# Where do TV shows take place? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 17, 2006, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-tv-shows-take-place/364882 "2006-07-17T17:04:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [July 18, 2006, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-tv-shows-take-place/364882/41 "2006-07-18T03:31:30Z")
Just to be a bit more specific, for the most part, “All in the Family” take place in Queens at 704 Hauser Street, as Archie Bunker was often heard to remark! ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-tv-shows-take-place/364882/42 "2006-07-18T04:10:03Z")
The Dick van Dyke Show was set in New Rochelle which, incidentally, I had always thought was just the fictional TV Land counterpart of New York. Imagine my shock when I went to college and met a guy from _the_ New Rochelle! ---
**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:** [July 18, 2006, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-tv-shows-take-place/364882/43 "2006-07-18T04:41:37Z")
Can someone help me out? I’ve been googling trying to find out where “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood” and “Sesame Street” take place, but I can’t find the answers anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-tv-shows-take-place/364882/44 "2006-07-18T05:13:03Z")
Are there any major American cities/metro areas where there **haven’t** been any TV shows set? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-tv-shows-take-place/364882/45 "2006-07-18T05:14:49Z")
_I Dream of Jeanie_ was set in Cocoa Beach, Florida, next door to Cape Canaveral. And of course there was _Miami Vice._ But I can’t think of any shows set in Tampa, Jacksonville or Orlando. ---
**Author:** ![SpartanDC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@SpartanDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpartanDC)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-tv-shows-take-place/364882/46 "2006-07-18T05:14:59Z")
Mr. Rogers Neighborhood was never “set” in a specific city, but since it was produced out of a Pittsburgh PBS station, it can be assumed to have taken place there. Sesame Street isn’t set in a specific town, but the makeup of the street is very similar to what you’d see in New York. But that’s probably because it’s the archetype for what “the city” should look like. ---
**Author:** ![SpartanDC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@SpartanDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpartanDC)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-tv-shows-take-place/364882/47 "2006-07-18T05:17:11Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Are there any major American cities/metro areas where there **haven’t** been any TV shows set? [/QUOTE] Tampa-St. Petersburg? Portland, Ore.? Houston? I’m sure some show’s taken place in Atlanta, but I can’t think of one. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-tv-shows-take-place/364882/48 "2006-07-18T05:37:23Z")
DC-based shows: The West Wing Commander in Chief NCIS X-Files The FBI That’s My Bush Mr. President Mister Sterling 227 A Man Called Hawk The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-tv-shows-take-place/364882/49 "2006-07-18T05:50:11Z")
[QUOTE=SNenc] Tampa-St. Petersburg? Portland, Ore.? Houston? I’m sure some show’s taken place in Atlanta, but I can’t think of one. [/QUOTE] Atlanta: Designing Women Tampa: Some version of Flipper, perhaps? Maybe the one with Jessica Alba Houstin: Houston Knights, Houston Medical ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-tv-shows-take-place/364882/50 "2006-07-18T06:21:54Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] _I Dream of Jeanie_ was set in Cocoa Beach, Florida, next door to Cape Canaveral. And of course there was _Miami Vice._ But I can’t think of any shows set in Tampa, Jacksonville or Orlando. [/QUOTE] Coach was set in Orlando for its final couple of seasons. Remember when Hayden was named coach of the fictional Orlando Breakers of the NFL? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-tv-shows-take-place/364882/51 "2006-07-18T10:02:34Z")
Dawson’s Creek takes place in Massachusetts (filmed in North Carolina). Where’s 7th Heaven set? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-tv-shows-take-place/364882/52 "2006-07-18T12:01:43Z")
That Bob Newhart/Judd Hirsch show was set in Edgartown, MA, I believe. Hawaii 5-0 Baywatch Hawaii Magnum PI All in Honolulu, I think. Alice was in Phoenix, AZ. Is Mayberry, NC a fictional town? Still among the missing: Idaho Delaware Iowa The Dakotas Alabama Arkansas New Hampshire Was Soap somewhere in CT? Where was Benson? ---
**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:** [July 18, 2006, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-tv-shows-take-place/364882/53 "2006-07-18T13:51:12Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] Is Mayberry, NC a fictional town? [/QUOTE] Yes, fictional. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-tv-shows-take-place/364882/54 "2006-07-18T14:02:09Z")
Arkansas: Evening Shade (Also, the Beverly Hillbillies were from Arkansas) Dakotas: F Troop Hawaii: The Hawaiian Eye ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-tv-shows-take-place/364882/55 "2006-07-18T16:53:21Z")
[Under Suspicion](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108972/): Portland, Oregon. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-tv-shows-take-place/364882/56 "2006-07-18T16:57:45Z")
We don’t have Montana yet. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-tv-shows-take-place/364882/57 "2006-07-18T17:06:27Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] Still among the missing: The Dakotas Was Soap somewhere in CT? Where was Benson? [/QUOTE] Deadwood is set in Dakota Territory, now in present-day South Dakota. Soap was indeed in Dunns River, CT. Benson’s state was unspecified, it was never mentioned what state Gatling was governor of. Hmmm, maybe Springfield is there? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-tv-shows-take-place/364882/58 "2006-07-18T17:22:37Z")
[QUOTE=Krokodil] Atlanta: Designing Women [/QUOTE] But this was a weird, parallel universe Atlanta that never had anything to do with the city I lived in. Apparently there were almost no black folks or homeless people in it. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-tv-shows-take-place/364882/59 "2006-07-18T17:39:52Z")
[QUOTE=LonesomePolecat] But this was a weird, parallel universe Atlanta that never had anything to do with the city I lived in. Apparently there were almost no black folks or homeless people in it. [/QUOTE] You could make that criticism about a **lot** of TV shows. _Friends_ is set in an alternate-universe Manhattan where big apartments are cheap. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-tv-shows-take-place/364882/60 "2006-07-18T17:45:48Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] You could make that criticism about a **lot** of TV shows. _Friends_ is set in an alternate-universe Manhattan where big apartments are cheap. [/QUOTE] They’ve addressed this on the show multiple times. Monica’s apartnent is affordable because it is rent controlled and officially Monica’s grandmother still “lives” there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-tv-shows-take-place/364882.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-do-tv-shows-take-place/364882.md?page=4)