My pick: The Mary Tyler Moore Show, about which he said, “But that was before my time and I never really cared for it.” Which doesn’t really wash.
There was a piece was published on the Huffington Post identifying every state of the U.S. by one movie, which Andrew Shears ultimately responded to with a map of his own for TV series, shown above. I thought I’d comment on what I’D pick in the TV category, with the annoying, self-imposed added limitation that I had to have actually watched one full episode for the shows I selected.
Alabama – His and my pick: Any Day Now, a pretty obscure show (pictured).
Alaska – His and my pick: Northern Exposure, though he doesn’t even seem to consider Men In Trees.
Arizona – His and my pick: Alice.
Arkansas – His pick: 19 Kids and Counting (which I’ve managed never to have heard of). My pick: Evening Shade.
California – His pick: Baywatch, actually a reasonable choice. My just-to-be contrary pick: The Streets of San Francisco. (My wife suggested The Beverly Hillbillies.)
Colorado – His and my pick: Mork and Mindy, though I was tempted to pick Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.
Connecticut – His and my pick: Gilmore Girls, though I was tempted by Bewitched.
Delaware – Is there ANOTHER show besides The Pretender?
District of Columbia: He makes no pick. My choice: West Wing, over Murphy Brown.
Florida – His pick: The Golden Girls, a perfectly good choice. My pick: Miami Vice.
Georgia – His pick: Dukes of Hazzard. My choice: the person doing the Wiki post makes a compelling case that I’ll Fly Away was based in Georgia, so I’ll go with that; otherwise, I’d pick Designing Women.
Hawaii – His and my pick: Hawaii Five-O – the original one.
Idaho – His and my pick: The Manhunter, mine by default, although I think I watched it only once or twice.
Illinois – His pick: Roseanne (to be contrarian). My pick: The Bob Newhart Show, if only because he never even mentioned it; he didn’t mention Chicago Hope, either, but my second choice would have been that medical drama it went up against, ER.
Indiana – His choice: Parks and Recreation. My choice: Eerie Indiana, which wasn’t very good, but probably saw more episodes of it.
Iowa – His pick: American Pickers, which I’ve never seen. My pick: Apple’s Way, a “wholesome” show starring Ronny Cox.
Kansas – His pick: Jericho. My pick: Gunsmoke; if I had gone more contemporary, Smallville.
Kentucky – His pick: Justified, which he hasn’t seen, over Promised Land, which he has. I’ve seen neither. My pick: Daniel Boone.
Louisiana – His pick: Billy the Exterminator, which I’ve never heard of. My pick: Frank’s Place, one of the first shows I ever heard being described as a dramedy (pictured).
Maine – His and my pick: Murder She Wrote, though Dark shadows crossed my mind.
Maryland – His pick: The Wire, which I REALLY need to watch someday. My pick: Homicide: Life on the Streets.
Massachusetts – His and my pick: Cheers, though St. Elsewhere was REALLY tempting. As he wrote, “Seems like the place to put legal and police procedural dramas, like Ally McBeal, Crossing Jordan, Fringe, Boston Legal and so on.”
Michigan – His and my pick: Freaks & Geeks, one of his and my favorite shows ever.
Minnesota – His pick: Coach. My pick: The Mary Tyler Moore Show, about which he said, “But that was before my time and I never really cared for it.” Which doesn’t really wash, since he mentioned older shows such as I Love Lucy and Bewitched. And Coach?
Mississippi – His and my pick: In the Heat of the Night, in a narrow category.
Missouri – His and my pick: The John Larroquette Show.
Montana – His pick: Buckskin, a western from the 1950s. He says “It’s the only show I could find that was set there,” and he may be right, but I’ve never seen it. My pick: NONE.
Nebraska – His and my pick: The Young Riders, with thin pickings.
Nevada – His pick: Reno 911! as a contrarian pick. My pick: Vega$, though I watched a lot of Bonanza in the day.
New Hampshire – His and my default pick: The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire.
New Jersey – His pick: The Sopranos, which I’d have selected if I had ever seen an entire episode, rather than five minutes here or there. My pick: Baretta.
New Mexico – His pick: In Plain Sight. My pick: Roswell, which I saw once; have never seen Breaking Bad.
New York – His pick: Seinfeld “seems the only show fitting of that stature.” Well, feh. I could make a case for the original Law & Order, where NYC is a vital element of the program. My pick: The Dick van Dyke Show, which had TWO New York cities represented, Manhattan by day, New Rochelle by night. My alternative contrarian pick would be Buffalo Bill; NY State is NOT just NY City.
North Carolina – His and my pick: “The classic program,” The Andy Griffith Show.
North Dakota – His pick: My Secret Identity. My pick: NONE.
Ohio – His and my pick: The Drew Carey Show “because no other show is as proud of Ohio as that one.” True enough, with TWO theme songs (Moon Over Parma, Cleveland Rocks) mentioning places in the state. I do, though have a soft spot for WKRP in Cincinnati.
Oklahoma – His pick: Saving Grace, which I’ve never seen. My pick: either The Torkelsons or its sequel, Almost Home; I know I saw ONE of them, maybe both.
Oregon – His pick: Little People, Big World, which I’ve never heard of. My pick: Saved, a short-lived medical show I saw maybe twice.
Pennsylvania – His and my pick: The Office.
Rhode Island – His pick: Family Guy. My pick: Providence or Doctor Doctor.
South Carolina – His pick: Army Wives. My pick: NONE.
South Dakota – His pick: Deadwood. My pick: NONE.
Tennessee – His pick: Memphis Beat. My pick: Davy Crockett or Filthy Rich.
Texas – His pick: Walker: Texas Ranger. My pick: Friday Night Lights, over King of the Hill and Dallas.
Utah – His pick: Big Love. My pick: NONE.
Vermont – His and my pick: Newhart, with slim pickings.
Virginia – His and my pick: The Waltons, though A Different World was considered.
Washington – His and my pick: Frasier, though the theme from Here Come the Brides flashed through my head.
West Virginia – His and my pick: Hawkins, starring Jimmy Stewart.
Wisconsin – His pick: “That 70s Show is probably the show younger folks (including myself) associate with Wisconsin. Happy Days usually attracts a little older crowd.” My pick: Picket Fences, based in the fictional town of Rome. I will say, though that Laverne & Shirley, a lesser show, evoked Milwaukee strongly for me.
Wyoming – His and my pick: The Virginian.
So my list has two shows each with Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart, and, possibly, Annie Potts.
