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GUEST BLOG #55: Diane Holloway cruises TV cityscapes
[Bianculli here: TV critics, like other people, should know their place. But in contributing critic Diane Holloway's case, the sense of place given off by a TV show has a lot to do with how much she enjoys it...]
Appreciating TV with a sense of place
By Diane Holloway
Over the years, some of my favorite TV shows have starred places as well as people. Apparently, I need specific geography to be entertained.
This rich addition almost always applies to dramas rather than comedies, at least partly because comedies rarely leave the confines of a studio. And it doesn't really matter where the characters are when they're trolling for yuks.
For a place to be truly part of an ensemble, the writers have to do more than mention it occasionally and shoot a few exterior scenes from a helicopter.
Grey's Anatomy, for example, is set in Seattle, but aside from aerial views and the hospital being named Seattle Grace, the self-absorbed docs could be emoting from anywhere. There's absolutely zero sense of place.
The Law & Order franchise, on the other hand, showcases the look and feel of the city of New York almost as much as the ensemble casts. Everything from the cops and the crimes to the courts and the legal eagles are distinctly New York.
Compare Law & Order to CSI: NY, and you see a world of difference. The New York portrayed in the CSI Big Apple spinoff is all shiny and clean, with a forensic lab that looks like a sci-fi movie set. The city in CSI could just as easily be Minneapolis.
Because of its inherent drama, New York has been a favorite setting over the years. NYPD Blue certainly reeked of the city, and currently so does Rescue Me. Although it doesn't really trot around the city, Mad Men is very New York in its angst and atmosphere. A show about advertising in the 1960s couldn't really take place anywhere else, but Mad Men does exceedingly well in playing up the urban ambience.
The only thing better in my book than a show with a sense of place is a show that is defined by its place -- like Frank's Place, one of my all-time favorite shows. Its run was brief (1987-88), but Tim Reid's magnificent love letter to New Orleans was simply brilliant. From the opening titles, we could smell, hear and see the city. Gumbo bubbled, jazz wailed, and people oozed creole charm.
More recently, Anthony Anderson's post-Katrina crime drama K-Ville also starred New Orleans, and it did a remarkable job of showing the tragedy faced by the city after the devastating hurricane, as well as the optimism of its surviving sons and daughters.
Of course Dallas oozed its city, too. The 1980s sudser featured big hair, big music, a big villain (hello, J.R.!) and big, big money. Could a juicy prime-time soap about wealth and intrigue, ranches and oil wells be set in, say, Atlanta? No. It had to be Texas, and it had to be Dallas.
Creators seem to be drawn to very cold or very warm cities. Snow and icy breath do make for impressive cinematography. The Windy City made us shiver from opening to closing credits on Chicago Hope and ER. And other shows' sparkling water and beaches look sexy and inviting.
TV has had something of a love affair with certain cities -- Boston, Los Angeles and Miami, just to name a non-New York trio.
Boston Legal, St. Elsewhere and Cheers gave us a distinctive flavor. Boston Legal didn't exactly comb the streets near Back Bay or Faneuil Hall, but devoted Bostonian David E. Kelley sure knew how to blend exterior footage and New England characters.
Los Angeles was portrayed as slick and modern in L.A. Law years ago, but The Shield, Southland and occasionally even The Closer showcase the grittier back alleys of that city.
Miami Vice set a distinctive visual style for the Latin-infused urban sprawl in South Florida, and today's Burn Notice [photo at top] picks up a similar vibe. When its protagonist isn't slicing and dicing, Dexter gives us a keen sense of Miami, too. But CSI: Miami never seems to step beyond the homes and lifestyles of the super-rich.
Some shows can get away with taking place in Anywhere, USA. Hill Street Blues never identified its locale, and nobody has ever figured out where those Desperate Housewives really live.
But it's a tasty enhancement when shows involve us not only with stories and characters, but also a specific place. Wonder why nobody has come up with a drama about keep-it-weird Austin . . .
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Diane Holloway was the TV critic for the Austin American Statesman for 30 years, until the downturn in the newspaper business prompted her to take a buyout. She's now sniffing out other possibilities. Before newspapers, she worked in Washington for the Library of Congress, the American Film Institute and the National Endowment for the Arts. Maybe something entirely different is next. Or not.
The most obvious example: Homicide - Life on the Street. Everything was on location, so they didn't need to fake Baltimore. But they really used the city fully, as did The Wire to a lesser extent.
Of current shows, though it's a sitcom, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia does a decent job of reminding you where you are, despite being filmed in LA. (As did Seinfeld with NYC in the 90's.)
On the other hand, Cold Case has NEVER made me feel like I was in Philly. I live here, and I didn't even realize the show was supposed to be set here until like the third (and last) episode I ever saw. Even The Office does a better job of faking Scranton, and most of it's set indoors.
L.A. seems to be back with NCIS: Los Angeles and then there is Torchwood in Cardiff I know if it weren't for my favorite series I wouldn't be longing to visit that city and seeing more of Whales. I love when shows actually film in the cities they take place in they seem to be more fun, real and can do a lot more. The more EXT. shots the better the series.
In my mind, one of the very best shows to do this is The Wire. David Simon and Ed Burn's love letter to Baltimore just oozes the city.
Hey Diane!
Just wanted to add to your list with how well the Wire managed to capture Baltimore. (I was a resident and would pass them filming all the time.) From the drug trade to the newspaper, the Wire's story really was a Baltimore story.
The setting of Hill Street Blues was never revealed, but if you look at the highway signs in the opening the shots had to be done in Chicago. My pet peeve is fake New York settings. You know it's California if the sunlight is golden; the light in New York has a much bluer cast.
The Streets of San Francisco (A Quinn Martin Production!) did a fantastic job of featuring the streets of San Francisco.