Cities where TV shows are set

Some writers use their personal emotional connections to cities where they grew up, making the show more relatable to locals or those who know the town or city.

"Alice" was set in Phoenix because it was based on the film, which was set there.

Are the any modern series that are not set in NY or LA? I remember in the 70s and 80s, programs were set in Phoenix (Alice), Indianapolis (One Day at a Time), Columbus (Family Ties); then in the 90s, it seemed like everything was set in NYC: Seinfeld, Friends, Will & Grace, etc.

I've been watching FBI: International. The agents work out of Budapest, where the show is filmed, and travel around Europe. The last episode took place in Madrid. I'm not sure if they shot there or in Budapest.

It was more common in the past to set shows in fake cities like Hilldale (Donna Reed), Mayfield (Beaver), Mayberry (Andy), etc. Obviously "The Simpsons" played with this trope by using Springfield (also the home of "Father Knows Best"), and never revealing which state it is in.

WKRP was in Cincinatti.

[quote] "It was more common in the past to set shows in fake cities like Hilldale (Donna Reed), Mayfield (Beaver), Mayberry (Andy), etc. Obviously "The Simpsons" played with this trope by using Springfield (also the home of "Father Knows Best"), and never revealing which state it is in."

Lanford, Illinois ("Roseanne"), Cabot Cove, Maine ("Murder, She Wrote"), and Point Place, Wisconsin ("That 70s Show") are three that aren't mentioned in the link. But here's twenty-five fictional towns to start with.

And as far as shows set in actual smaller cities, there are entire lists available online (of course).

Mama's Family was set in "Raytown." The Simpsons is set in "Springfield." The writers probably wanted to make the towns semi-ambiguous in location so that a wide variety of people could feel like things were happening in or near their towns.

I always chuckled at Fringe, set in Boston but filmed in Canada, with no attempt at verisimilitude.

Try Google, bitch.

How did Peyton Place not make the list at r7?

Ooh! Good question, R11. And it should've been high on the list too.

Golden Girls - Miami

Frasier - Seattle

According To Jim - Chicago

Breaking Bad - Albuquerque

Little House On The Prairie - Walnut Grove (with mountains)

Hot In Cleveland - Cleveland

M. Night Shyamalan‘s AppleTV+ show, Servant is set in Philadelphia and is filmed in two Philadelphia neighborhoods.

Filming displaces resident street parking & can be quite disruptive.

"Mary Tyler Moore" was set in Minneapolis because the co-creators didn't want the show set in New York or LA but in another smaller American city. One of the writers was a huge fan of the Vikings (then a powerhouse team) and suggested Minneapolis.

That was considered a very smart move in TV--they wanted to have sitcoms be more real and more recognizable, because too many were either set in fictional towns (like Mayfield) or the NY or LA areas, which seem to many Americans who don't live there unrelatable pleases.

[quote]Mama's Family was set in "Raytown."

All of the surrounding towns were named after famous murderers -- Bundy, Gilmore, Hinckley, Oswald Caverns.

Well, Mary Tyler Moore was about local journalism, and Minneapolis at that time was known to have excellent local news (it doesn't anymore, like the rest of the country), and there was a certain amount of national interest in Minnesota at that time. There was a Time magazine cover with the Minn governor under the headline "The Minnesota Miracle." And they were going to get a lot of joke mileage from the cold winters.

There are currently several shows set here in Oahu, including Magnum PI and NCIS: Hawaii. The funny thing is that if you watch them, you would think the whole island is beaches, resorts, open fields, and shipping yards. They very rarely show the congested, reality of Honolulu, the poverty of West Oahu, or the rain that we get quite often. My favorite is when they travel from East Oahu (think Hawaii Kai) to West Oahu (Kapolei) - usually during a car chase - in 5 minutes with almost no traffic. The H1 that runs across the southern part of the island is a 5 lane parking lot most of the time, and that trip is 1 1/2 hours. And local roads can be even worse.

I guess that's the cost of living in paradise.

Sorry to bring up a soap opera, but The Young and the Restless was set in "Genoa City," which was supposed to be a midwestern town. I kind of miss TV shows that weren't set in NYC or LA.

Chicago seems to attract medical shows ER, Chicago Hope and shows focused on emergency services Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD.

[quote]WKRP was in Cincinatti.

Actually it was in CINCINNATI.

