A Rose Is A Rose By Any Other Name: What TV Show Defines Your State??

[Twilight Man]

The Most Popular TV Show Set in Each of The 50 States (and DC)

 

"Well, I knew my state was going to be something about Vegas."

"Zombies??  Really??"

"Well, The show in my state was pretty obvious."

"I'm just glad that the most popular show set in my state was not Jersey Shore."

[Irlandesa]

I do not like lists like this because their methodology doesn't lead to any critical thinking.  There's going to be a recency bias basing it on something like IMDb.

Like for NY, Orange is the New Black over Law & Order?  American Horror Story over the thousands of more definitive CA shows?

And while That 70s Show isn't a bad choice for my home state, there are some iconic shows set there like Laverne & Shirley and Happy Days.

And Fargo isn't really a ND-based show.  In fact, that would fit better in MN since that's where most of the action takes place. 

[Princess Sparkle]

I wonder how their numbers define "most popular". Highest rated maybe?  Because I'm trying to figure out how Shameless is the most popular show set in Illinois, when I would pick either Roseanne or ER as the show that defines IL. 

[Enigma X]

2 minutes ago, Princess Sparkle said:

I wonder how their numbers define "most popular". Highest rated maybe?  Because I'm trying to figure out how Shameless is the most popular show set in Illinois, when I would pick either Roseanne or ER as the show that defines IL. 

Or even Chicago Fire. (I don't watch but here about it all the time.)

[ChaChaSlide]

I agree, it has to be by ratings. Like Irlandesa said, I think of Law and Order, Friends, Seinfeld, and NYPD Blue for NY way before I think of OITNB. Same for Princess Sparkle, my mind also goes to Roseanne and ER for the state of Illinois

What really got me though, as a proud Texan, was Friday Night Lights. I for sure thought it was going to be Dallas, with Walker Texas Ranger or King of the Hill running for a close second. I mean the "Who Shot JR" storyline is iconic TV, up there with the MASH finale and Lucy and the chocolate factory.

[DearEvette]

I dunno.  American Horror Story's ratings have to be miniscule compared to a show, like say, LA Law back in it's heyday.  Or Dexter vs. something like The Golden Girls.

I wonder if this was just a vote thing?

[Irlandesa]

1 minute ago, DearEvette said:

I dunno.  American Horror Story's ratings have to be miniscule compared to a show, like say, LA Law back in it's heyday.  Or Dexter vs. something like The Golden Girls.

I wonder if this was just a vote thing?

At the top of the list, it specificies that it's based on IMDb ratings.  If it were based on television ratings, older shows would show up more often and not just in the states that have very few shows set in them.

So it's probably a combination of a lot of votes and high scores.  There is probably some IMDb algorithm where a show with a 10.0 is considered more popular than a show with 9.7 if they have a similar number of votes but a show with a 9.7 that has a thousand votes is going to be ranked higher than a 10.0 show with 3 votes.

[DearEvette]

Ahh, gotcha.  So since imdb ratings are set by imdb users it is crowd-sourced and I could see how it might skew recent shows .

[shoregirl]

2 hours ago, Twilight Man said:

The Most Popular TV Show Set in Each of The 50 States (and DC)

 

 

"I'm just glad that the most popular show set in my state was not Jersey Shore."

I'm OK with House being the New Jersey show. I figured it would be the Sopranos.  I would have also accepted Boardwalk Empire, while a fictionalized version of  a non-fiction book I love that Era of Atlantic City. Plus it's the closest to where I live with the Pines Barrens episode of the Sopranos being a close second. 

[Kromm]

Whether based on ratings or IMDB rank... that list is really wrong if the theme is "What TV Show Defines Your State?"

But, with apologies, we might have to call this user error! (sorry @Twilight Man). The list is "Most Popular TV Shows Set in Every State" and I think that's a very different concept from "Defines Your State".

