Map of American TV town settings online

[1069_KIFR]

Beverly Hills, CA- Clueless

 

[1069_KIFR]

Virginia: The Virginian

 

[cd637299]

Virginia: The Virginian

Ah! Well if you wanna play that game:

Las Vegas: Vega$, Vegas, Las Vegas

cd

 

[crainbebo]

If these were covered, I apologize.

Barnaby Jones - Los Angeles
Kojak - New York City setting
CHiPs - Mainly Central Los Angeles, but other times on the road as it was about the highway patrol
Car 54 - New York City
Charlie's Angels - Los Angeles
Hawkins Falls (1950-55 soap opera) - Woodstock, Illinois
Brighter Day - New Hope, WI
The Torkelsons - Vinita, OK
Almost Home (renamed Torkelsons) - Seattle
In the Heat of the Night - Sparta, MS
Drexell's Class (Fox, 1991-92) - Cedar Bluffs, IA
Baretta - New Jersey

-crainbebo

 

[Robnoxious]

CHiPs - Mainly Central Los Angeles, but other times on the road as it was about the highway patrol

CHiPs is an anomaly since there were many times Ponch and John were tooling around on local surface streets (outside of their jurisdiction) around LA around when the baddie showed up and they gave chase. For all practical purposes, CHiPs should be labeled as Greater Pasadena since most all of the "highway" shots were done on the I-210 extension before it was completed and opened for public travel.

 

[bpatrick]

IIRC, "The Virginian" took place in Medicine Bow, WY.

Here's another: "Step By Step": Port Washington, WI.

 

[dave73]

Here's some more.

Philadelphia - Angie

Sacramento, CA - Eight Is Enough

Oak Park, IL - Valerie (later named Valerie's Family, then The Hogan Family)

Chicago - Perfect Strangers, According to Jim

New York City - Kate & Allie, The King Of Queens

Peekskill, NY - The Facts Of Life

Grandview, NY - Ghost Whisperer

Los Angeles - Sanford & Son, Moesha

Walnut Grove, MN - Little House On The Prairie

Columbus, OH - Family Ties

Pasadena, CA - Family

Miami - The Golden Girls

Fairfield, CT - Who's The Boss

 

[bpatrick]

Now if someone would answer the $64,000 question: in what
state was "Guiding Light"'s Springfield? There were occasional
references that made me think it was Illinois, yet "GL"'s Springfield
was not the state capital (as Springfield, IL) is, and "Springfield
Township" (whose sign you saw in the show's last year or so) is
in New Jersey.

Not to mention the 2 other places GL used, Selby Flats (in CA), and another place before that. In the last few episodes of ATWT, Springfield was actually mentioned in a scene so I would think it was in some proximity to Oakdale.

One of the P&G soaps (ATWT, Edge, can't remember) used "Capital City" as the name of the state capital setting.

Another World: Bay City, IL (I'm wondering if it was actually Bay City, MI)

I didn't get to watch AW in it's earliest years so I'm not sure how or if any state was referenced then, but I know Illinois was referenced more than once later on, including when Rachel was called to the inn in Maine that Mac was at, and the hotel clerk told Rachel that there was a letter waiting for her (and would tell her that Mac passed away). I guess it was an un-mailed letter, the front of the envelope had an address on the front, ending in "Bay City, Illinois". As with the Springfield-on-ATWT reference above, Bay City was mentioned many times in the last several ATWT eps--almost or probably more than it was during the crossovers after AW was cancelled. A donor heart was found in Bay City for an ATWT character, and the young up-and-coming doctor was willing to drive to Bay City to get it (so they really made it sound like Bay City was in driving distance from Oakdale).

Dark Shadows: Collinsport, ME

Dark Shadows is actually the only daytime soap mentioned on the map.

Days Of Our Lives: Salem, IL (although I thought that in the early days it
was Salem, MA)

IINM, Salem's state has never been mentioned, but a yearly festival for the show has been held in the last few years in Salem, IL.

Edge of Night: Monticello

I'd go for IL on this one also, as it was referenced several times as being near Oakdale, which was in IL. For some reason, Draper & April's old house (before they moved to April's late mother Margo's penthouse) was in Oakdale, not in Monticello.

But I never knew where Henderson ("Search For Tomorrow") was.

I don't remember anyone referring to a state for Search, but I'd probably guess IL.

The original setting for "GL" on radio was Five Points, but I don't know the state, if it was ever mentioned (that was before I was born). I also seem to recall "GL" mentioning Capital City as the state capital but "ATWT" and "Edge" may have as well. Selby Flats was in California, with the change of locale to Springfield coming sometime in the '60s.

"Love Of Life" also changed locales; its original setting was Barrowsville, NY (1951-55), then New York City (1955-59), and finally Rosehill, NY (1959-80).