[quote]How did Peyton Place not make the list at [R7]?

You can't mention Peyton Place without mentioning Harper Valley, you hypocrite!

“Who’s The Boss” was set in Fairfield, CT (which is not a city).

I always felt that Angie was riding out on coattails of goodwill Philadelphia gained during the Bicentennial.

Where was Growing Pains set supposed to be?

The Manchester to Pittsburgh shift of QAF made a lot of sense, what was Shameless’ original locale and was Chicago the best fit? I got the sense that it was partially about them being Irish, so Boston or Chicago made sense, but was there another location that would hav been more well suited? Especially with the grifting aspect, it might have been interesting to set the show in Vegas.

Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley were in Milwaukee but Mork was in Boulder?

The US office was set in Scranton, PA whereas the UK version was in Slough (just west of London). I don’t know why they picked Scranton other than it sounds just as dull and dreary as a place called Slough.

One thing that confuses me, I have this clear memory of Three’s Company being set in San Diego, like don’t they go to the zoo there in the opening shots, but then when I looked it up once it said Santa Monica???

Three's Company was not set in San Diego. I think it was Santa Monica.

R19...not just Midwestern, but Wisconsin.

Desperate Housewives was supposed to be set in Illinois, though it was never explicitly stated.

MTM was set in Minneapolis because it's cold and they thought she'd keep better.

[quote] There was a Time magazine cover with the Minn governor under the headline "The Minnesota Miracle."

Not quite.

And that cover came out in 1973--four years after The MTRM Show premiered.

[quote] In a 1974 interview with Time Magazine, James Brooks, one of the show's creators, shared the reason they chose the Twin Cities: It has to do with football.

[quote] "We chose Minnesota when one of the writers began talking about the strengths and weaknesses of the Vikings," Brooks said.

Full House and Fuller House were set in San Francisco, for no discernible reason other than to feature the Golden Gate Bridge in the credits.

Only in Indianapolis could a housewife with no college education WOP on her feet (when somewhere there was music playing) in order to become a full-fledged advertising executive!

What brought Rhoda, the Bronx Jew to Minneapolis of all places, the department store windows there couldn’t have been a big draw?

Fun Trivia....The Dynasty spinoff---The Colbys---was originally set in Miami...Initially the Colbys were going to be a family of Hoteliers..The Carringtons and Colbys were originally named the Parkhursts and Corbys in the pilot draft of Dynasty (when it was called Oil)........And one more = CBS and Lorimar considered (another) Dallas spinoff with Pam and Bobby to be located in Houston.

[quote] What brought Rhoda, the Bronx Jew to Minneapolis of all places, the department store windows there couldn’t have been a big draw?

As stated above, she thought it would be colder and she'd "keep" better. In reality ... why would she move from NYC to Minneapolis? I'm guessing she thought the pickings for men would be better? More corn-fed types ready to get married.

[quote]All of the surrounding towns were named after famous murderers -- Bundy, Gilmore, Hinckley, Oswald Caverns.

Someone clearly has not been on the old homes of Bump tour on the Dixie Belle.

Isn’t Dawson Creek supposed to take place in New England, but filmed in North Carolina? Why didn’t they just set it there?

As I recall, when Fraiser was premiering, producers considered setting it in Denver, but opted not to because Colorado had just passed its anti-gay Amendment 2. There was a widespread boycott of many businesses connected to Colorado and the show didn't want to be tainted by the Colorado association.

So, the settled on Seattle instead.

[quote]What brought Rhoda, the Bronx Jew to Minneapolis of all places, the department store windows there couldn’t have been a big draw?

She thought she'd keep better in the cold.

[quote] What brought Rhoda, the Bronx Jew to Minneapolis of all places, the department store windows there couldn’t have been a big draw?

You have to accept the only think they ever told us, which is Rhoda figured she'd keep better (as people said above).

I would guess, though, if there really were a fleshed-out backstory for the character, it would likely have been to get far away for a while from her overbearing mother in NYC.

In 1969, there would have been tons of department stores in the Twin Cities for Rhoda to work for. She ended up at the (fictional) Hempl's, but she could have also dressed windows at Dayton's, The Golden Rule (later known as Donaldson's), Van Arsdale's, Young-Quinlan, Powers, the Emporium, Field-Schlick...

