50 States, 50 Television Series

(UPDATE: A ‘Remixed’ version of this map, which accounts for popular feedback, is now available. Check it out!)

As you may remember a couple days ago, there was a piece was published on the Huffington Post identifying every state of the U.S. by one movie, which of course I answered with a map of my own.  The original map from the HuffPo was featured on the fantastically entertaining Strange Maps blog, in which the author Frank Jacobs made a request for a similar map of TV shows.  Well, I couldn’t pass a challenge like that.  You can click on the map below for a larger version.

Now, a list of the ones I chose, and some alternate quality shows:

• Alabama – Any Day Now, a Lifetime original series.  According to Wikipedia, this is the only show set there that’s not an educational program on Alabama Public Television.
• Alaska – Northern Exposure, a bizarro all-time classic.  Only other option, I think, would be Deadliest Catch.
• Arizona – Alice, another classic, beats out Medium and one of my personal cult favorite kids series, Hey Dude.
• Arkansas – 19 Kids and Counting, proof that TLC promotes irresponsible decisions.  Evening Shade and Recess are the other options.
• California – Like for the movies map, it seems like a million TV shows have been based in California.  Baywatch, to me, is kind of an iconic California show with all the skin, the beaches, and so forth, which is what everyone else in the country has been told that California is all about.  There are so many other possibilities that it’d take forever to name them all.
• Colorado – Mork and Mindy, a silly TV show that’s set in Boulder.  The other option would be South Park, a quality show but I excluded it solely because I had it in my movies map.
• Connecticut – Somehow, Gilmore Girls had a pretty loyal following, my wife among them.  Bewitched was also set here, as were the last couple of seasons of I Love Lucy.
• Delaware – The only TV show I could find that was actually set in Delaware was The Pretender.
• Florida – Florida, like California and New York, is a show where there’ve been a lot of TV shows set, probably because people want to live there.  The Golden Girls, to me, always screamed Florida.  Other contenders include Dexter, CSI: Miami, Miami Vice, Nip Tuck, and Empty Nest.
• Georgia – Dukes of Hazzard with a bullet, followed by Matlock and Designing Women.
• Hawaii – Hawaii Five-O is the ultimate Hawaii series (the original one), with the best TV theme song probably ever. Magnum PI and Dog the Bounty Hunter are also set there.
• Idaho – The Manhunter is a crime drama from the 1970s.  According to Wikipedia, it’s the only show to ever be set in Idaho.
• Illinois – Tons of shows are set in Chicago, but I chose Roseanne to be contrarian.  Not my favorite show, but it’s nice to present another side of Illinois outside the Chicagoland area.  Other possibilities include ER, Perfect Strangers, Family Matters, and of course, Married… with Children.
• Indiana – My home state offers slim pickings.  Parks and Recreation, probably my least favorite of the NBC Thursday night, single-camera sitcom lineup, is the best of the bunch.  Close to Home, Eerie Indiana, The Jeff Foxworthy Show and Thunder Alley prove why the choice here is clear.
• Iowa – I do love me some American Pickers, not because I like the dudes on it (they kinda get on my nerves, but they’re unintentionally funny) but because of the old stuff, the weird hoarder people, and their assistant Danielle.  She has tattoos to die for, but look them up on your own!  Mmmm… Nothing else set in Iowa really rings a bell.
• Kansas – Jericho was a decent show that ended too early.  Courage the Cowardly Dog was okay for a kids cartoon.
• Kentucky – I’ve heard many good things about Justified, but I admit I haven’t seen it myself.  It sure is better than Promised Land.
• Louisiana – I thought long and hard about this, and had to go with Billy the Exterminator, perhaps one of the worst reality TV shows in history, because even though it’s a horrible show, it’s somehow endearing.  New Orleans would be a great setting for a TV show, but it seems like shows are cursed when they are set there.
• Maine – Murder She Wrote is the best of a weak lineup.  You couldn’t’ve been elderly in the 1980s without watching that show.
• Maryland – The Wire makes just about every list that compiles the best TV shows ever made. Homicide: Life on the Streets is another iconic show from Baltimore.
• Massachusetts – Cheers is about as good as it gets, even if it is pretty dated now.  Seems like the place to put legal and police procedural dramas, like Ally McBeal, Crossing Jordan, Fringe, Boston Legal and so on.
• Michigan – Freaks & Geeks is one of my favorite shows ever.  Home Improvement was also set in Michigan.
