From ‘Ripley’ in Italy to ‘True Detective’ in Iceland, How Locations Were Key For Top Emmy Contenders
variety.comMichael Schneider Variety Editor at Large I think I can say this on behalf of the entire collective of reporters who cover television: Nothing makes us groan more than when a series star or producer refers to the setting as another “character” in their show. (Actually, I take that back, something else causes even heavier eye rolls: When a performer says their co-stars are “like a family.”) And yet, I may have to temper my cynicism.
Because in the era of prestige TV, often quite a bit of work and effort goes into making the show’s location pop — so much so that I’m almost as excited to watch the background as I am the action.
Could it be that the cliché is right? It certainly feels that way in some of this year’s Emmy contenders, much to the credit of the production designers and location scouts who make that happen.
For example, watching Giancarlo Esposito take control of his life through any means necessary in AMC’s “Parish” is powerful — but the fact that he’s doing it in New Orleans makes it an entirely elevated experience. (Watching “Parish” right before my family took a spring break trip to the Big Easy definitely gave us something to think about.) You can feel the cold and the unsettling sense that you’re isolated way up north in HBO’s “True Detective: Night Country” and FX’s “A Murder at the End of the World,” both of which shot in Iceland. (Iceland played itself in “Murder” and Alaska in “True Detective.”) And besides taking me on a visual trip back to Chicago, Season 2 of “The Bear” gave us a crash course on the hottest Windy City restaurants of the moment.
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