[quote]Isn’t Dawson Creek supposed to take place in New England, but filmed in North Carolina? Why didn’t they just set it there?

Show filmed in Wilmington, NC, which is a large coastal town. Would have been so much simpler to set Dawson's Creek in North Carolina since the NC beach and coastline were such a prominent part of the series. The NC coast bears little resemblance to the New England coast.

After Dawson's Creek ended, One Tree Hill filmed in the same studio and used some of the same locations that Dawson's used. One Tree Hill was set in the fictitious small town of Tree Hill, NC.

[quote]Where was Growing Pains set supposed to be?

Long Island, NY. Massapequa?

The fictional Everwood, Colorado.

Forgot about Rhoda's overbearing mother, Ida. That would have been one big reason to leave NY.

Colorado is sounding worse and worse to me. I'm glad Frasier was not set in Colorado. Ugh.

Facts of Life, Peekskill, NY

"The Tony Randall Show" -- Philadelphia

"Hello Larry" -- Portland

"Double Trouble" -- Des Moines

"Benson" -- Montpelier, VT

"My So-Called Life" -- Pittsburgh

"A Year in the life" -- Seattle

"Eight is Enough" -- Sacramento

"Family" -- Pasadena

"Mork & Mindy" -- Boulder, CO

For Brothers and Sisters, aka The Sally Field Programme, the Walker family home was initially said to be in Pasadena, CA. However, in later seasons, they made reference to the Walker family house being in San Marino, which is a wealthy town adjacent to Pasadena.

[quote]"Alice" was set in Phoenix because it was based on the film, which was set there.

In the movie it was set in Tucson.

I can't recall Family Ties ever saying they were in Columbus, though in one episode (where they run a hotel out of the house) Alex says "Dayton." Plenty of references of the Cleveland Indians though. Also the spin off of Nick was set in Dayton too.

Seems to me it was a generic suburb of some Ohio city.

It doesn't really matter because almost all the shows treat the city as LA or NYC anyway regardless of where it is set.

R29. The opening of Three’s Company was filmed at the Los Angeles Zoo.

"Reba" was set in Houston.

Need I remind us of that horible series Providence. Nice aerial shot of the East SIde of the city sure. Would have been better had the actually shot it there. Oh and Underdog was filmed at the RI State House where I worked at the time. And in certain movies there are shots of Webosset St. in downtown Providence.

This is interesting about the new season and setting for You that just dropped.

The family in growing pains were about the least Lawn Guyland family ever. Everybody Loves Raymond on the other hand seemed pretty authentic. I think that was set in Lynbrook.

The early good years of "The Lucy Show" were in Danfield, NY, a fictional suburb similar to and near New Rochelle.

Bob Newhart moved from NYC to Vermont and opened up an inn. Totally not plausible & I never watched the Vermont show.

Lots of shows have the name of their locations in the title. So which came first -- the title or the locale?

The Streets of San Francisco

L.A. Law

Chicago Hope (and all the newer Dick Wolf Chicago shows)

Miami Vice

NYPD Blue

Boston Common

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Dallas

Bakersfield, P.D.

Santa Barbara

Pasadena

Pensacola Gold

[quote]Bob Newhart moved from NYC to Vermont and opened up an inn. Totally not plausible

Yes it was. Bob was a writer and said, he wrote from home in NYC. He could easily transfer that. In the first episode the character of Dick Louden says, when JoAnna questions the decision, that he makes so much money from writing self-help books the inn never has to make money.

The inn was located less than 30 minutes from Dartmouth College so it was like a 2 1/2 hour drive to Boston or a quick flight to NYC.

New Orleans never got a sitcom — probably because it would be too racially and socially controversial.

New Orleans is probably too controversial for a sitcom, racially and socially. The overwhelming Saints fetish the NOLA fraud have would be enough to cancel the show and the football team.

r65 r66 Oh, really?

Pardon my double post, I accidentally ignored myself! Talk about self moderating. Never heard of this show, R67. Probably the actual NOLA locals hated this show, would have to watch an episode to see.

The football thing isn't the whole story about why MTM was set in Minneapolis.

They wanted a city where people would be stuck indoors with each other because of the weather. They also considered Seattle because of the rain.

Homicide and The Wire, both set in Baltimore because of the source material.

ER being set in Chicago gave the show so much culture or something that just wouldn’t have had if set in NY. They did a great job making the city part of the show.

