TV shows that put your city on the map

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

A more serious TV list for Chicago:


Family Matters
Good Times

Perfect Strangers
Punky Brewster

Webster

As a kid, I really liked when TV show intros featured skyline shots/city sequences (explains why I'm posting here 40 years later, I guess ), and I remember Chicago did it well. Still love the Good Times opening... gritty and fascinating.

• Video Link

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by Crawford

What was the Toronto show with the vampire cop? Pretty sure it was on a U.S. network, not CBC.

I remember it from the mid-1990's, when I was in high school. It was one of the few shows set in Toronto that really screamed Toronto.

Hmmm... I know what you're talking about, but I can't recall the name or who was in it.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

You forgot about the Chicago trio (Fire, PD, Med), Hill St Blues as well

I mentioned the Dick Wolfe "One Chicago" series shows earlier in the thread.

And as mentioned by others, Hill Street Blues was not a "Chicago" show. The show writers intentionally left the exact city vague enough such that it could have been in any number of northern US cities. Though the opening sequence used establishing shots filmed in Chicago, and some on-location scenes throughout the series were shot in Chicago (the vast majority of the show was shot in LA), leading many viewers to assume the show was set in Chicago, an assumption only furthered by the addition of Dennis Franz's character, and his thick-ass Chicago accent, in the later seasons of the show.

[iheartthed]

For Detroit it has to be Martin. Home Improvement also aired around the same time, which was set in suburban Royal Oak.

For New York, there are obviously so many but no show has done it better than Law & Order.

A lot of cities owe their celebrity to MTV's The Real World. I became "aware" of a few cities by watching it: San Francisco, Miami, Seattle, Boston.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by pj3000

As a kid, I really liked when TV show intros featured skyline shots/city sequences (explains why I'm posting here 40 years later, I guess ), and I remember Chicago did it well. Still love the Good Times opening... gritty and fascinating.

• Video Link

I loved Good Times as a kid. We got it off some station from Bangor, Maine that was carried by our local cable outfit.

I still remember J.J. saying "dye-no-mite!".

And of course I had a crush on his sister Thelma!

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

... leading many viewers to assume the show was set in Chicago, an assumption only furthered by the addition of Dennis Franz's character, and his thick-ass Chicago accent, in the later seasons of the show.

Yeah... in NYPD Blue, I always wondered why they had Sipowicz being from Brooklyn when he had that awesome, tough Chicago accent...

Why not just have him being from Chicago and that he moved to NYC or something? Never made sense to me.

[dave8721]

A little off topic but its crazy the talent that was involved in Miami Vice. Here is a list of actors who had small parts or guest star roles (most before they were famous):
Bruce Willis
Ben Stiller
Ed O'Neill
Dennis Farina
John Turturro
Michael Madsen
Giancarlo Esposito
Eric Bogosian
Evan Handler
Glen Frey
Phil Collins
Gene Simmons
Little Richard
Penn Jillette
Miles Davis
Ving Rhames
Pam Grier
Luis Guzman
Charles Dutton
Nathan Lane
Clarence Williams
Dean Stockwell
Robert Balaban
Emo Phillips
Kyra Sedgwick
Ted Nugent
Leonard Cohen
Bill Russell
Bernard King
Michael Richards
Tommy Chong
John Leguizamo
Richard Belzer
Liam Neeson
Paul Gleason
Laurence Fishbourne
Ron Perlman
Steve Buscemi
Stanley Tucci
Bill Paxton
Wesley Snipes
Helena Bonham Carter
Vincent D'Onofrio
Viggo Mortensen
Annette Benning
Lou Diamond Phillips
Melanie Griffith
George Takei
Benicio del Toro

And that was just the cast of the first 3 seasons. I got tired of typing after that.

[mhays]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

For Detroit it has to be Martin. Home Improvement also aired around the same time, which was set in suburban Royal Oak.

For New York, there are obviously so many but no show has done it better than Law & Order.

A lot of cities owe their celebrity to MTV's The Real World. I became "aware" of a few cities by watching it: San Francisco, Miami, Seattle, Boston.

The Real World went to places that had existing strong brands, particularly in the early seasons.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by mhays

The Real World went to places that had existing strong brands, particularly in the early seasons.

They went to major cities, but the selections seemed somewhat arbitrary beyond the first two seasons. Maybe site selection was related to where they could get tax incentives for filming?

[rsbear]

Originally Posted by Razor

Didn't "Different Strokes" also take place in Portland

Different Strokes was set in New York. There was a crossover episode where the Different Strokes cast went to Portland to visit Mr. Drummond's friend McLain Stevenson, who was the star of Hello Larry, which was set in Portland. Hello Larry, and the remainder of McLain Stevenson's career, lasted only one season. Stevenson left MASH for the Hello Larry role. Career-limiting mistake!