In many cases the most popular might "win" both positions, because not many alternatives exist. I mean I doubt many alternatives (at least for non-reality) exist for Alaska other than "Northern Exposure". So it wins by default. 

But "American Horror Story: Hotel" (the winner on that IMDB popularity list) would be flat out stupid positioned as "Defining" California. It doesn't compute as that in any way.  In fact, with a state like California, even if we tried to ignore that "Most Popular" list and just picked out of our heads, it's such a complex place we'd likely have to pick multiple shows, because different regions are SO varied (does "Full House" and it's San Francisco setting for example come off as even remotely like the Super-LA-ish world of "Entourage"? Of course not!).

As are different time periods--I mean "L.A. Law" for example, could be argued have defined California at one point, but could anyone argue it does currently? Heck, even in that period, and within the SAME exact region (so not ALL of California) one could mount an equally good argument for Baywatch defining things. And move a few years later, and bam. Then it's The O.C. And so on. 

And New York?  New York is even harder. Does Sex in the City represent New York in the mid-2000s any better than shows set elsewhere in the State?

Edited September 26, 2016 by Kromm

[shoregirl]

4 minutes ago, Kromm said:

Does Sex in the City represent New York in the mid-2000s any better than The Office, just because one is in New York City and one represents the rest of the State much better?  Argh!

The Office takes place in Scranton which is in Pennsylvania. 

[Kromm]

Just now, shoregirl said:

The Office takes place in Scranton which is in Pennsylvania. 

Yeah, mental block. I remembered that MOST of the Dunder Mifflin locations were in New York but blocked out that the one the show was in was the exception!

[proserpina65]

As much as I loved The Wire, I am offended by the notion that Baltimore defines my state.  Okay, yeah, there aren't many shows set in Maryland, and they pretty much are all set in Baltimore or the DC area, but there are plenty of us here who don't resemble the characters on The Wire (or Homicide, for that matter) in any way.  Heck, there are plenty of people in Baltimore who would probably be offended as well.

[roamyn]

Glee, f*g Glee?!

is that because of the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame?  Or because that idiot died of a drug overdose and Ohio is struggling mightily with heroin?

We're a blue collar state.  WKRP or the Drew Carey Show would've worked better.

And WTH is One Tree Hill?  Did these people never hear of The Andy Griffith Show?

[ParadoxLost]

Yep

[selkie]

Dexter actually works pretty well for Florida because it picks up on some of the Florida weird, even if the outside shots often looked nothing like Florida vegetation. 

[blueray]

Orange is the new black really? I don't see that at all. If I had to pick something I'd say Friends or Seinfeld.

Edited September 27, 2016 by blueray

[Kromm]

1 hour ago, blueray said:

Orange is the new black really? I don't see that at all. If I had to pick something I'd say Friends or Seinfeld.

Again, it just shows the flaw of trying to equate IMDB show quality ranks (or even overall popularity of a show) with what embodies/defines a state. The two are vastly different.

[ratgirlagogo]

On 9/25/2016 at 8:25 PM, Irlandesa said:

And Fargo isn't really a ND-based show.  In fact, that would fit better in MN since that's where most of the action takes place.

Hmm, that leaves only one other possibility - Blood and Oil.  There just aren't many TV shows set in North Dakota it seems.

Or Montana.  BUCKSKIN??????  I like old TV Westerns and I've never seen this in my life.  It stands out all the more because I personally would have picked Gunsmoke (one of the longest running and most popular broadcast series ever) for Kansas - but I wasn't surprised to see Smallville instead.

Edited September 27, 2016 by ratgirlagogo

[atomationage]

I'm trying to think of something in Illinois besides all the Chicago Fire, PD, Med, Law series.  I can only think of movies.  There was a series set in Evanston about a transgender man and his son.  That's the only one I can think of.

[Bastet]

Quote

I'm trying to think of something in Illinois besides all the Chicago Fire, PD, Med, Law series. 

Roseanne (set in Lanford).