Most shows set in DC make barely any effort to look realistic. The West Wing was pretty good, Criminal Minds is awful.

"I Dream of Jeannie" was in Coco Beach, Florida -- named after the "Golden Girls" man servant.

[quote] Most shows set in DC make barely any effort to look realistic. The West Wing was pretty good, Criminal Minds is awful.

Now that you say that, "Criminal Minds" has no DC flavor whatsoever.

[quote] Bob [Newhart] was a writer and said, he wrote from home in NYC. He could easily transfer that. In the first episode the character of Dick Louden says, when JoAnna questions the decision, that he makes so much money from writing self-help books the inn never has to make money. The inn was located less than 30 minutes from Dartmouth College so it was like a 2 1/2 hour drive to Boston or a quick flight to NYC.

Just seemed unrealistic, for Bob's personality, to run a bed and breakfast, especially if he didn't need the income. Why wasn't Suzanne Pleshette a part of the Vermont Inn iteration of Bob Newhart show?

R73 Your joke continues to fall flat and the first show was in Chicago, anyway, not New York. People aren't wasting time taking the bait because it wasn't funny.

When I moved to Pittsburgh I ended up in the Hill Street Blues neighborhood.

[quote] Obviously "The Simpsons" played with this trope by using Springfield (also the home of "Father Knows Best"), and never revealing which state it is in.

Hmm, don't forget Springfield, USA, the third and final locale of The Guiding Light.

r63, you forgot Hill Street Blues

r75, thought that was Los Angeles.

r77 What city's name is in "Hill Street Blues?"

For those who don’t know about the Hill District, besides Hill Street Blues, it is all the setting of August Wilson’s plays.

There's also a Hill Street in Downtown LA. One of the courthouses is located on Hill Street. The old LAPD headquarters were located in the area.

Since OP did not specify the TV shows had to be sitcoms: "Treme" also took place in New Orleans.

"Hill Street Blues" specifically never mentioned which city it was set in. The creator, Steven Bochco, wanted it never to be specified.

[quote] Although filmed in Los Angeles (both on location and at CBS Studio Center in Studio City), the series is set in a generic unnamed inner-city location with a feel of a U.S. urban center in the Midwest or Northeast. Bochco reportedly intended this fictional city to be a hybrid of Chicago, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh.

The setting for "Hill Street Blues" was never explicitly stated and deliberately kept vague. Many exterior scenes, though, were shot in Chicago.

"Stranger Things" films in Georgia, is supposed to take place in Indiana, but contains references to North Carolina where the Duffer Brothers grew up.

Big Love - Sandy, Utah. For obvious reasons. Is there another tv show set in Utah?

Northern Exposure - Cicely, Alaska (Shot in Roslyn, WA)

Some of you don't understand the assignment.

"Dynasty" was set in Denver because they wanted to set a show about an oil-rich billionaire's family but not have it set in a Texas city because that would be too much like "Dallas"--so they chose Denver since there was one oil billionaire living there at the time (Marvin Davis). They could have done an Oklahoma city, but I guess that was too unglamorous compared to Denver.

They should have chosen LA since there are also oil-rich families from there (like the Dohenys), and it would have made much more sense to have a cosmopolitan glamorous family living there rather than in Denver. But in a weird way Denver eventually worked because it was so clear that the show was taking place in a Denver in some alternate dimension, where you could have a high-end resort just outside the city (and nowhere near the mountains) where people would just play tennis and listen to a glamorous internationally-famous chanteuse perform in the lounge.

Welcome to Datalounge, r88.

Two shows set in Buffalo that I can remember. Jesse, which was one of the many Christina Applegate comeback vehicles.

But more importantly, Buffalo Bill starring Dabney Coleman, which was horrible, but had one of my favorite sequences on Tv. The character was a sexist pig of a boss, which is not a stretch from his 9-5 character. Watch the video. Love it

Wikipedia has a list of TV shows by cities in which they are set.

Back in the 70s and 80s American cities were known for having "impressive skylines" because much of the world was filled with cities that did not build skyscrapers. Many of these shows would include lots of shots of the "urban" and "skyline" image of American cities.

Now China has dozens of cities with space age skylines out of Metropolis and Blade Runner, 100s of times bigger than Minneapolis and Cincinnati and Dallas.

Time marches on.