Largest City Never To Have Had A TV Show Set In That Town

[jwk1979]

Interestingly, Jacksonville was a major center of silent film production until residents became fed up with the crowds and--yes--noise, forcing the industry to move westward.

Jacksonville reminds me of those warnings on rear view mirrors about objects being closer than they appear.  Despite it's strong showing on the list of America's 25 largest cities, it's mainly there due to a city-county consolidation in 1968 which swelled its population.  It doesn't have the cultural influence/notoriety or that big-city feel of , say, a Boston or a Washington (both of which are, population-wise, smaller). 

It's Arbitron and Nielsen market rankings paint a better picture of this, as they're both well out of the top 25.

Jacksonville is unique in that, unlike most major cities, once you leave Jacksonville/Duval County limits, there are not many suburban communities, other than maybe St. Augustine. When you drive in or out of Atlanta, you are still in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area for at least another 45 minutes to an hour. The Jacksonville Metropolitan Area consist of Jacksonville/Duval County. In other words, once you leave Duval County, you are in the middle of NO WHERE, unlike Atlanta, Miami, Nashville, etc. 

[jwk1979]

Out of the top 25 cities, I came up with one show for all but San Jose, Jacksonville, Austin, Fort Worth, Charlotte and El Paso.

The problem with San Jose and Fort Worth is they are too close to the "sexier" cities of San Francisco and Dallas and are of course part of those cities' media market. 

Fort Worth is so close to Dallas, they are often refered to as the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. The airport is between the two cities and is called dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport. You could consider that the show "Dallas" could be set in Ft. Worth as well since most of the stocks yards in the Dallas area are actually in Ft. Worth. And since the SouthFork was a working ranch and Ray Krebbs was the Ranch Foreman, the Ewings probably went into Fort Worth on a regular basis for supplies and to go to the Stock Yards.

[STF]

I seem to recall that Cavemen was set in Atlanta, but I vaguely remember that they may have changed that at some point.

Decided to look it up and I was on the right track:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavemen_(TV_series)#Pilot_episode_controversy

[ixnay]

Indianapolis got a population boost around the same time Jax did, and in the same way - by annexing almost all of its county (Marion) - but leaving alone Speedway (home of the Brickyard) and Beech Grove, home (eventually) of an Amtrak servicing facility that was once owned by New York Central.

Several cities in the Tidewater area in VA (VA Beach, most notably perhaps) did the same thing in the late '50s-early 60s.

ixnay

[The King Bee]

I know of a couple of pilots of shows based in Louisville (720,000 city, 1.4M CMSA) that just missed the network cut. One was an ensemble comedy about the staff and regular hangers-on/weirdos at a convenience store. BTW, one of the cast members was Louisville's Larry Birkhead, ex-mate of the late Anna Nicole Smith and father of her adorable young daughter.

[RadioDaze]

Out of the top 25 cities, I came up with one show for all but San Jose, Jacksonville, Austin, Fort Worth, Charlotte and El Paso.

The problem with San Jose and Fort Worth is they are too close to the "sexier" cities of San Francisco and Dallas and are of course part of those cities' media market. 

Being from Durham, North Carolina (next door to Raleigh) I understand completely. San Jose's an interesting case since their population is actually larger than San Francisco.  Kind of like Hampton Roads, where Virginia Beach has the most people, but Norfolk's the core, big-name city. 

[ixnay]

Mr. Belvedere was set in Pittsburgh, and there were one or two other shows set in that city, can't think of any others.

Didn't Henry Cabot Henhouse III aka Super Chicken from George of the Jungle live in the 'Burgh?

ixnay

[Tim from Springfield, IL]

Also don't forget these Miller-Boyett productions:

"Perfect Strangers" and "Family Matters": Chicago
"Full House": Frisco
"Step by Step": Port Washington, WI (25 miles north of Milwaukee--population 10,467)