Edited September 27, 2016 by Bastet

[ratgirlagogo]

On 9/25/2016 at 8:37 PM, Princess Sparkle said:

I would pick either Roseanne or ER as the show that defines IL. 

Yes.  I think I might go with Roseanne.  Also - House of Cards over The West Wing?  I don't like either particularly, but come on.

And American Pickers for Iowa? the only reality show in the bunch.  If they could choose Buckskin (BUCKSKIN!!!???!) for Montana, surely they could choose Apple's Way for Iowa. 

[Enigma X]

13 minutes ago, atomationage said:

I'm trying to think of something in Illinois besides all the Chicago Fire, PD, Med, Law series.  I can only think of movies.  There was a series set in Evanston about a transgender man and his son.  That's the only one I can think of.

Not that I think Early Edition should define my home state/city, but it was set in Chicago, and I liked it.

[Princess Sparkle]

14 minutes ago, atomationage said:

I'm trying to think of something in Illinois besides all the Chicago Fire, PD, Med, Law series.  I can only think of movies.  There was a series set in Evanston about a transgender man and his son.  That's the only one I can think of.

Roseanne and ER were the two I picked above to define IL, but there's also The League, Happy Endings, Married with Children, The Good Wife and Good Times (I know there's more; those are just the ones I could think of off the top of my head). 

[atomationage]

Married with Children would be good, because you can actually find people who are just like the Bundys.  Becoming Us is the show that I was thinking about before.  They started out at Fountain Square in Evanston.  I've only been there a million times. 

[ennui]

Baywatch.

I remember when everyone complained about how stupid and vapid it was, yet the ratings were through the roof, so I guess everyone was watching, alone.

Edited September 27, 2016 by ennui

[Kromm]

Would "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" automatically win for Pennsylvania, or would it be overbalanced by how much else of Pennsylvania isn't really like Philadelphia?

I do support the idea of "Friday Night Lights" (which won the "best show" angle) representing Texas. I mean more of Texas is like that than is like "Dallas".  I suppose a really nutty argument could be made for "Walker, Texas Ranger" though. 

[Hanahope]

Nothing represents Philly better than Parking Wars.  Good old PPA.

[ParadoxLost]

23 hours ago, selkie said:

Dexter actually works pretty well for Florida because it picks up on some of the Florida weird, even if the outside shots often looked nothing like Florida vegetation. 

I once had to explain to a European that Dexter wasn't a good representation of what America was like.

I find Northern Exposure representing Alaska funny because as a kid my Summer vacations were near the town it filmed in for exteriors.  I used to watch is and think yeah they didn't have to do any set design at all.  They just added the 's to the camel sign. Hey, I know that totem pole.  Later is would be drinking in the Brick.  Totally Eastern Washington to me.

[Jac]

The ER vs Roseanne for best representative for IL really illustrates the problem with trying to pick a show that defines an entire state. States are diverse and it is almost impossible for a single show to represent a state in its entirety. I'm from Australia but currently living in IL and for me it is absolutely ER that represents my experience of IL. I live on State St in the loop and the Chicago of ER is the Chicago that is mine, the el tracks in particular that are often seen in ER are highly evocative from a visual standpoint and the defining soundtrack of my neighbourhood is ambulance sirens. However places as near to Chicago as Evanston and Skokie evoke a completely different vibe.

[atomationage]

There's just been so much filming in the city of Chicago that it would be hard to choose.  I would exclude Shameless US after the first season.  Maybe Sirens would be more typical.  Chicago Fire has filmed all over the place.  I liked the location of the fire station, with St. Ignatius school and Holy Family church in the background.  They filmed outside a well known church in Skokie back when I was still watching.  Besides Evanston, I would say Oak Park would be defintive, but I don't know what has been filmed there.   I don't watch doctor shows, but wasn't ER filmed at the old Cook County Hospital?  Has that been torn down yet?  I know Michael Reese is gone.   Anyway, they're all Chicago, not Illinois. 

