, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/88 "2025-02-23T21:16:14Z")
[![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW0idUpMh3VNmFVi929odzigiS9SPAHUbO2UZKgBmnNpe2t6H4neGV3XlEjhDY3SnKkdYDJUyoPjnxRehcEqo_MEmg-bKhoohDrlB9yeEmzdi7xh2tRQbP-iHI8KW_bNgoEyUblA/s1600/mayberry-comic1.jpg) ](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW0idUpMh3VNmFVi929odzigiS9SPAHUbO2UZKgBmnNpe2t6H4neGV3XlEjhDY3SnKkdYDJUyoPjnxRehcEqo_MEmg-bKhoohDrlB9yeEmzdi7xh2tRQbP-iHI8KW_bNgoEyUblA/s1600/mayberry-comic1.jpg) Sometimes the wrong outsiders showed up. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/89 "2025-02-23T22:35:19Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > > [@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. Then here’s one you probably don’t want to think about; George Jetson is not from some distant future. He’s living among us. It was canonical in the show that George was forty-years old and that the series was set one hundred years in the future. The show premiered in 1962, which means it was set in 2062. So George Jetson was born in 2022. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/90 "2025-02-23T22:37:37Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I recently saw some clips from _Baa Baa Black Sheep._ Loved that show when I was a kid. I never noticed anything wrong. Now when I look at it I notice the Farrah Fawcett hairdos on the nurses who are conveniently stationed on the island. _MASH_ is another example of this. Characters like Hawkeye and Trapper John (and many of the guest stars) have hairstyles that never would have existed in the fifties. ---
**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 23, 2025, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/91 "2025-02-23T23:05:40Z")
Oh, that’s sick! Funny as hell, but still sick! 😲 ---
**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 23, 2025, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/92 "2025-02-23T23:12:09Z")
That’s okay. The dates are there; the fans didn’t pull them out of their asses. However, try to do the math on when Jane will be born. She - like Laura Petrie on Dick van Dyke - is somewhat underage for modern sensibilities. ---
**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, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/93 "2025-02-23T23:18:02Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Characters like Hawkeye and Trapper John (and many of the guest stars) have hairstyles that never would have existed in the fifties. Hawkeye and Trapper John would never have existed in the fifties, period. They are examples of a trope that was current for a brief period in the early 1970s, that of the anachronistic proto-hippie soldier who somehow doesn’t get court-martialed for their appearance and behavior. Another example is the character of “Oddball” played by Donald Sutherland in the movie _Kelly’s Heroes_ ---
**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 23, 2025, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/94 "2025-02-23T23:20:00Z")
I noticed that watching reruns many years later, after I had learned German myself. There was, however, a real German who was in several episodes, though he seldom spoke: Hans Gudegast, now known as Eric Braeden. He went on to play Hauptman Dietrich in _ **Rat Patrol** _ and a neo-Nazi on _ **Mission: Impossible** _. When he did speak, his accent was authentic. Actors who played Nazis on _ **Combat!** _ included Ted Knight and Richard Basehart, but John van Dreelin, Fritz Weaver, and Albert Paulsen made a career out of such roles. ---
**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 23, 2025, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/95 "2025-02-23T23:20:50Z")
… Which is why so many people still think _ **MASH** _ was set in Vietnam. ---
**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 23, 2025, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/96 "2025-02-23T23:27:43Z")
She was 17 going on 18 when she met Rob, and she lied about her age on the marriage certificate. I’ve known girls (women) who married straight out of high school, so it’s not all that unusual. Laura had obviously left home and was living on her own, earning her keep by dancing. People grew up fast back then. ---
**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 23, 2025, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/97 "2025-02-23T23:30:38Z")
16 year old brides were common 60 or 70 years ago. 13 if your cousin was a famous musician. ---
**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 23, 2025, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/98 "2025-02-23T23:38:39Z")
Margaret Houlihan raised the bar with her blow-dried look in 1950s Korea. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/99 "2025-02-23T23:41:40Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > However, try to do the math on when Jane will be born. She - like Laura Petrie on Dick van Dyke - is somewhat underage for modern sensibilities. Jane was 33 years old. That means she will be born in 2029. Judy was 15 years old. That means she will be born in 2047. George will be 25 and Jane will be 18. I’d say this future sf timeline had a little too much Heinlein in it. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2025, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600/100 "2025-02-23T23:55:48Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Margaret Houlihan raised the bar with her blow-dried look in 1950s Korea. I’m trying to find a linkable clip. Until then you’ll have to take my word that the hairstyles in _Baa Baa Black Sheep_ were a lot more Charlie’s Angels ridiculous than anything in _MASH._ That’s not even mentioning Peter Frampton playing an Australian coast watcher with his 1970s rockstar hair. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-shows-and-movies-set-in-ambiguous-time-periods/1014600.md?page=6)