History Main / CaliforniaDoubling

* ''TimeTrax'' had the hero "travelling through our world, searching for fugitives from his own," but all of this travelling was done in Australia ("Photo Finish" was a rare episode to be set there).

** Not only did ''McCloud'', set in New York, do a lot of location filming in [[BigApplesauce the Big Apple]] (and New Mexico, where our hero was from), but the episode "Night of the Shark," where [=McCloud=] went to Australia in pursuit of a criminal, was indeed filmed there.

** Not only did ''McCloud'', set in New York, do a lot of location filming in [[BigApplesauce the Big Apple]] (and New Mexico, where our hero was from), but the episode "Night of the Shark," where [=McCloud=] went to Australia in pursuit of a criminal, was indeed filmed there.

* ''SonsOfAnarchy'' is filmed in central California, and actually takes place there.

** In ''DeepImpact'', the traffic jam of people leaving Virginia Beach was actually shot on a newly-built freeway [[hottip:* :specifically VA 234/Prince William Parkway between VA 28 and I-66]] in Manassas, 150 miles away. The terrain is the giveaway; Virginia Beach is on the Atlantic Plain and almost perfectly flat, while Manassas (like most of the DC area north and west of town) is on the not-so-flat Appalachian Piedmont.

* The 1989 TV series ''DoctorDoctor'' was supposedly set in Providence, Rhode Island, but was filmed in UsefulNotes/{{Denver}}, Colorado. This explains why you could occasionally see the Rocky Mountains in the background; the highest point in the actual state of Rhode Island is only 812 feet above sea level.

* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' trilogy was filmed almost entirely in New Zealand, a country which apparently is the closest they could find to limitless untouched landscape, save for the scenes that required a green screen.

Another time that this may be necessary is if the original location (and this is true especially for period pieces) no longer looks like what it did in story. While obviously it might be a bit difficult filming an ancient Rome in Rome itself as the city resembles Caeser's city in name only, even more recent cases might need new areas, the London of today is quite different from the London of Victorian times and the early part of the twentieth century (thanks [[TheBlitz in no small part]] to the ''[[NazisWithGnarlyWeapons Luftwaffe]]'', so many East European locations are substituted instead.

*** Interestingly, the makers of ''Doctor Zhivago'' actually tried to get permission to film in the Soviet Union. You wouldn't think they'd have bothered, seeing how [[Literature//DoctorZhivago the original novel]] was already banned in the Soviet Union, but maybe they wanted to be sure.

* The snowy scenes in ''HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'' were actually filmed in Norway. This includes the characters walking to and from Hogsmeade as well as the Hogwarts Express traveling across the snowy countryside. This is the only time the ''Film/HarryPotter'' movies have filmed outside of the U.K. and Ireland.

* In the movie ''LoveActually'', Colin travels to the city of Milwaukee, WI. However, the airport shown has a sign that says "Milwaukee International Airport" (the real one is "Mitchell Int'l"). The bar he goes to has California license plates and prominent Budweiser signs. Milwaukee is the home of Miller brewery, the chance of finding a bar that looks like the one in ''LoveActually'' is slim to none.
* The outdoor scenes in ''TheLostWorldJurassicPark'' have significantly more redwood trees than you'd expect from a equatorial island. This is because they were filmed near Eureka, CA (no, not [[Series/{{Eureka}} that one]]).

* The Tennessee scenes in ''DeathProof'' were filmed in California, unlike the Texas scenes which were actually filmed in Texas.
* ''TheCannonballRun'' was about an illegal cross-country race that started in Connecticut, ended in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles, and never, ever left California.

** ''TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'' filmed it's climactic battle in Chicago and they actually had entire portions of Chicago blocked off for filming.

* When ClintEastwood was working on ''MysticRiver'', [[ExecutiveMeddling the studio]] wanted him to shoot in Canada. He refused, saying that it was a Boston story, and Boston isn't in Canada. Most of the film was thus shot in Massachusetts, although some was shot in Los Angeles.

* St. Louis also doubled for New York on ''Film/EscapeFromNewYork'' as parts of the area had suffered enough damage to make for a convincing post-apocalyptic setting. A number of the shooting locations have since been restored or rebuilt.

** ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen'' filmed a scene set in an industrial area of Beijing at a steel plant in Bethlehem, PA.

* Much of the Ttheme park in BeverlyHillsCop III were filmed nowhere near Beverly Hills though still in California though in northern California.

* Both ''TheCosbyShow'' and ''The Cosby Mysteries'' were set and filmed in New York (BillCosby hates working in Hollywood).

* Same goes for ''HowIMetYourMother'' and, like Seinfeld, the street scenes are clearly filmed on Southern California movie lots, not actual streets. Another TV series that frequently shows off its New York City pride (and hate for New Jersey hate) in its scripts but that is entirely produced in California.

** ''{{The 4400}}''

* The SamRaimi ''Film/{{Spider-Man}}'' films actually did film a lot of footage in New York.

* An interesting example from FullHouse. The show is set in SanFransisco, but anytime they do on location filming it's apparent they filmed in LosAngeles, where the show was filmed. This is averted in the season eight premiere where they actually filmed on location in San Fransisco.