And there was one called "Where The Heart Is," which took over the noon slot on CBS when "Love Of Life" moved to 11:30 AM in 1969 (and was in turn replaced by "The Young And The Restless" in 1973); it was set in Northcross, CT. I'm also assuming that the soap version of "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing" took place in the same locale as the movie: San Francisco.

One soap that I don't think ever mentioned a locale was "The Doctors." Hope Memorial Hospital was, I guess, wherever you wanted it to be.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

Mama's Family--Raytown, MO

 

[jwk1979]

Virginia: The Virginian

"The Virginian" was the name of a character on the show, not the setting of the show. Since it was a western, it wasn't set in Virginia, but in Wyoming, as the another poster had stated.

 

[jwk1979]

CHiPs - Mainly Central Los Angeles, but other times on the road as it was about the highway patrol

CHiPs is an anomaly since there were many times Ponch and John were tooling around on local surface streets (outside of their jurisdiction) around LA around when the baddie showed up and they gave chase. For all practical purposes, CHiPs should be labeled as Greater Pasadena since most all of the "highway" shots were done on the I-210 extension before it was completed and opened for public travel.

"CHiPs" is an acronym for "California Hi-way Patrol", so wouldn't ALL of Los Angeles County be under their jurisdiction, not just the city of Los Angeles? The name of the show wasn't "LAHiPs" (Los Angeles Hi-way Patrol).

 

[jwk1979]

LA--"The Addams Family", "The Munsters"

(sorry if I'm repeating any)

I don't recall either of these shows ever mention which state they were in, let alone which city. I have seen both of these shows numerous times (more than I can remember or care to mention) and I never heard either show refer to the name of the city they lived in. I always assumed it was like "Green Acres", "Petticoat Junction", "Leave It To Beaver", et al, nad was setting in no particular city or state.

 

[firepoint525]

I believe that the Detroit suburb of Chippewa (and someone can correct me if I am wrong on that) was the specific setting for Freaks and Geeks. And Boston was the setting for St. Elsewhere. The "hospital" shown in the opening credits was supposedly a Boston apartment complex.

Mayfield, KY, was apparently NOT the setting for Leave It To Beaver. I used to live not far from there, in west Tennessee.

And of course, Nashville is the setting for Nashville, and I recognize several scenes from around town turning up in the show, although our mayor's office is NOT in the state capitol, although the show would apparently have you to believe otherwise.

 

[anotherguyTN]

Salem, IL was brought up for Days of Our Lives. They're a real town, but they're actually fairly small instead of the large city it's made out to be on the show.

Memphis: Filthy Rich, a short run spoof of Dallas.

 

[Poledo]

Where was "Fat Albert" set?

 

[cd637299]

Where was "Fat Albert" set?

Philadelphia

 

[firepoint525]

Memphis: Filthy Rich, a short run spoof of Dallas.

Starring John Ford as "J.R."? I would mention E.H. Crump, but it is about 100 years too late for that! ;D

 

[1069_KIFR]

Detroit: Detroit 1-8-7
New York: Barney Miller, Rhoda, The Dick Van Dyke Show
Chicago: The Bob Newhart Show, The Building
Los Angeles: Police Story

 

[jfc40ts]

Here are some others:

Boston: Boston Legal (how did they ever miss THAT one?)
Los Angeles: Dragnet
New York: although the Jeffersons moved to the east side, didn't they start out as Archie Bunker's neighbors in Queens?
San Francisco: San Francisco Beat (and its predecessor The Lineup)
Have Gun Will Travel
Springfield, IL: Father Knows Best (I think it was the one in IL)
Virginia City, NV: Bonanza
Washington, DC: NCIS

Someone earlier mentioned Mayberry, NC. Andy Griffith was actually from Mount Airy, NC, which is in the nw corner of the state near the VA border and I-77. Many times mention was made of a nearby town called Mount Pilot. Pilot Mountain is about 50 mi. east of Mount Airy.

Also, I don't know if there really is a town called Mayfield where Leave It To Beaver took place. I'd guess it would be in Ohio. Ward sometimes mentioned growing up in Shaker Heights which is just east of Cleveland.

 

[jwk1979]

Here are some others:

New York: although the Jeffersons moved to the east side, didn't they start out as Archie Bunker's neighbors in Queens?
Springfield, IL: Father Knows Best (I think it was the one in IL)

Yes, the Jeffersons started out as Archie Bunker's neighbors in Queens. In fact, they were the first black family to live in the Bunker's neighborhood during the second or third season of the show. And according to a later episode of the "Jeffersons", they were living in Harlem when George started his Dry Cleaning business the day that Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed.

As far as "Father Knows Best" goes, just about every state in the union has a Springfield in it. I once read that there are over 100 cities, town and communities in the US named Springfield.
And IIRC, they never stated what state the Springfield they lived in was located, so that is another example of it could basically be in any state in the country.