Last updated: March 29, 2004. This version: 8.00
Answer: What follows is a list of the 50 United States (& Washington, DC), and the (most popular/famous) TV shows that were set in them. Please note that this list by no means complete (in terms of listing every TV show set in a particular state), especially in regards to states such as California and New York where the bulk of TV shows have been set.
Note: This question has been asked several times over the years (dating back to, at least, threads started on 03/08/94, 08/16/94 & 01/19/97) in rec.arts.tv. This section, edited by me, was constructed from a post by Alex Wai (awai@sympatico.ca) on Jan. 1, 2004 - his posting was in response to the several most recent threads on this topic (and the one below) in rec.arts.tv on Dec. 30-31, 2003.
List of States (Most Famous) TV Shows Set in State -------------- ----------------------------------- |
|
Alabama Any Day Now (LIFETIME) |
|
Alaska Northern Exposure (CBS) |
|
Arizona Alice (CBS) |
|
Arkansas Evening Shade (CBS) |
|
California L.A. Law (NBC), Melrose Place (FOX), CHiPs (NBC), dozens more! |
|
Colorado Dynasty (ABC), Everwood (WBN),
Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman (CBS),
Mork & Mindy (ABC) |
|
Connecticut I Love Lucy (CBS), Soap (ABC),
Who's The Boss? (ABC) |
|
Delaware *The Pretender (NBC)
(*Note: The headquarters of 'The Centre'
was in Blue Cove, Delaware, although
The Pretender (the character) did move
all around America.) |
|
Florida Miami Vice (NBC), Flipper (NBC/PAX), C.S.I. Miami (CBS), The Golden Girls (NBC), Dave's World (CBS) |
|
Georgia The Dukes of Hazzard (CBS),
Matlock (NBC/ABC), Designing Women (CBS) |
|
Hawaii Hawaii Five-O (CBS), Magnum P.I. (CBS),
Hawaiian Eye (ABC) |
|
Idaho Amazing Grace (NBC) |
|
Illinois ER (NBC), Perfect Strangers (ABC),
Once & Again (ABC), Roseanne (ABC),
Married With Children (FOX),
Sisters (NBC) |
|
Indiana One Day at a Time (CBS),
Eerie, IN (NBC/FOX) |
|
Iowa Drexell's Class (FOX), Apple's Way (CBS),
Tom (CBS) |
|
Kansas Gunsmoke (CBS), Smallville (WBN),
Married to the Kellys (ABC) |
|
Kentucky Daniel Boone (NBC), Legacy (UPN) |
|
Louisiana The Big Easy (USA), Frank's Place (CBS) |
|
Maine Murder She Wrote (CBS), Dark Shadows (ABC),
(almost any Steven King adaptation!) |
|
Maryland Homicide: Life on the Street (NBC),
Joan of Arcadia (CBS), Roc (FOX) |
|
Massachusetts Cheers (NBC), Ally McBeal (FOX),
Wings (NBC), Dawson's Creek (WBN),
The Practice (ABC) |
|
Michigan Home Improvement (ABC), Martin (FOX) |
|
Minnesota The Mary Tyer Moore Show (CBS), Coach (ABC),
Little House on the Prairie (CBS) |
|
Mississippi In the Heat of the Night (NBC/CBS),
I'll Fly Away (NBC/PBS) |
|
Missouri Grace Under Fire (ABC), AfterM*A*S*H (CBS) |
|
Montana Lonesome Dove: The Series (Syn.),
My Friend Flicka (CBS/NBC),
Angel Falls (CBS) |
|
Nebraska First Impressions (CBS),
Rachel Gunn, R.N. (FOX) |
|
Nevada Bonanza (NBC), C.S.I. (CBS),
Vega$ (ABC), Las Vegas (NBC) |
|
New Hampshire The Brotherhood of Poland, NH (CBS),
Willie (CBS) |
|
New Jersey The Sopranos (HBO),
Charles in Charge (CBS/Syn.),
The Wonder Years (ABC) |
|
New Mexico The Rifleman (ABC), Roswell (WBN/UPN) |
|
New York Law & Order(s) (NBC), Friends (NBC), dozens more! |
|
North Carolina The Andy Griffith Show (CBS),
One Tree Hill (WBN), The Road Home (CBS) |
|
North Dakota My Secret Identity (Syn.) |
|
Ohio WKRP in Cincinnati (CBS), Family Ties (NBC),
The Drew Carey Show (ABC) |
|
Oklahoma The Torkelsons (NBC), Hec Ramsey (NBC),
The Outsiders (FOX) |
|
Oregon Under Suspicion (CBS), Hello Larry (NBC) |
|
Pennsylvania thirtysomething (ABC), Hack (CBS),
Cold Case (CBS) |
|
Rhode Island Providence (NBC), Doctor Doctor (CBS) |
|
South Carolina American Gothic (NBC), The Swamp Fox (ABC) |
|
South Dakota *Father Murphy (NBC), *Deadwood (HBO)
(*Note: Both shows were set in the 1870s,
before the Dakotas joined the union as
North and South Dakota in 1889. Although
both Jackson & Deadwood are now part of
South Dakota, so I'm going to count them.) |
|
Tennessee Christy (CBS/PAX), Delta (ABC),
Davy Crockett (NBC) |
|
Texas Dallas (CBS), Reba (WBN),
Walker Texas Ranger (CBS),
The Lone Ranger (ABC) |
|
Utah Extreme (ABC) |
|
Vermont Newhart (CBS) |
|
Virginia The Waltons (CBS), Line of Fire (ABC),
A Different World (NBC) |
|
Washington (state) Frasier (NBC), Twin Peaks (ABC),
Citizen Baines (CBS), John Doe (FOX) |
|
Washington, DC The West Wing (NBC), Murphy Brown (CBS),
The Agency (CBS), 227 (NBC) |
|
West Virginia Hawkins (CBS) |
|
Wisconsin Happy Days (ABC), That 70's Show (FOX),
The Young & The Restless (CBS),
Picket Fences (CBS), Step by Step (ABC) |
|
Wyoming The Young Riders (ABC), The Virginian (NBC) |
Puerto Rico The Flying Nun (ABC) |
Answer: What follows is a list of the (approximately) 50 largest cities in the U.S. (listed alphabetically), and the (most popular/famous) TV shows that were set in them. Please note that this list by no means complete (in terms of listing every TV show set in a particular city), especially in regards to cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City, where the bulk of TV shows have been set.
