History Main / InformedLocation

* ''Series/TheOfficeUS'' takes place in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and actually does manage to make reference to a few real locations in the area. However, the show itself was filmed in California.

* ''All the Light We Cannot See'', by Anthony Doerr, is set (at least half of it) in the French seaside city of St. Malo, during the Second World War. Doerr certainly did his ''geographic'' research of the city (or what the city was like before it was bombed to rubble), but ''culturally'' the city is lacking compared to its real life counterpart. St. Malo has a distinct Breton culture - a culture with Celtic roots - complete with its own folklore, language, cuisine, crafts, and holidays. But the way that Doerr wrote about it, it could be just about ''any'' French town that happens to be on the sea.
* An important plot point in Andrew Holleran's ''Dancer from the Dance'' takes place in UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC, which Holleran had not yet visited. Holleran provides no insights about the city that could not be gained from glancing at a map. His descriptions range from EverytownAmerica to hilariously wrong.

* ''Series/TheOffice'' takes place in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and actually does manage to make reference to a few real locations in the area. However, the show itself was filmed in California.

* Low-budget soap operas made in Singapore or Malaysia are a particularly notorious offender of this trope, where an episode allegedly set overseas will take place ''entirely'' indoors, with the dialogue being the sole indicator that the characters aren't in their home country anymore. For example, ''Portrait of Home'' (a cheesy love drama made in Singapore) have two characters going on a business trip to Paris... and having all the Paris scenes being filmed in Le Méridien Singapore, with one of the characters saying how much she missed home, despite having never left the country at all. For some baffling reason, they couldn't even throw in a brief stock recording of the Eiffel Tower?

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If your story takes place in a [[LikeRealityUnlessNoted specific, extant location]], some local color is to be expected: the natives of the place should act like people who live there do; the ones who are visiting should react to the unfamiliarity. Food, dialect, and weather all shape a town. But all that is complicated, particularly if it's a place you're not familiar with. Just start off with "{{It was a dark and stormy night}} in New York" and just like that, your tale is set in New York. Although, for the most part, the location is added in later.

* ''Series/{{Fringe}}'' is set in Boston, but doesn't make much use of that fact. Oddly, when the they go somewhere else, it doesn't really make a difference.
* ''Series/FullHouse'' is set in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco. You can tell from the opening theme, and nothing else.

If your story takes place in a [[LikeRealityUnlessNoted specific, extant location]], some local color is to be expected: the natives of the place should act like people who live there do; the ones who are visiting should react to the unfamiliarity. Food, dialect, and weather all shape a town. But all that is complicated, particularly if it's a place you're not familiar with. Just start off with "It was a dark and stormy night in New York" and just like that, your tale is set in New York. Although, for the most part, the location is added in later.

* An important plot point in Andrew Holleran's ''Dancer from the Dance'' takes place in WashingtonDC, which Holleran had not yet visited. Holleran provides no insights about the city that could not be gained from glancing at a map. His descriptions range from EverytownAmerica to hilariously wrong.

* Quick, where's ''ThreesCompany'' set? [[spoiler:Santa Monica]].

If your story takes place in a [[LikeRealityUnlessNoted specific, extant location]], some local color is to be expected: the natives of the place should act like people who live there do; the ones who are visiting should react to the unfamiliarity. But all that is complicated, particularly if it's a place you're not familiar with. Just start off with "It was a dark and stormy night in New York" and just like that, your tale is set in New York. Although, for the most part, the location is added in later.

Note: this isn't necessarily when a work fails to depict a location properly, merely when it isn't relevant. Often it appears to be done to avoid either EverytownAmerica or WhereTheHellIsSpringfield. Contrast the EiffelTowerEffect and HollywoodAtlas.

* The ''BeingHumanRemake'' is set in Boston, despite being [[CaliforniaDoubling filmed in]] UsefulNotes/{{Toronto}}.

* ''Series/FullHouse'' is set in SanFrancisco. You can tell from the opening theme, and nothing else.

* The ''BeingHumanRemake'' is set in Boston, despite being [[CaliforniaDoubling filmed in]] {{Toronto}}.

* ''{{Fringe}}'' is set in Boston, but doesn't make much use of that fact. Oddly, when the they go somewhere else, it doesn't really make a difference.
* ''FullHouse'' is set in SanFrancisco. You can tell from the opening theme, and nothing else.

* ''Series/{{Community}}'' is set in {{Denver}}. For legal reasons.

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* ''Series/{{Community}}'' is set in Denver. For legal reasons.

* The BeingHumanRemake is set in Boston, despite being [[CaliforniaDoubling filmed in]] {{Toronto}}.
* ''Community'' is set in Denver. For legal reasons.

* ''FullHouse'' is set in San Francisco. You can tell from the opening theme, and nothing else.

So AliceAndBob are running a bakery in...where are they? [[AssPull Let's just say Boston]].

!Examples

* Quick, where's ''ThreesCompany'' set? [[spoiler:SantaMonica]].

* Quick, where's ''ThreesCompany'' set? [spoiler:Santa Monica].

Note: this isn't necessarily when a work fails to depict a location properly, merely when it isn't relevant. Often it appears to be done to avoid either EverytownAmerica or WhereTheHellIsSpringfield.

So BobAndAlice are running a bakery in...where are they? [[AssPull Let's just say Boston]].