Television Geography: Difference between revisions

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* It's terribly obvious they filmed ''[[Resident Evil: Apocalypse|Resident Evil Apocalypse]]'' in [[Toronto]]. An opening shot in the theatrical version shows the CN Tower, and the climax of the movie occurs at another famous landmark -- Toronto's uniquely designed City Hall. Granted, a city so much like Raccoon City doesn't exist.

** [http://torontoist.com/2008/10/reel_toronto_resident_evil_apocalypse/ This] takes the entire thing apart.

{{quote| Despite the economic turmoil, Scotiabank's Racoon City expansion plans were unaffected.}}

{{quote|Despite the economic turmoil, Scotiabank's Racoon City expansion plans were unaffected.}}

** In one scene, ''Resident Evil 2'' seems to place Raccoon City in somewhat central New Jersey. Oddly enough, they realistically portrayed an evil pharmaceutical company having a research office, in the middle of nowhere NJ, yet relatively near a larger city. Johnson and Johnson, Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis, Pfizer, Merck, Wyeth, Hoffman-LaRoche, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Schering-Plough all have locations in NJ that somewhat parallel this. No zombies yet though...

* The 1976 [[Robin Hood]] film ''Robin and Marian'' was filmed in Pamplona, Spain, which, needless to say, looks nothing at all like Nottinghamshire.

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** There's also a fantasy sequence in which Sheldon imagines himself as the Flash, running all the way to the Grand Canyon from his apartment to scream in frustration. When leaving Pasadena, he runs across the Colorado Street Bridge, which is on the ''western'' edge of town. The Grand Canyon is in Arizona, ''east'' of California. (To be fair, the Flash doesn't necessarily need to take the most direct route, and there aren't really any identifiable landmarks on Pasadena's eastern boundary.)

* ''[[Everybody Loves Raymond]]'', set in Lynbrook, NY has an episode where Deborah wants to sell Girl Scout cookies in front of the busiest place in Lynbrook, a pizzeria, but is banned from doing so. However, the closest Pizzeria to Fowler Ave (which looks nothing like its TV counterpart) has a Coldstone and a movie theater within 500 feet of it, both of which are far busier than the pizzeria.

* In ''~It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia~'', the exterior of Paddy's is often shown briefly from an angle where you can see a street sign in the background that looks just like one from Philly. Look closer. The sign says "Second." Numbered streets in Philly go "2nd," "3rd" and so on; the word is not written out. (The exterior was shot in LA)

* In ''[[It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia]]'', the exterior of Paddy's is often shown briefly from an angle where you can see a street sign in the background that looks just like one from Philly. Look closer. The sign says "Second." Numbered streets in Philly go "2nd," "3rd" and so on; the word is not written out. (The exterior was shot in LA)

* Occurs to excess in ''[[24]]'', often as a consequence of the show's real-time format. In one particularly jarring example, Jack Bauer infiltrates a warehouse in North Hollywood and, upon climbing to the roof, is in downtown LA (with Union Station clearly visible nearby).

** The most blatant ~They Just Didn't Care~ moment came in Season 4, where the Terrorminions hijack a nuclear missile transport and manage to lose the satellite tracking in the mountains... ''[[The Mountains of Illinois|of IOWA]]''.

** The most blatant [[They Just Didn't Care]] moment came in Season 4, where the Terrorminions hijack a nuclear missile transport and manage to lose the satellite tracking in the mountains... ''[[The Mountains of Illinois|of IOWA]]''.

*** Not quite so They Just Didn't Care. While the northeast corner of Iowa is not exactly "mountainous", it's not normally what you'd think when you think of Iowa. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driftless_Area. Ironically, this same geological area extends partly into [[The Mountains of Illinois|Illinois]].

** In the first episode of Season 2, President Palmer and his son are shown fishing in a large, empty lake in the middle of a pristine tranquil meadow at the foot of a snowcapped mountain. A subtitle reveals that they are in 'Lake Oswego, Oregon'. Lake Oswego is an affluent suburb just outside of Portland, the lake itself is surrounded by dozens of multi-million dollar houses, and there isn't a snowcapped mountain for a good 85 miles.

