the sitcoms I knew all happened in New York...

 

...at least during the '90s, they did.

Mad About You

Seinfeld

Friends

The Nanny

Sex And The City

     From that list, only "Sex and the City" was actually filmed in New York City--even the interiors.  The other shows all filmed in California.

     Does every situation comedy have to be set in New York City?

     Could funny and absorbing stories happen in other locations?

     "All In The Family" was set in a section of New York City--Queens.  That's different, though.  "Sex and the City," "Mad About You," "Friends," "Seinfeld," and "The Nanny" tend to be more Manhattan-oriented.

     Manhattan is the most glamorous borough.

     "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" was set in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

     "The Bob Newhart Show" (the one where he's a psychologist and is married to Suzanne Pleshette) was set in Chicago, Illinois.

     Can funny stories be set in small towns?  Could there be a situation comedy set in Rootstown, Ohio?  In Northville, South Dakota?  In Franklin, West Virginia?

     In the 1980s the "Designing Women" series, starring Dixie Carter and Delta Burke, was set in Atlanta, Georgia, and everyone spoke with a Southern accent.

     That was unusual, though.

Well--except for Andy Griffith and Mayberry, etc. in the 1960s.  

     I read somewhere that a CBS executive got fed up with the image those shows reflected on his network, and he proclaimed, "No  more rural stuff."   

The 'harvard emm-bee-ay' is helpful in making those decisions.

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