# What TV show best represents NYC? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 9, 2012, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-best-represents-nyc/624580 "2012-06-09T02:30:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-best-represents-nyc/624580/1 "2012-06-09T02:30:40Z")
There are so many different shows about New York, and each one depicts the city a little differently. So, for all you New Yorkers, or those who frequent the city, which show do you think best represents the city? ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-best-represents-nyc/624580/2 "2012-06-09T02:58:18Z")
Never been there, but I’d nominate _Law & Order_ ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-best-represents-nyc/624580/3 "2012-06-09T03:45:06Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Never been there, but I’d nominate _Law & Order_ I’d say that’s about right. The stories have dealt with a huge number of different sub-cultures, geographical regions, and social strata. Since it’s not a serial, and has a lot of episodes, it’s got a big advantage over other shows. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-best-represents-nyc/624580/4 "2012-06-09T03:47:31Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I’d say that’s about right. The stories have dealt with a huge number of different sub-cultures, geographical regions, and social strata. Since it’s not a serial, and has a lot of episodes, it’s got a big advantage over other shows. You should be aware that if you do come to New York City in order to commit murder, you’ll be arrested in 25 minutes and convicted 30 minutes after that. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-best-represents-nyc/624580/5 "2012-06-09T03:54:41Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > You should be aware that if you do come to New York City in order to commit murder, you’ll be arrested in 25 minutes and convicted 30 minutes after that. That’s just one of the reasons I don’t like going there. ---
**Author:** ![Cabot\_Covian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aca169/32.png) [@Cabot\_Covian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabot_Covian)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-best-represents-nyc/624580/6 "2012-06-09T15:40:49Z")
As a born and bred Brooklyn girl, I thought _Everybody Hates Chris_ was a surprisingly accurate depiction of life in a neighborhood like Bed Stuy during the 80s. I also felt the NYC of the Tobey Maguire _Spider-man_ movies felt very true to life, minus the webslinging superhero, of course. New York is a collection of so many different neighborhoods, social strata, and demographics that a show that might feel alien to me might be completely normal for another life-long New Yorker. The New York of a show like _Seinfeld_ could not have been any further from my own experience, but for many people that show is like looking into a mirror. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-best-represents-nyc/624580/7 "2012-06-09T16:13:40Z")
> [@Cabot\_Covian](#): > > New York is a collection of so many different neighborhoods, social strata, and demographics that a show that might feel alien to me might be completely normal for another life-long New Yorker. The New York of a show like _Seinfeld_ could not have been any further from my own experience, but for many people that show is like looking into a mirror. I would agree 100%. I lived in Manhattan for two years and spent most of my time either at work (garment section/Macy’s area), or Greenwich Village (young Gay boy at the time and liked the bars/clubs/restaurants there) or near one of the two apartments I lived in - one at 86th and Broadway, the other was a loft in the Wall Street area (on Pearl Street). So my NYC was pretty clean and safe, not many dark alleys nor drug addicts and pretty much white bread “normal”. Sure, I would go through other areas sometimes, but that was sort of just in-passing and didn’t really sum up my existence then and there. You could say the same with the question “…what represents LA?”. If you are a kid born and raised in Beverly Hills, you would have a far, far different life than if you were born and raised in the (ghetto/gang) Compton district - same metropolitan area, but worlds apart. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-best-represents-nyc/624580/8 "2012-06-09T16:52:29Z")
> [@Cabot\_Covian](#): > > As a born and bred Brooklyn girl, I thought _Everybody Hates Chris_ was a surprisingly accurate depiction of life in a neighborhood like Bed Stuy during the 80s. I also felt the NYC of the Tobey Maguire _Spider-man_ movies felt very true to life, minus the webslinging superhero, of course. I agree with both of these. _Everbody hates Chris_ is probably one of few shows that even tries to depict the unique features of the NYC education system, with school choice and resulting public transit commutes for students as young as middle school. Except the whole plotline involving Bronx Science made no sense. but whatevs. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-best-represents-nyc/624580/9 "2012-06-09T17:16:21Z")
> [@Cabot\_Covian](#): > > The New York of a show like _Seinfeld_ could not have been any further from my own experience, but for many people that show is like looking into a mirror. I think a lot of people relate to the social life of _Seinfeld_ and the way the characters interact with each other, but I’ve never heard anyone say that it’s a true-to-life recreation of _New York_. It’s clearly set in a Los Angeles sound stage. I mean, come on, all the characters live in Manhattan but have cars and drive all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Cabot\_Covian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aca169/32.png) [@Cabot\_Covian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabot_Covian)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-best-represents-nyc/624580/10 "2012-06-09T18:39:09Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I think a lot of people relate to the social life of _Seinfeld_ and the way the characters interact with each other, but I’ve never heard anyone say that it’s a true-to-life recreation of _New York_. I guess what I was alluding to, opaquely, were the sentiments captured by this article from the time of the _Seinfeld_ series finale: For Many Black Viewers, Seinfeld End is Non-event > [@](#): > > “It’s like this strange vision of urban living,” said Jacqueline Stewart, a film studies graduate student at the University of Chicago. “It’s like it is with Woody Allen. The main characters don’t interact at all with people of color. Black people are really put off by that. Of