• Minnesota – Coach was based in Minnesota all through my childhood.  I know, a lot of people are going to mention The Mary Tyler Moore Show but that was before my time and I never really cared for it.
• Missississippi – In the Heat of the Night.  I know, I already used the movie version (which is the reason I eliminated South Park from this map) but this is the only TV show based in Mississippi that I could think of or find.
• Missouri – Given its relatively large population and two major metro areas, Missouri’s kind of gotten the shaft from TV shows.  Two really sparked a memory with me.  The one I chose was The John Larroquette Show because I thought the supporting cast was pretty funny.  The homeless guy who thought he was Jesus always made me laugh for whatever reason.  The other show, Grace Under Fire was a white-trash sitcom — and I say that purposely because this was a genre they really pushed in the late 1990s — that I got no enjoyment from.
• Montana – Buckskin, a western from the 1950s.  It’s the only show I could find that was set there.
• Nebraska – The Young Riders. Again, the only show I could find in this state.
• Nevada – Las Vegas has been the site of many shows because of its casinos, scenery and tourist amenities, as well as being a place that America can go to do whatever it wants, and leave it all behind.  I chose Reno 911! as a contrarian pick because it’s a show in Nevada based outside of Las Vegas.  Vegas has plenty of shows, including CSI, Las Vegas and Pawn Stars.
• New Hampshire – The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire is the only show I could find set here.
• New Jersey – The Sopranos.  There really isn’t any competition for this one
• New Mexico – In Plain Sight is the New Mexico show I remember most, though it’s barely made an impression on me.  I vaguely remember Roswell and Breaking Bad.
• New York – New York is the granddaddy of them all.  So many shows are set here…. Seinfeld seems the only show fitting of that stature.  Again, I’m not going into alternates because there are just too many.
• North Carolina – Another state that’s kind of gotten screwed out of TV shows, despite the large population.  The classic program, The Andy Griffith Show is far and away the best to ever be set here.
• North Dakota – My Secret Identity, the only show I could find for North Dakota.
• Ohio – In this case, I took The Drew Carey Show because no other show is as proud of Ohio as that one.  Others set here include WKRP in Cincinnati, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Clarissa Explains it All, and the ubiquitous Glee.
• Oklahoma – Saving Grace is the only Oklahoma-based series I’ve ever heard of.
• Oregon – Little People, Big World is based on an Oregon farm.  It’s an interesting show, despite its exploitative qualities.
• Pennsylvania – The Office is getting to some pretty rarified air.  Mr. Belvedere, Amen, and Boy Meets World were also childhood favorites.
• Rhode Island – Family Guy. No competition.
• South Carolina – Army Wives is both the only South Carolina show I could find, and a very suiting representation.
• South Dakota – Deadwood is the only South Dakota show that I could find, though it certainly has its followers.
• Tennessee – Again, I’m surprised at the limited shows set in Tennessee.  Newcomer Memphis Beat is a pretty decent dramedy.
• Texas – Another state with so many shows.  Walker: Texas Ranger is the one I chose simply because the show is the most ridiculous show I’ve ever seen.  King of the Hill is probably my favorite Texas show, while a lot of people would suggest Dallas.
• Utah – Big Love, a show about polygamy.  Sounds like a horror show…
• Vermont – Newhart is the only one.
• Virginia – Another high population, low TV representation state.  The Waltons are an all-time classic.  Others based here include Doug, American Dad!, and A Different World.
• Washington –  Frasier is probably the biggest show based in Seattle, followed by Twin Peaks and The 4400.
• West Virginia – It took a while to find Hawkins, a show from the 1970s that’s a legal procedural.  It only lasted a year.
• Wisconsin – That 70s Show is probably the show younger folks (including myself) associate with Wisconsin.  Happy Days usually attracts a little older crowd.
• Wyoming – Quite a few westerns have been based in Wyoming, despite its small population.  The only one of the list I’d ever heard of is The Virginian.

So, that’s it.  I’ve identified one TV show per state. In some cases, like Delaware, I didn’t have a choice which to choose.  Others, like California, were nearly impossible to pick out.  Of course, feel free to provide other suggestions in the comments.  This, like the movie map, is nothing more than a fun little exercise meant to do nothing but generate discussion and thinking.