History Main / FilmingLocationCameo

For example, let's say that ''Generic Detective Show'' is set in UsefulNotes/{{New York|City}}, but filmed in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles. Two or three seasons roll by. Then, for a change of pace, the plot of one episode has Detectives Alice and Bob follow a lead to Los Angeles. Suddenly the show can pull off a few tricks that it couldn't before. Scenes take place outside more. There's SceneryPorn. The establishing shots actually have the characters in them. In short, it has all the novelty and excitement of an episode shot on-location in a different city...but it's ''not'' actually a different city, which makes it cheaper to film.

This is when a show that normally does CaliforniaDoubling ''stops'' doing that for an episode or two, by sending the characters to the place where the show is filmed.

Let's say that ''Generic Detective Show'' is filmed in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles, but it's set in UsefulNotes/{{New York|City}}. They find an actor who can do a Brooklyn accent, throw in some establishing shots of lower Manhattan, and with some clever editing it's pretty convincing as a BigApplesauce series. But then after two or three seasons, one episode involves Detectives Alice and Bob following a lead to Los Angeles. Suddenly, there's SceneryPorn. The show takes place outside more. The establishing shots actually have the characters in them.

In short, a Filming Location Cameo gives an episode the novelty and excitement of shooting on-location in a different city...but since it's ''not'' actually a different city, it's generally cheaper. By its nature, the technique is almost entirely exclusive to live-action TV, although film examples are theoretically possible.

* "Series/Frasier" filmed its 100th episode on location in Seattle instead of its usual CaliforniaDoubling.

* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' is generally set in the United States, John Crichton's homeland, on the rare occasions it's not set in a distant part of outer space, but is filmed in UsefulNotes/{{Australia}}. One story does have scenes set in Australia, with the explanation that that's where the Farscape module is being tested. Ironically it turns out the protagonist is [[VirtualRealityInterrogation not in Australia or anywhere else on Earth]].

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'', usually set in New York but filmed in L.A., has "To Love and Die in L.A.", where Beckett follows the trail of the man who killed her mentor to Los Angeles.

* When we first meet Raffi in ''Series/StarTrekPicard'', she has her residence at Vasquez Rocks, which has been a popular filming location at numerous times before in Trek, though until now always posing as various alien planets instead. (Most notably it was the place where [[Recap/StarTrekS1E18Arena Captain Kirk fought the Gorn]].)

* The American ''Series/QueerAsFolk'' was filmed in Toronto but set in UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}}. When everybody went to Toronto for an episode, there were a lot of winking remarks about how much the gay district there looked just like the one back home.

* When we first meet Raffi in ''Series/StarTrekPicard''she has her residence at Vasquez Rocks, which has been a popular filming location at numerous times before in Trek, though until now always posing as various alien planets instead. (Most notably it was the place where Captain Kirk fought the Gorn.)