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Largest City Never To Have Had A TV Show Set In That Town

Markxxx

Markxxx

What is the largest city in the USA never to have had a sitcom or drama or such set in that city.

For instance, like Friends was set in NYC, and Bob Newhart was set in Chicago, Reba in Houston and One Day At A Time set in Indianapolis

Here is a list of the largest US Cities from Wikipeida

Now just a quick look at the population list I don't recall any show being set in San Antonio, TX or San Jose, CA. But I don't really know much about drama shows.

It can be any show so long as it was a regular series as opposed to a one time shot. Like Carol Burnett's Fresno
 
Is Springfield ruled out, since The Simpsons have never been 100% as to which state their city is actually in? Also, do we have to rule out fictional cities and towns, such as Quhoag, RI? We can safely say that Providence (RI) has been used already. :)
 
What about Dayton, Ohio? No it's not the biggest city,but it gave us Phil Donahue,Dan Patrick,The Wright Bros.,Delco,NCR,Mead Westvaco,the first FM station that played soul music,the Dayton Peace Accords,Paul Laurence Dunbar,Jonathan Winters,the breaking of the Nazi war codes in WWII,Mike Peters(creator of Mother Goose and Grimm comic strip),John Legend(from nearby Springfield) and I can go on.

Dayton needs a good laugh right now with the tough times it has been enduring...what about a sitcom based in Dayton...with lots of off-the wall humor similar to (and inspired by) WKRP, The Monkees,Sam Raimi's early Super 8 slapstick films,and a (somewhat)mix of Sanford and Son with Hogan's Heroes and Scrubs.

In short Dayton desperately needs a good laugh....and a shot in the arm.
 
Limp73 said:
What about Dayton, Ohio? No it's not the biggest city,but it gave us ... the breaking of the Nazi war codes in WWII,....
Click to expand...

That was done by the Brits at Bletchley Park, England.
 
landtuna said:
Limp73 said:
What about Dayton, Ohio? No it's not the biggest city,but it gave us ... the breaking of the Nazi war codes in WWII,....
Click to expand...

That was done by the Brits at Bletchley Park, England.
Click to expand...

UPDATE: Regrets....I hit the 'send' too fast. Dayton was indeed the home of significant code-breaking by the USN but as I understand it concentrating on Japanese and diplomatic codes while the Brits concentrated on the German Enigma.
 
There have been at least two shows set in Miami:
"Golden Girls" and "CSI: Miami," but I can't think of
one set in Tampa. Neither can I think of one set in
San Antonio, although "Dallas" was set you-know-where,
and "Reba" and (if you can remember that far back) "Judd
For The Defense" in Houston.

As for Springfield, I think some town in Vermont won the
right to call itself the hometown of "The Simpsons." But
some people would argue that the rightful state is Kentucky,
since the Simpsons live near a town called Shelbyville, and
the real Shelbyville and Springfield, KY, are not too far apart.

Or maybe the Simpsons' Springfield has had a few residents
with names like Josh and Reva and Alan; after all, we don't
know exactly where "Guiding Light"'s Springfield was, either. :)
 
Out of the top 25 cities, I came up with one show for all but San Jose, Jacksonville, Austin, Fort Worth, Charlotte and El Paso.

The problem with San Jose and Fort Worth is they are too close to the "sexier" cities of San Francisco and Dallas and are of course part of those cities' media market. If you are going to set a show in Florida, I guess Miami is seen as much cooler than Jacksonville. Surely, there must have been a western set in or near El Paso in the 50s or 60s. I don't know about Charlotte, but I'm surprised Austin has never been a tv show setting. It is considered one of the "hippest" cities and tons of movies are filmed in Austin.

New York--Law & Order
Los Angeles--Adam 12
Chicago--Good Times
Houston--Judd For The Defense
Phoenix--Alice
Philadelphia--Thirtysomething
San Antonio--J.J. Starbuck
Dallas--Dallas
San Diego--Simon & Simon
San Jose--
Detroit--Martin
San Francisco--Ironside
Jacksonville--
Indianapolis--One Day At A Time
Austin--
Columbus--Family Ties
Fort Worth--
Charlotte--
Memphis--Memphis Beat
Baltimore--Homicide
Boston--Cheers
El Paso--
Milwaukee--Happy Days
Denver--Dynasty
Seattle--Grey's Anatomy
 
A few more...

Cleveland--The Drew Carey Show
Cincinnati--WKRP in Cincinnati
Washington, D.C.--227
Las Vegas--Las Vegas, Vega$, CSI
Sacramento--Eight is Enough, Even Stevens
 
There was a show on Nickelodeon, of which I can't remember the title, that was set in Charlotte.

Interestingly, Jacksonville was a major center of silent film production until residents became fed up with the crowds and--yes--noise, forcing the industry to move westward.

Jacksonville reminds me of those warnings on rear view mirrors about objects being closer than they appear. Despite it's strong showing on the list of America's 25 largest cities, it's mainly there due to a city-county consolidation in 1968 which swelled its population. It doesn't have the cultural influence/notoriety or that big-city feel of , say, a Boston or a Washington (both of which are, population-wise, smaller).

It's Arbitron and Nielsen market rankings paint a better picture of this, as they're both well out of the top 25.
 
There's one set in Atlanta that goes 'way back.
It was called This Is Alice; it was a sitcom about
a female Dennis the Menace that, IIRC, predates Dennis
on television by about a year (1958 to his 1959). I also
believe Phyllis Coates, the first Lois Lane on television,
played her mom.