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*** Psych is filmed in Vancouver. So someone should have worked it out.

*** They knew. It was a [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshade]] on this trope.

* An episode of ''~30 Rock~'' had Jack and Liz travel to Stone Mountain, Georgia (Kenneth's home town) to scout out salt-of-the-earth 'Real American' talent. The real Stone Mountain is firmly within the orbit of metropolitan Atlanta and has a population that's mainly African-American, but the show depicts it as part of ''[[Hee Haw]]'' Land.

* An episode of ''[[30 Rock]]'' had Jack and Liz travel to Stone Mountain, Georgia (Kenneth's home town) to scout out salt-of-the-earth 'Real American' talent. The real Stone Mountain is firmly within the orbit of metropolitan Atlanta and has a population that's mainly African-American, but the show depicts it as part of ''[[Hee Haw]]'' Land.

* ''[[The Sopranos]]'' is actually quite good about their locations, as any [[Joisey]] troper can tell you. They do tend to play fast and loose with driving times, though.

* The opening to ''[[Newhart]]'' is not filmed in Vermont, but near Squam Lake, New Hampshire.

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* ''[[Criminal Minds]]'' episode "Exit Wounds" supposedly takes place in Franklin, Alaska. The fishing ships in the opening would imply that Franklin is on the ocean. However, Franklin is on a creek, '''hundreds''' of miles away from the ocean, and more importantly, is [[Ghost Town|uninhabited]]. The closest town, Chicken, had a grand total population of 17 in the year 2000. They also mention a Lake Lafayette, and in a state with over three million lakes, there are none named Lafayette. Most TV shows and movies [[Did Not Do the Research|do not to do research]] when it comes to Alaska, much less do they ever film there.

** Taking place all over the US but being filmed in LA gives Criminal Minds this problem quite often. In ''Roadkill'' they even invented a whole highway.

* ''<nowiki>~Spooks: Code 9~</nowiki>'' was filmed [[Oop North|in Yorkshire]], so when they needed a flashback scene for someone driving from London, they just used a nearby motorway junction. The direction of the shot implies it was the series' actual location was bombed.

* ''<nowiki>[[Spooks: Code 9]]</nowiki>'' was filmed [[Oop North|in Yorkshire]], so when they needed a flashback scene for someone driving from London, they just used a nearby motorway junction. The direction of the shot implies it was the series' actual location was bombed.

* Even live sporting events aren't immune from [[Television Geography]]. In September 2011, [[ESPN]] aired what they claimed was a shot of the skyline of Madison, Wisconsin during a football game between the University of Wisconsin and the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. However, as CNBC's Darren Rovell [http://www.whosay.com/darrenrovell/photos/64273 noted], it was actually stock footage of the skyline in Minneapolis, Minnesota -- 230 miles northwest of Madison.

** What made it even funnier is that it wasn't the first time that Minneapolis substituted for Madison -- the same mistake was made in 2008 on a website. But not just any website... [http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2008/12/oops_wisconsin.php a website run by the state of Wisconsin].

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*** All at one point too with a recent episode {{spoiler|where someone tries to murder Bart while standing in another state and steps to another state each time cops from said state show up.}}

*** Which was a [[Shout-Out]] [[Brick Joke]] to an earlier episode ([[wikipedia:Itchy %26 Scratchy Land|"Itchy & Scratchy Land"]]<ref>which aired back in [[The Nineties|1994]], [[Archive Panic|kiddies]]</ref>), where the Simpsons stop at Five Corners National Monument (a parody of [[wikipedia:Four Corners Monument|the real-life Four Corners Monument]]) on their way to the park.

{{quote| '''Lisa''': "Aw, haven't we stood in five different states long enough?"~~<br />~~

{{quote|'''Lisa''': "Aw, haven't we stood in five different states long enough?"

'''Homer''': ''[[Man Child|(petulantly)]]'' "No." }}

** It appears to be in eastern North America, since the log went through Yellowstone to get to San Francisco. (How this would happen with the Continental Divide is beyond the reach of this wiki.) And it's on a coast. We also know that it has both 636 (an area code for Missouri) and 939 (an area code for Puerto Rico) area codes.