[Kromm]

I think a few things are necessary.  Showing real locations.  Showing actual local accents/speech. Using real cultural cues (not just sports teams, although that's a start). Even for Hollywood based studio shows, sending the actors to the real place a few weeks per year for at least a few external shots/scenes. 

For major cities like L.A., Seattle, Chicago or New York, at least.  For made up places which just namecheck a state?  I suppose the rules are different. 

[memememe76]

Florida is totally Golden Girls. 

When it comes to Maryland, I think of Ace of Cakes.

Oregon, I think of Days of Our Lives or Portland. 

Colorado, I choose Dynasty. 

Pennsylvania, I choose thirtysomething. 

Connecticut, I choose Who's the Boss.

[Enigma X]

7 hours ago, memememe76 said:

Florida is totally Golden Girls. 

When it comes to Maryland, I think of Ace of Cakes.

Oregon, I think of Days of Our Lives or Portland. 

Colorado, I choose Dynasty. 

Pennsylvania, I choose thirtysomething. 

Connecticut, I choose Who's the Boss.

Days of Our Lives is set in Illinois.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_(Days_of_Our_Lives)

[proserpina65]

Quote

When it comes to Maryland, I think of Ace of Cakes.

Still reflects one tiny portion of a diverse state, but at least no one gets shot or does drugs on that one.  But there are so few shows set in Maryland, and almost none outside of the Baltimore/DC areas, that we really don't have much of a choice.  And boy do we complain when a show has an episode purportedly set in Maryland but quite obviously filmed elsewhere: Magnum P.I. and Hart to Hart, I'm looking at you!

Edited September 28, 2016 by proserpina65

[Chaos Theory]

New York City without a doubt L&O.  Although a friend of mine says Blue Bloods might give the franchise a run for its money.

Long Island and New York State is a lot  harder.  

[St. Claire]

6 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

Still reflects one tiny portion of a diverse state, but at least no one gets shot or does drugs on that one.  But there are so few shows set in Maryland, and almost none outside of the Baltimore/DC areas, that we really don't have much of a choice.  And boy do we complain when a show has an episode purportedly set in Maryland but quite obviously filmed elsewhere: Magnum P.I. and Hart to Hart, I'm looking at you!

I want to see a TV show set in, like, Hagerstown or Crisfield or St. Michael's, just to show that MD is not just Baltimore (I don't think I've ever seen the DC suburbs of MD represented on TV, unless Scarecrow and Mrs. King was MD instead of NoVA). 

[proserpina65]

1 minute ago, St. Claire said:

I want to see a TV show set in, like, Hagerstown or Crisfield or St. Michael's, just to show that MD is not just Baltimore (I don't think I've ever seen the DC suburbs of MD represented on TV, unless Scarecrow and Mrs. King was MD instead of NoVA). 

NCIS occasionally wanders into the wilds of not DC - in ep they allegedly went to Carroll County.  And there is Bones, which also allegedly visited Carroll County, but it bore more resemblance to the Andy Griffith Show than it did to rural Maryland.  Chesapeake Shores on the Hallmark Channel is set in a Maryland town on the Chesapeake Bay (not sure whether it's supposed to be the Eastern or Western Shore) but it's filmed in British Columbia, so it looks nothing like Maryland.

[atomationage]

Back on soaps, Agnes Nixon, who died today, was from the mainline in Pennsylvania , and set two of her shows there, One Life to Live in LLanview and All My Children in Pine Valley, both fictional.   I think she tried to be accurate.

Quote

Days of Our Lives is set in Illinois.

I wonder if Ted Corday intended that, or it happened when Bill Bell took over. He wrote the show in Chicago, but it was the first one filmed in LA.   Bill Bell set Y&R in Wisconsin, but it hasn't been Wisconsin-like for a long time. 

