TV Tuesday: Location, location, location

[yourlibrarian]

In which shows does “place” play an important role in the success of the show to you? This could be a geographical location or some other significant space.

Comments

[reeby10]

First one that comes to mind is Person of Interest. It takes place almost entirely in NYC, and I really don't think the show would have worked if it was set anywhere else. Partly because of the post-9/11 themes, partly because of the makeup of NYC allows for things other cities wouldn't as well (infinite and very diverse people in need of saving, infinite people to hide amongst in anonymity). Honestly, now that I'm thinking of it, The Machine feels a little like the personification of the city in some ways. Or at least a god born from the spirit of the city.

[yourlibrarian]

That's an interesting thought! I hadn't considered how the specific city might make PoI work or not work but that does make sense.

[felis]

Interesting! POI wasn't the first thing to come to mind for me - and I do think other cities would work as well (doesn't the Machine even establish other teams in other places in the last season?) - but you absolutely reminded me how much I loved the grounded look and feel of the show and I do agree that's it's very interconnected with NYC! For something that is so much about technology and AI and the like, it looks remarkably non-flashy, and doesn't take the usual "shiny graphics" short-cuts to get its themes across. It's all very much embedded within the city - the cameras, the team's hiding places (an old library and a defunct sub-way station!), the repurposing of older technology, hiding within the veins of the city... There's a lot of brown and grey in its colour palette, too. Reminded me of this tumblr post from way back when - which, despite what one might think, isn't POI fanart. The name of one of the paintings, though? "New York State of Mind". :D

[dhampyresa]

I found Severance to use space in very interesting ways.

[yourlibrarian]

Yes, that's very true -- those infinite hallways seem very evocative of mental spaces.

[devilc]

Friday Night Lights would just not be the same if they had shot in and around the greater Los Angeles Metro area.

It was shot in Pfleugerville, TX, and that shows. The good way.

[yourlibrarian]

True, that's a very place oriented show.

[lycomingst]

That's one of the reasons that I like British shows. Lots of different scenery, not only London but other cities and places I'll never see in person. I'm watching Agents of Shield and they're supposed to be going to other countries but it always look a lot like California. LoL.

[yourlibrarian]

I also like seeing places I'll never go but which are evocative of a different way of life. I think All Creatures is a particularly good example of it.

And yes, I was always amused how every outdoor shoot on the original Trek series looked like a western could have been shooting the next set of rocks over 😉

[delphi]

I'm often drawn to checking out backgrounds, and so I really love it when a show is either set where it's filmed or has otherwise cultivated an interesting sense of place that feels distinct and also lived-in in terms of what's going on in the rest of the scene or setting.

Some recent favourites:

North of North - This is set in fictional Ice Cove, Nunavut, but it's filmed in Iqaluit in a "best of both worlds" sort of way where they can take artistic liberties but it still feels very much like a real town in the Arctic and a community where everyone knows everyone.

Deadloch - Season 1 took place and was set in Tasmania, in a likewise fictional town but one that really captured the show's tensions around gentrification and also highlighted the absurdity of it being the setting of a big murder-mystery.

Severance - I love how this show works with two different layers of "not quite right," with everything being so visually distinct in the office but also distinctly unnerving, disorienting, and missing something outside of it.

[yourlibrarian]

Your comment came just as I was watching S2 of Hacks and an episode that took place in Sedona, and I was positive they shot it there. It has a very distinct appearance.

[delphi]

I keep meaning to check out Hacks! How are you liking it?

[yourlibrarian]

Honestly not thrilled. Granted, I wasn't all that taken with Hacks S1 but it had a strong finish and I was curious to see where they'd go with it in S2. But I've taken to watching it while doing dishes so...

[delphi]

Ah, that's good to know - I'll temper my expectations. :D

[felis]

The first show that immediately came to mind when I read the question, even though it's been years since I watched it: Cloak and Dagger, one of the early and not widely known Marvel TV shows, technically in continuity with the rest of the MCU.

It took Cloak and Dagger's story away from New York, which is where the original comics were set, and moved it to New Orleans, a decision that worked really really well IMO. There's a wonderful, moody sense of place to it that really drew me in. It also has a great mix of realistic worldbuilding elements - from social issues over family backgrounds to interesting details about New Orleans - and a slightly surrealist, subconscious "dreamworld" it uses to explore its characters, also in keeping with the location. These two sides aren't played as contrasts but complement each other, with the "dream" sequences anchored in place, story, and character just as much as the rest.

It really stayed with me as one of the prime "unique sense of place" examples I've watched.

[yourlibrarian]

I remember watching a few episodes of this when it came out but I think I had too much to keep up with at the time. I am 100% in favor of any shows which could be relocated to have this done. I am so tired of everything being in NYC with L.A. as runner up.

I am always reminded of the Daily Show tagline during the Trevor Noah years, "From the only city in America." Enough already! It's a huge country, there are so many options.

[yourlibrarian]

I think Northern Exposure is an example of a show where, whether fish out of water element or not, the issue of location was likely a central part of the original show pitch. Miami Vice was certainly another one, so critical in fact that its look became cemented as part of 80s pop culture more generally, including colors and clothing styles.

There are a lot of shows which also revolve around a particular place, usually a small town, such as Twin Peaks or Stars Hollow in Gilmore Girls.

[tinny]

I kind of only have negative examples of that.

Like Stumptown, which is set in Portland, but not filmed there. Or a cdrama that had to be relocated to a fictional city for censorship reasons.

In both cases, all the location shots are stock images. That sucked. I think one can feel the authenticity of a show shot on location, and I really like that.

[yourlibrarian]

Yes, especially if the show's location is meant to be relevant. I agree about locations, even if the location itself is fictional (such as in Andor), neither stock nor CGI is a substitute.