course, on black shows, there are not a lot of white people. TV tells us that we live in a very segregated society.” It’s the same controversy that we see even in 2012 with a show like _Girls_. How does one do a television show about New York and not have any substantial characters of color? And yet the show is written and created by a born and bred New Yorker, just like myself, who is ostensibly just fictionalizing her own real life story and experiences. Woody Allen’s New York and Chris Rock’s New York and Lena Dunham’s New York and Spike Lee’s New York and Jerry Seinfeld’s New York and my New York are simultaneously the exact same “New York” and yet completely different. Whose version more closely approximates the “real” New York depends on the viewer, I believe. So while I’m the polar opposite of a White, Jewish, Upper West Sider who buys bagels at H&H and has no black friends, those people certainly exist, and their New York experience is just as real and valid as mine. I guess that’s what I think of when I think of a show like _Seinfeld_. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-best-represents-nyc/624580/11 "2012-06-09T19:13:29Z")
Everybody views T.V. Land from their own perspective. I always loved the quote from writer/producer Jay Tarses. He couldn’t understand why _Roseanne_ was the number one show on T.V., while his show, _The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd_ (about a divorced woman living in New York, sort of an updated Mary Tyler Moore Show) was tanking. He said something like “Roseanne isn’t realistic. Everyone I know can relate to Molly Dodd.” I was a fan of both shows, but I definitely identified more closely with the characters and situations in Roseanne than the ones in Molly Dodd. But to a writer from NYC, the whole world looked liked his sitcom. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-best-represents-nyc/624580/12 "2012-06-09T19:18:08Z")
> [@Cabot\_Covian](#): > > New York is a collection of so many different neighborhoods, social strata, and demographics that a show that might feel alien to me might be completely normal for another life-long New Yorker. The New York of a show like _Seinfeld_ could not have been any further from my own experience, but for many people that show is like looking into a mirror. For me (and I spent 18 years in and around NY) the common thread is the feeling of _unresolvedness._ Things happen and no one wonders why; emotions arise and there might be a lot of fireworks, but no catharsis. Understanding is always tacit, if it comes at all. The heart of it - and I get a good semblance of this vibe even on a cops-n-courts procedural like _L&O_ - is that New York answers to no one and explains to no one. This, for me anyway, is a deep essence underlying the city’s culture. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-best-represents-nyc/624580/13 "2012-06-09T20:38:51Z")
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#): > > Everybody views T.V. Land from their own perspective. I always loved the quote from writer/producer Jay Tarses. Do you have a cite for this, or a recollection of when it happened? I’ve tried finding it but Google only turns up you saying it, here and in another thread. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-best-represents-nyc/624580/14 "2012-06-09T21:20:46Z")
Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society ---
**Author:** ![Slade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Slade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slade)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-best-represents-nyc/624580/15 "2012-06-09T23:10:26Z")
NYPD Blue captured one version of New York pretty well, I thought, at least in its early seasons. But that wasn’t the one and only New York any more than Seinfeld was. The comic book writer Denny O’Neil once said that both Metropolis and Gotham City were versions of New York, but that Metropolis was Park Avenue on a glorious summer afternoon, and Gotham was a freezing alleyway in the South Bronx at 3am. Good luck trying to capture both those extremes (and everything inbetween) in a single show. David Simon’s The Wire is the only show I know of that come close to portraying a modern city in all its incredible complexity (and he may get there with Treme’s New Orleans too), but he hasn’t turned his attention to New York yet. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2012, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-best-represents-nyc/624580/16 "2012-06-09T23:12:59Z")
NYPD Blue ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-best-represents-nyc/624580/17 "2012-06-10T14:44:33Z")
_Sesame Street_ ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-best-represents-nyc/624580/18 "2012-06-11T15:58:08Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Do you have a cite for this, or a recollection of when it happened? I’ve tried finding it but Google only turns up you saying it, here and in another thread. No, I’ve also tried before to find the quote through Google with no success. Roseanne was #1 from 1989-1990, which overlaps with Molly Dodd, which ran from 1987-1991, so it would have been during that time period. It was an article that I read either in the newspaper or possibly T.V. Guide, and it stuck with me because I though Jay Tarses was such a jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-best-represents-nyc/624580/19 "2012-06-11T16:07:28Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I think a lot of people relate to the social life of _Seinfeld_ and the way the characters interact with each other, but I’ve never heard anyone say that it’s a true-to-life recreation of _New York_. It’s clearly set in a Los Angeles sound stage. I mean, come on, all the characters live in Manhattan but have cars and drive all the time. _Seinfeld_ is certainly at times a true-to-life recreation of New York City (I lived there 15 years), it’s just that a lot of things that happen on it are not _uniquely_ NYC experiences. For example, the occasional extended wait at a restaurant or having to deal with an annoying roommate can happen in cities large and small. As for cars, people do of course have them in Manhattan. I did, and I was far from wealthy. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-best-represents-nyc/624580/20 "2012-06-11T16:45:23Z")
I’ve never set foot in New York but the shows that define it to me are Seinfeld and Friends … in short, New York is full of young, mostly white, not particularly wealthy people who live in very nice apartments and go to coffee shops a lot. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-tv-show-best-represents-nyc/624580.md?page=2)