Edited September 28, 2016 by atomationage

[roamyn]

I just thought of a better representative for Ohio, Family Ties. 

it allegedly took place in mid-Ohio, represent a middle class family from middle eastern US.

As someone who spent 7 years in Schaumburg, IL, ER really only seems to represent Chicago.  But, we were always told that anything west of Oak Park or south of 80, or north of Des Plaines, doesn't exist for Chicagoans..

[Kromm]

1 hour ago, roamyn said:

I just thought of a better representative for Ohio, Family Ties. 

it allegedly took place in mid-Ohio, represent a middle class family from middle eastern US.

The other side of that is did they even ever make any real attempt to represent Ohio?  Could you take the same episodes and slap them down in another state and nothing essentially changes?  Do they talk even a little like that place?  Do they (even if through stock footage) show things which represent the area, or work them in even vaguely and occasionally in dialogue or plot?  Like... ever?

This is my problem with a lot of sitcoms representing places. A few make shallow gestures towards talking about Sports Teams, but some don't even do that little.  Clearly virtually everything being shot in California has a "price" in terms of authenticity, but does the writing and to some extent the props try to represent an area instead?

Not that you need any of that to make a good sitcom, but if we are talking specifically about regional representation I'd argue it matters.

For Ohio, I think there are a few series which could be pitched as at least TRYING (if not a lot, but at least a little).

Glee didn't bother to show any of real Ohio (the town it was supposedly in is fictional too), but at least namechecked the state a lot. That's piddling, but at least something.

Normal, Ohio had the state in the show name. But okay, I don't think it did much more.

Okay this is tough. Actually those two are total bullshit.

Wait... WKRP In Cincinnati. The credits showed real locations, but admittedly no other footage did. But I do seem to recall that they talked about real locations in the city more than a few times, even if the most we ever saw outside of the radio sets were stand-up pieces showing single rooms or bland storefronts somewhere else.  Also, I do think in terms of how people acted and spoke, while it was no homerun on seeming especially Ohio-ish, it at least did legitimately seem medium-sized city-ish (not too cosmopolitan, but also not rural).  

Okay, still not great. But it's something.

Edited September 29, 2016 by Kromm

[roamyn]

Kromm, I did earlier suggest WKRP or The Drew Carey Show.

But you're right, that Family Ties *could've* been plopped anywhere, and other than the occasional sporting team being shown vis-a-vis clothing, and occasional mentions (mostly Bengals, Browns & Indians), they never really identified Ohio.

However, the same could be said for a lot of shows.

Edited September 29, 2016 by roamyn

[Kromm]

33 minutes ago, roamyn said:

Kromm, I did earlier suggest WKRP or The Drew Carey Show.

But you're right, that Family Ties *could've* been plopped anywhere, and other than the occasional sporting team being shown vis-a-vis clothing, and occasional mentions (mostly Bengals, Browns & Indians), they never really identified Ohio.

The Drew Carey Show took a pretty good stab at faux-Clevelandizing, didn't they? Since Drew himself was from there, at least ONE cast member sounded "right", two of their multiple theme songs name-checked the area (although one mostly via the nearby Parma and Solon), and I know they shot at least a few remotes (well, at least for one of the credit sequences, which reminded us that Cleveland Rocks--although the Five O'Clock world version also faked them being on a Cleveland highway). 

Of course, even for the Cleveland Rocks credits (especially the extended ones) all they had to do was follow their star somewhere he was going anyway (home), ship in the other cast members very briefly, and remind the city that it was good P.R. to let them shoot a few days there.

Edited September 29, 2016 by Kromm

[roamyn]

Winford Lauder's outside facade in the show is the Halle Building on Euclid Avenue downtown.  It used to be a high-end department store, but now is offices.

Yes, they used many locales (Drew's house in the show is modelled aft the house he inherited in Cleveland from his mother.  Don't know if he still owns it.)

A former bosses husband was in the Reserve w/Drew.

