Does it bug any of you New York transplants the way so-called 'N.Y.' shows
are depicted on TV especially while on location? First of all,
if you've lived in New York, you know that apartments aren't so spacious as
they were on Friends for example or the worst culprit, on
a show many years ago called Mad About You. That bathroom was ginormous!
You could
fit a real N.Y. apartment in it! Studios,
a word to the wise, if you're going to
center a show in a particularly well-known city like New York,
do it justice by God! This has been recently
brought to my attention since Ugly Betty moved to the real New
York and stopped filming at a sound studio in Los Angeles.
I mean now it's a totally different show. Before they would film Betty (America Ferrera) walking down the
street interrupted by maybe a few passers-by.
The
Director would do 'wipes' as they call it, which means a background actor walks
by the camera fast so it looks like there is pedestrian traffic. In the old Betty,
maybe there would be three or four wipes,
now she's actually walking down a crowded NY city street. Also they never could have had
Betty move into her first apartment and have it look so authentic.
Now her new digs look very real, not prettied up, just real. Sarah Jessica Parker, before signing to Sex
and the City, insisted on filming in New
York or no go,
bless her soul. Oh and that didn't help
the success of SATC any…yeah right!
And
when the characters are out on a cold street,
they are actually cold, not strolling as if it's
a beautiful day in Los Angeles. I'm so glad Betty is going for the
real. As a New Yorker, this has always bugged me.
One horrific example of
ignoring the sanctity of a location is Friends, not that it suffered in the ratings any. I suffered, but not Friends.
After the first season,
Jennifer Aniston (Rachel) wore mainly sleeveless outfits and never
entered Monica's apartment in a coat or even acted as if it was cold
outside, even though she nipped
out in every episode.
Now before all you Friends fans tar and feather me, I didn't say every episode. I know she occasionally wore the cool sweater or hip suit, but her wardrobe just didn't say New York to me.
She looked like an a L.A. gal with her
perpetual So Cal glow. I understand the suspension
of disbelief but on Friends it might be a Christmas scene for instance and Lisa
Kudrow would be ringing a bell with hat and gloves 'outside' while Aniston wore
her signature sleeveless, show off
my fake tan, look (don't forget the nips,
always the nips).
Look we will
understand if the show is supposed to take place in say,
'anywhere USA' but New York is its own character. It seems since Sex and the City, more and more shows like Life on Mars and now
Betty are following suit. Unless you are
Jerry Seinfeld, a true New Yorker who made
sure every detail was spot-on, have
some respect for the New Yawkas will ya?
New Yawkas like it real. And whaddya gonna do about it?
-- Heather Langone
Comments