[chris08876]

Another one for NJ but the Jersey Shore.

Showcasing real NJ values.

NJ Shore was really popping with people after the show. Really acted as a good boost to tourism.



Credit: https://www.vulture.com/tv/jersey-shore/

[CivicBlues]

Originally Posted by pdxtex

How about the beachcombers or danger bay?

Both shows were before my time but Beachcombers took place on rural smalltown Sunshine Coast about an hour away by car/ferry.

[RATBOYKEV]

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by chris08876

Another one for NJ but the Jersey Shore.

Showcasing real NJ values.

NJ Shore was really popping with people after the show. Really acted as a good boost to tourism.



Credit: https://www.vulture.com/tv/jersey-shore/

how ... did i know ... you ... were the one who was going to go there with jersey shore?!

[pdxtex]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

They went to major cities, but the selections seemed somewhat arbitrary beyond the first two seasons. Maybe site selection was related to where they could get tax incentives for filming?

Real World even had a Portland season. Thats very bizarre to me. They may as well of had it in Ft Wayne. Im pretty sure that was end of our pop culture relevance. By the time Portlandia was halfway thru in 2014 hipsters were everywhere and Austin was already the new hotness.

[pdxtex]

Originally Posted by rsbear

Different Strokes was set in New York. There was a crossover episode where the Different Strokes cast went to Portland to visit Mr. Drummond's friend McLain Stevenson, who was the star of Hello Larry, which was set in Portland. Hello Larry, and the remainder of McLain Stevenson's career, lasted only one season. Stevenson left MASH for the Hello Larry role. Career-limiting mistake!

That show is impossible to find! Also there was a different strokes hello larry episode??? Wow! Thats better than mork on happy days.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by dave8721

A little off topic but its crazy the talent that was involved in Miami Vice. Here is a list of actors who had small parts or guest star roles (most before they were famous):
Bruce Willis
Ben Stiller
Ed O'Neill
Dennis Farina
John Turturro
Michael Madsen
Giancarlo Esposito
Eric Bogosian
Evan Handler
Glen Frey
Phil Collins
Gene Simmons
Little Richard
Penn Jillette
Miles Davis
Ving Rhames
Pam Grier
Luis Guzman
Charles Dutton
Nathan Lane
Clarence Williams
Dean Stockwell
Robert Balaban
Emo Phillips
Kyra Sedgwick
Ted Nugent
Leonard Cohen
Bill Russell
Bernard King
Michael Richards
Tommy Chong
John Leguizamo
Richard Belzer
Liam Neeson
Paul Gleason
Laurence Fishbourne
Ron Perlman
Steve Buscemi
Stanley Tucci
Bill Paxton
Wesley Snipes
Helena Bonham Carter
Vincent D'Onofrio
Viggo Mortensen
Annette Benning
Lou Diamond Phillips
Melanie Griffith
George Takei
Benicio del Toro

And that was just the cast of the first 3 seasons. I got tired of typing after that.

damn... that's amazing.

Everyone wanted to be on Miami Vice -- it was the hottest show on, but also a total cultural touchstone. Major career builder, means to stay right in the center of the public eye, and just all around fun to be a part of. Big score for your agent if he could get you even a bit part.

With the show, Miami all of a sudden became this beautiful, exotic fantasy place that Americans were at the same time intrigued and frightened by.

[pdxtex]

Miami is only ever going to be Miami Vice to me. Or maybe the golden girls!

[Razor]

Originally Posted by rsbear

Different Strokes was set in New York. There was a crossover episode where the Different Strokes cast went to Portland to visit Mr. Drummond's friend McLain Stevenson, who was the star of Hello Larry, which was set in Portland. Hello Larry, and the remainder of McLain Stevenson's career, lasted only one season. Stevenson left MASH for the Hello Larry role. Career-limiting mistake!

Oh okay, maybe I was hung up on that one episode ha.
As far as Good Times my batting average is low, because all this time I thought that it was set in NYC.

Originally Posted by Acajack

I loved Good Times as a kid. We got it off some station from Bangor, Maine that was carried by our local cable outfit.

I still remember J.J. saying "dye-no-mite!".

And of course I had a crush on his sister Thelma!

I only remember JJ burning Thelma with his awesome one liners..Lots to do with her cooking skills. or lack of.

[Klippenstein]

I really enjoyed how diverse the locations were in Sense8 and how most locations had a pretty strong character in the series.

The ones that stuck with me the most were Berlin, Chicago, Mumbai, Nairobi, San Francisco, Reykjavík and Seoul.