I've practically forgotten J.J. Starbuck, which is why
I don't remember that it was set in San Antonio. But I
still can't think of one set in Tampa. Can anyone think of
one set in either Louisville or Birmingham?
 
briancraig said:
Out of the top 25 cities, I came up with one show for all but San Jose, Jacksonville, Austin, Fort Worth, Charlotte and El Paso.

The problem with San Jose and Fort Worth is they are too close to the "sexier" cities of San Francisco and Dallas and are of course part of those cities' media market. If you are going to set a show in Florida, I guess Miami is seen as much cooler than Jacksonville. Surely, there must have been a western set in or near El Paso in the 50s or 60s. I don't know about Charlotte, but I'm surprised Austin has never been a tv show setting. It is considered one of the "hippest" cities and tons of movies are filmed in Austin.

New York--Law & Order
Los Angeles--Adam 12
Chicago--Good Times
Houston--Judd For The Defense
Phoenix--Alice
(also the New Dick Van Dyke Show (Dick lived in Carefree at that time))
Philadelphia--Thirtysomething
San Antonio--J.J. Starbuck
Dallas--Dallas
San Diego--Simon & Simon
San Jose--
Detroit--Martin
San Francisco--Ironside
Jacksonville--
Indianapolis--One Day At A Time
Austin--
Columbus--Family Ties
Fort Worth--
Charlotte--
Memphis--Memphis Beat
Baltimore--Homicide
Boston--Cheers
El Paso--
Milwaukee--Happy Days
Denver--Dynasty
(also Mork & Mindy- actually in Boulder)
Seattle--Grey's Anatomy
Click to expand...
 
briancraig said:
Columbus--Family Ties
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for that list, you rock!!!!. You win this months "King of TV" award ;D

Question for "Family Ties," was it actually said, they were set in Columbus? I ask 'cause I have it on tape when Alex is renting rooms out, Alex says the family is in Dayton, OH. He says: "Keaton Manor in beautiful Dayton." It's often cut in syndication but WWME-CA (ME-TV in Chicago, runs the show uncut). Of course Ohio State is over 75 miles from Dayton.

So this could be a slip up by Michael J Fox that was never caught.

Several times Steven mentions Route 41 which runs through Springfield, OH, roughly half way between Columbus and Dayton, I guess you could call it Suburban Columbus.

Of course Alex drives Skippy TO Dayton to meet his real mother. This wouldn't be needed if they lived in Dayton.

But in the spin off "The Art of Being Nick" was in Dayton, but you could make a case that it wasn't an actual spinoff.
 
Mark said:
briancraig said:
Columbus--Family Ties
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for that list, you rock!!!!. You win this months "King of TV" award ;D

Question for "Family Ties," was it actually said, they were set in Columbus? I ask 'cause I have it on tape when Alex is renting rooms out, Alex says the family is in Dayton, OH. He says: "Keaton Manor in beautiful Dayton." It's often cut in syndication but WWME-CA (ME-TV in Chicago, runs the show uncut). Of course Ohio State is over 75 miles from Dayton.

So this could be a slip up by Michael J Fox that was never caught.

Several times Steven mentions Route 41 which runs through Springfield, OH, roughly half way between Columbus and Dayton, I guess you could call it Suburban Columbus.

Of course Alex drives Skippy TO Dayton to meet his real mother. This wouldn't be needed if they lived in Dayton.

But in the spin off "The Art of Being Nick" was in Dayton, but you could make a case that it wasn't an actual spinoff.
Click to expand...

Actually, wasn't the "hometown" of Family Ties the fictitious Leland, OH (the home of Leland College, Alex's alma mater)--which is presumed to be a suburb of Columbus?
 
briancraig said:
Out of the top 25 cities, I came up with one show for all but San Jose, Jacksonville, Austin, Fort Worth, Charlotte and El Paso.

The problem with San Jose and Fort Worth is they are too close to the "sexier" cities of San Francisco and Dallas and are of course part of those cities' media market. If you are going to set a show in Florida, I guess Miami is seen as much cooler than Jacksonville. Surely, there must have been a western set in or near El Paso in the 50s or 60s. I don't know about Charlotte, but I'm surprised Austin has never been a tv show setting. It is considered one of the "hippest" cities and tons of movies are filmed in Austin.

New York--Law & Order
Los Angeles--Adam 12
Chicago--Good Times
Houston--Judd For The Defense
Phoenix--Alice
Philadelphia--Thirtysomething
San Antonio--J.J. Starbuck
Dallas--Dallas
San Diego--Simon & Simon
San Jose--
Detroit--Martin
San Francisco--Ironside
Jacksonville--
Indianapolis--One Day At A Time
Austin--
Columbus--Family Ties
Fort Worth--
Charlotte--
Memphis--Memphis Beat
Baltimore--Homicide
Boston--Cheers
El Paso--
Milwaukee--Happy Days
Denver--Dynasty
Seattle--Grey's Anatomy
Click to expand...

and another Seattle based show
Here Come The Brides (1880's Seattle)
And another city
Minneapolis - Mary Tyler Moore
 
Add The Streets Of San Francisco and Too Close For Comfort for San Francisco.

And I don't think that there have been any TV shows that have been set in Butte, Montana or Boise, Idaho or anywhere else in those states.
 
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