[Kromm]

49 minutes ago, roamyn said:

Winford Lauder's outside facade in the show is the Halle Building on Euclid Avenue downtown.  It used to be a high-end department store, but now is offices.

Does that include the doors they run out of in Cleveland Rocks?

Or the street they run down? Any idea if that's a specific, real Cleveland street?

 

Or how about if those side-by-side ATMs are (or at least were, back in the day) ones really sitting there in Cleveland? (although if so, I imagine they still covered up the name of the real bank and added that sign that simply says "ATM")  

 

Clearly the stuff inside Jacobs Field (and outside of it in the parking lot) is real (although I know it's not even called that anymore), as well as all of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame stuff. Those are the places even out of towners would know, of course.

Edited September 29, 2016 by Kromm

[roamyn]

Yes, that is Euclid Ave.  Just before the bend that opens to Public Square - the heart of downtown (which was prominent during the RNC).

Euclid has changed alot in the last few years.  Development, new center lane bus route, more sidewalk cafes.  We were amazed when we visited the week before the RNC.  Hadn't been downtown in years.

I believe those are the doors, but I'm not sure abt the ATM.

[atomationage]

On 9/25/2016 at 6:26 PM, Twilight Man said:

The Most Popular TV Show Set in Each of The 50 States (and DC)

I agree with many of the choices of the shows that I've watched, but Shameless for Illinois?  They've got to be kidding about that being the most popular.  The last I heard, they only come to town for exterior shots and film indoors in LA.  Also, I've never lived in any place that looks like that show. 

Edited September 29, 2016 by atomationage

[ChromaKelly]

On 9/26/2016 at 2:08 PM, proserpina65 said:

As much as I loved The Wire, I am offended by the notion that Baltimore defines my state.  Okay, yeah, there aren't many shows set in Maryland, and they pretty much are all set in Baltimore or the DC area, but there are plenty of us here who don't resemble the characters on The Wire (or Homicide, for that matter) in any way.  Heck, there are plenty of people in Baltimore who would probably be offended as well.

I'm not. I was living in the Boston area when The Wire was on and it made me so homesick. I used to live in the city and while it obviously doesn't represent all of the residents and does not show Baltimore's nicer areas, it shows reality for many people. It was all filmed in Baltimore, I loved playing "I know where that is!". I could tell that the streets that were supposed to be west side were east side. I loved both The Wire and Homicide.

[UYI]

On 9/26/2016 at 1:08 PM, proserpina65 said:

As much as I loved The Wire, I am offended by the notion that Baltimore defines my state.  Okay, yeah, there aren't many shows set in Maryland, and they pretty much are all set in Baltimore or the DC area, but there are plenty of us here who don't resemble the characters on The Wire (or Homicide, for that matter) in any way.  Heck, there are plenty of people in Baltimore who would probably be offended as well.

Southern Maryland girl here (and Western Maryland college alumni--you could probably guess which one :P), and I am with you here. 

[UYI]

Arkansas is funny, because Evening Shade is basically the only option they have (a lot of my family is from there, so I care about this, heh).

The Waltons aren't the show for Virginia? The fuck?

Coach would've been a good choice for Minnesota, but otherwise, yeah, LHOTP is perfect. Or Mary Tyler Moore!

I still love Home Improvement even now, so I'm okay with it being the show for Michigan. :P

 Indiana would have had One Day at a Time had it not been for Parks & Rec.

I think Happy Days would've been a better choice for Wisconsin, personally.

I think I Love Lucy would have been a good choice for New York, or The Honeymooners, for that matter.

I would have been okay with Designing Women for Georgia, too. 

I would take FULL HOUSE for California, for God's sake. There was NO WAY to forget that they were set in San Francisco.

On 9/28/2016 at 8:09 PM, roamyn said:

I just thought of a better representative for Ohio, Family Ties. 

it allegedly took place in mid-Ohio, represent a middle class family from middle eastern US.

 

Yes, it was set in Columbus.

Edited September 30, 2016 by UYI