Note: This section, edited by me, was constructed from a post by Alex Wai (awai@sympatico.ca) on Dec. 31, 2003 - his posting was in response to several threads on this topic in rec.arts.tv on Dec. 30-31, 2003 (one of which, on this topic, was started by Newton Wai (wai@wald.ucdavis.edu)).
List of Cities (Most Famous) TV Shows Set in City -------------- ---------------------------------- |
|
Albuquerque, NM [none!] |
|
Atlanta, GA The Jeff Foxworthy Show (ABC/NBC),
Profiler (NBC) |
|
Austin, TX [none!] |
|
Baltimore, MD Homicide: Life on the Street (NBC) |
|
Boston, MA Cheers (NBC), Ally McBeal (FOX),
The Practice (ABC), Boston Public (FOX),
St. Elsewhere (NBC) |
|
Buffalo, NY Jesse (NBC), Buffalo Bill (NBC) |
|
Charlotte, NC My Brother and Me (NICK) |
|
Chicago, IL ER (NBC), Chicago Hope (CBS),
Perfect Strangers (ABC),
Married With Children (FOX) |
|
Cincinnati, OH WKRP in Cincinnati (CBS) |
|
Cleveland, OH The Drew Carey Show (ABC) |
|
Colorado Springs, CO Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (CBS) |
|
Columbus, OH Family Ties (NBC) |
|
Dallas, TX Dallas (CBS) |
|
Denver, CO Dynasty (ABC) |
|
Detroit, MI Home Improvement (ABC), RoboCop (Syn.) |
|
El Paso, TX [none!] |
|
Fresno, CA Fresno (CBS - miniseries) |
|
Honolulu, HI Hawaii Five-O (CBS), Magnum P.I. (CBS),
Hawaiian Eye (ABC) |
|
Houston, TX Reba (WBN) |
|
Indianapolis, IN One Day at a Time (CBS) |
|
Jacksonville, FL Pointman (Syn.) |
|
Kansas City, MO Apple Pie (ABC) |
|
Las Vegas, NV Las Vegas (NBC), Vega$ (ABC),
C.S.I. (CBS) |
|
Long Beach, CA [none!] |
|
Los Angeles, CA L.A. Law (NBC), etc. |
|
Meza, AZ [none!] |
|
Miami, FL Miami Vice (NBC), C.S.I. Miami (CBS),
The Golden Girls (NBC) |
|
Milwaukee, WI Laverne & Shirley (ABC) |
|
Minneapolis, MN The Mary Tyer Moore Show (CBS) |
|
Nashville, TN Delta (ABC) |
|
New Orleans, LA The Big Easy (USA), Orleans (CBS) |
|
New York, NY NYPD Blue (ABC), Friends (NBC),
Law & Order(s) (NBC), etc. |
|
Oakland, CA Hanging with Mr. Cooper (ABC) |
|
Oklahoma City, OK [none!] |
|
Omaha, NE First Impressions (CBS) |
|
Philadelphia, PA Philly (ABC), Hack (CBS),
Angie (ABC), Cold Case (CBS) |
|
Pittsburgh, PA The Guardian (CBS), Mr. Belvedere (ABC) |
|
Phoenix, AZ The New Dick Van Dyke Show (CBS),
Alice (CBS) |
|
Portland, OR Under Suspicion (CBS),
Hello Larry (NBC) |
|
Raleigh-Durham, NC One Tree Hill (WBN) |
|
Sacremento, CA Eight Is Enough (ABC),
Even Stevens (DISNEY) |
|
San Antonio, TX JJ Starbuck (NBC), The Yellow Rose (NBC) |
|
San Diego, CA Simon & Simon (CBS), Major Dad (CBS) |
|
San Francisco, CA Streets of San Francisco (ABC),
Monk (USA), Charmed (WBN), etc. |
|
San Jose, CA [none!] |
|
Santa Barbara, CA Riptide (NBC) |
|
Seattle, WA Frasier (NBC), Citizen Baines (CBS),
John Doe (FOX) |
|
St. Louis, MO On Our Own (ABC) |
|
Tampa, FL [none?] |
|
Tucson, AZ Greetings from Tuscon (WBN) |
|
Tulsa, OK The Outsiders (FOX) |
|
Virginia Beach, VA [none - Line of Fire (ABC)
was in Richmond, VA] |
|
Washington, DC The West Wing (NBC), Murphy Brown (CBS),
The Agency (CBS), 227 (NBC) |
|
Wichita, KS Wichita Town (NBC) |
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