10 TV shows you may not have realized were set in metro Detroit

By Metro Times editorial staff on Thu, Apr 26, 2018 at 2:32 pm

For years screenwriters have set their sights on metro Detroit as the backdrop to their laugh tracks and sitcom hilarity. From Mount Clemens to Ferndale and bumbling disc jockeys to high school geeks take a look back at some of these fallen series that called metro Detroit home on screen.

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Rhythm & Blues (1992)
Canceled five weeks in, the show starred Roger Kabler (that fedora-wearing guy from the early 1990s commercials for transparent adult beverage Zima) as Bobby Soul, a white DJ people thought was black. How bad was it? Cringe-inducingly bad. Even TV Guide panned it.
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Undateable (2014-2016)
Detroit native Adam Sztykiel must have had something to do with why this TV comedy was set in the Detroit area, specifically, Ferndale, where the show’s fictional Black Eyes Bar is located.
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Martin (1992-1997)
Unless you were a huge fan of cross-dressing TV funnyman Martin Lawrence, you might not have realized that the show Martin was set in Detroit, where Lawrence’s character eventually hosted a public access show called “Word on the Street.” Lawrence later donned a latex fat suit to return to the big screen as Big Momma.
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Sister, Sister (1994-1999)
Yup, the television sitcom starring identical twins Tia and Tamera Mowry not only was set in Detroit, the urban-suburban divide was part of the plot: Tia played Tia Landry, the street-smart kid from the inner city, and Tamera played Tamera Campbell, denizen of the suburbs.
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God, the Devil, and Bob (2000)
In this offbeat animated series, God, voiced by James Garner, and the devil, voiced by Alan Cummings, make a wager over the fate of the world. The bet hinges on whether one man, Bob Alman, a beer-drinking, porno-watching suburban Detroit auto worker, will make the world a better place. Only four episodes were aired in the United States.
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Buddies (1996)
This Home Improvement spin-off starred Dave Chappelle and Jim Breuer as a comedy duo, but the last-moment replacement of Breuer with Christopher Gartin did not strike comedic pay-dirt. Chappelle would later say, “It was a bad show. It was bad. I mean when we were doing it, I could tell this was not gonna work.”
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Freaks and Geeks (1999-2000)
You’d have to have missed this show completely to not know it’s from Detroit, given the show’s references to Michigan including Farmer Jack's, The Rusty Nail bar in Clinton Twp., and Cobo. The show, written by Mount Clemens native Paul Feig, takes place in the fictional Detroit suburb of Chippewa. Though shot in California, the crew reportedly tried to give the series a “drab” look by using gray tones and shooting indoors when possible.
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Transformers: Animated (2007-2009)
Kind of a cheat: This series is set in a futuristic city in Michigan called Detroit, where the Autobots live and fight crime. The landmarks of this futuristic city include, an abandoned car factory, a restaurant called Burger Bot and a skyscraper shaped like a giant spark plug called Sumdac Tower.
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8 Simple Rules (2000-2005)
The TV comedy starring John Ritter as the uptight suburban dad Paul Hennessy was set in metro Detroit, although it was shot in Los Angeles and could have been set anywhere. John Ritter’s untimely death during season two was written into the show. Guest stars David Spade and James Garner earned starring roles to fill the void left by Ritter’s passing until the show’s cancellation.
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Rita Rocks (2008-2009)
MADtv alum Nicole Sullivan stars as Rita Clemens, a housewife staring down a mid-life crisis who decides to become a musical sensation. The show is set in metro Detroit, most likely the suburb of Southfield, as Rita’s daughter attends Southfield Elementary School, shown throughout the first season.
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