what they do in that show is science fiction, not science.

But it's fun science fiction! And DB! Almost nekkid! ::drools a little::

I guess since a lot of movies aren't set in WI and I'm enough unfamiliar with other areas of the country (driving through once doesn't count) I don't get wierded out that the flora/fauna (dolphins are dolphins to me) aren't quite right. In fact, Madison has often been substituted for other places, particularly our capital building for the one in DC. They changed the setting for "Mad City" to a fictional town in CA because one of the actors didn't have the time to spend shooting a movie on location here. And, like Bev, old TV shows get a pass from me because I enjoyed that at a point in time when I sure as heck wouldn't have known the difference. I'm a very undemanding viewer, just give me a good storyline and good acting, I'll overlook anything else.

I am twitchy about things set in Atlanta, because they almost never get it right. I can't watch The Closer, because Kyra Sedgwick is using the worst "Southern" accent I have ever heard. I'm always irritated when they show newspaper headlines, because they're never anything like a real newspaper headline. I've written thousands of headlines, and I'd be happy to write headlines for television shows for a minimal amount of money, just to save me the aggravation.

I watched about fifteen minutes of "The Closer" once and had to turn off the tv. That accent is awful. (Also, I hated the character.)

Romania is supposed to look kinda like the US looked then.

In Bill Bryson's "I'm a Stranger Here Myself," he goes to the local history museum in Dartmouth (where he lives) and sees photos from the mid- to late-19th century that showed the area around Dartmouth was all farmland. Most of these farms were abandoned soon after those photos were taken and the farmers moved west to easier-to-plow lands. The land is now mostly forest; he says how you can go for a walk and stumble across a crumbling barn in the middle of the woods, and also get lost for weeks.

So some areas might be less cultivated now than they were 150 years ago.

I am rtwitchy about things set in theatre-- and it makes me extra mad because aren't these people in the entertainment industry? I am sure that at least some of the people involved in, say, High School Musical were IN a high school musical, but they still have people working on and building sets and costumes, on-stage, after school BEFORE the show is cast and people trying out for leads only in pairs-- WTF? And last night on Cold Case the whole solving of the murder depended on the music director/rehearsal pianist running the sound board, which seems very unusual to me, as I would think he would be conducting the orchestra/pit band/whatever-- and haveing these really extensive sound checks with him alone in the booth, with no stage manager or light board op, able to overhear, accidently, everything being said on the microphones when they weren't being broadcast over the stage.

Grrr.

I am rtwitchy about things set in theatre

Eh. I always just presume they're going for whatever shorthand will say "theatre" to a general TV audience.

Alaska stuff definitely makes me twitchy. Unfortunately, movies actually shot in Alaska tend to be either a) ancient and hard to find or b) crap. I fully allow that it is expensive here, though. And frankly, for movies or shows set in Alaska but shot elsewhere, it's the lack of research that bugs me more than the incorrect scenery. I mean, a bus to the Alaskan riviera.* Puh-lease.

• From Northern Exposure.

Eh. I always just presume they're going for whatever shorthand will say "theatre" to a general TV audience.

I know, I know. I guess I am glad I am not a police officer or health care professional, as they are more often portrayed on TV.

I'm a molecular biologist, so the way a number of science fiction shows deal with evolution(usually from a completely wrong basis) makes me mutter under my breath.(and occasionally swear at the tv)

I am sure that at least some of the people involved in, say, High School Musical were IN a high school musical, but they still have people working on and building sets and costumes, on-stage, after school BEFORE the show is cast

I seem to recall in highschool we started working on the new set before the show was cast. Between constructing and striking the sets, (we did 3 plays a year, generally one comedy, one drama and one musical)the tech crew had a lot less downtime than the actors did.