Hey, we are trying to think of shows and movies that have harlem NY as a back drop. Can you think of any examples? I have checked Sanford and son, Diff'rent strokes, the cosby show etc. Perhaps some of you can suggest some shows that took place in Harlem.
thanks alot
park hill

"Sanford & son" was in Los Angeles, and "Different Strokes" and "The Cosby show" were in New York; I don't know where; but it wasn't in Harlem.

Fred Sanford, though, was first seen in a cameo appearence in the movie "Cotton Comes to Harlem" which DID take place in Harlem.

TCS was set in Brooklyn Heights.

Originally posted by park hill
Hey, we are trying to think of shows and movies that have harlem NY as a back drop. Can you think of any examples? I have checked Sanford and son, Diff'rent strokes, the cosby show etc. Perhaps some of you can suggest some shows that took place in Harlem.
thanks alot
park hill


Do you mean shows that made reference to Harlem?

if that is what you meant, there was an episode of "The Jeffersons" once that was a flashback to when they were living in a small apartment in harlem.

I know the backstory of Willis and Arnold on Diff'rent Strokes was they were originally from Harlem.

I was just thinking of a short-lived ABC sitcom called Where I'm From, in the early 90s that featured Flex Alexander (One on One) and Doug E. Doug (Cosby), I'm absolutely certain that it was set in Harlem.

Originally posted by ShawnieMac
II was just thinking of a short-lived ABC sitcom called Where I'm From, in the early 90s that featured Flex Alexander (One on One) and Doug E. Doug (Cosby), I'm absolutely certain that it was set in Harlem.

Where I Live sure was set in Harlem, although it was videotaped on an indoor set that included an outdoor street. That show was cancelled twice and only had a handful of episodes. Bill Cosby, Jesse Jackson etc fought to keep it on in 1993 then it still got low ratings and was cancelled.

Wasn't NY Undercover set in Harlem too? And I think 413 Hope Street a 1997 drama with Richard Roundtree was a Harlem set series too, but I'm not 100% certain as I never saw an actual episode of it.

On the Jeffersons George and Weezy were from Harlem and there were many references to their Harlem days and a couple falshback episodes. Where did Mother Jefferson live though?

Originally posted by jamesanthony
Where I Live sure was set in Harlem, although it was videotaped on an indoor set that included an outdoor street. That show was cancelled twice and only had a handful of episodes. Bill Cosby, Jesse Jackson etc fought to keep it on in 1993 then it still got low ratings and was cancelled.

Wasn't NY Undercover set in Harlem too? And I think 413 Hope Street a 1997 drama with Richard Roundtree was a Harlem set series too, but I'm not 100% certain as I never saw an actual episode of it.

On the Jeffersons George and Weezy were from Harlem and there were many references to their Harlem days and a couple falshback episodes. Where did Mother Jefferson live though?

Also, if I remember correctly, Where I Live was taped in New York, possibly at the Kaufmann-Astoria Studios in Queens (the same studio where Cosby and The Cosby Show were taped as well). As far as New York Undercover (one of my all-time Fox shows before they ruined it), they did filmed it in and around Harlem...but I know the show set on Manhattan Island.

There WAS one other show that was set in Harlem, and it hasn't been seen on network television in over fifty years..."The Amos 'n' Andy Show". And I belive "Good Times" was originally supposed to be set in Harlem, instead of Chicago's south side (Lord knows it would've made more sense when one considers the "Maude" factor, but then we wouldn't have anything to talk about on the "Good Times" board...;) )

(Incidentally, here's a li'l bit of trivia for you connecting GT to A&A: when "Amos 'n' Andy" first priemered on WMAQ radio in 1928, the show was set in Chicago, our heroes having moved there from Atlanta, Georgia...when NBC picked the show up for coast-to-cast broadcast in 1929, the setting was changed to Harlem...and it remained Harlem when the show came to tv in 1951, going so far as to retcon the show's radio continuity to state that Amos and Andy NEVER lived in Chicago at all!)

Originally posted by barwars
On GT, was being in Chicago ever even mentioned??

You mean on Good Times, if they ever made references to being in Chicago? Yep, all the time.