What state is this supposed to be set? - My Name Is Earl (2005) Discussion

[–] Thindy_Brady 13 years ago

Hello? Nobody?

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[–] craiguar007 13 years ago

I was watching one episode when Joys parents said they are from medford. There are two medford's in the states Oregon & Massachusetts. I don't know if this answers your question but I cant find any other clues for now. If anyone has a better answer please reply.

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[–] last808 9 years ago

Well I can tell you that Medford, Oregon is full of trailer parks and has the nickname "Methford". It was recently ranked as in the bottom 3% for safety among similar sized US cities. Buuuut… there's no Camden county in Oregon and you don't hear many southern accents there.

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[–] Tor1977 9 years ago

I loove Methford..

"The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones."

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[–] speedolitec 13 years ago

From Wikipedia:

Location
My Name Is Earl is set in fictional Camden County. Creator Greg Garcia says:

“ The show doesn’t technically take place anywhere....we like to think it’s anywhere. We don’t really say exactly where it is. ”

The show is filmed in the San Fernando Valley, in Southern California.

On the last DVD, in reply to a viewer's question, Greg Garcia admits that Camden is loosely modeled on Waldorf, Maryland.

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[–] Thindy_Brady 13 years ago

Thank you, and craiguar too for replying. Loosely based on Maryland huh? I've never been to Maryland but that's not at all like what I imagined it. lol Also, on the show, it's never Fall or winter, suggesting deep south.

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[–] dcfixx 13 years ago

I always thought it felt like Bellmead, TX or Lebannon, TN!

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[–] stevefisher 12 years ago

It's not Texas; there's a reference to Texas as another state in an episode.

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[–] dcfixx 12 years ago

Oh, I knew that. I was just commenting on how the people look and act. There is a dirty little tweak town barely north of Waco called Bellmead. White trash fabulous!

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[–] mklasr 10 years ago

Do they have a "Foreign Food" restaurant there? I'm still waiting for them to open up one where I live. Lol.

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[–] Lakemystery3 13 years ago

I was going to say Maryland. The name of the park where the Orioles play is Camden Yards, so I saw a connection there with Camden County.

_______
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[–] TwoThousandOneMark 10 years ago

Maryland? I sure don't get a Maryland vibe, I've always since day 1 had Texas on the mind.

It's always warm, some ppl with drawls, & even Catalina who seems at home no offense.
Y2K episode there's absolutely no way it's a northern climate.

Some of the locations have a Cali look but the town just seems more out in the middle of nowhere west Texas.

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[–] QueenKari (1) a year ago

I'm from West Texas and believe me none of the small towns around here or anything similar to Camden. When joy and Darnell are relocated by the witness Protection program they are moved to Florida in the end and Earl ends up driving to Florida to bring Darnell Mr turtle. It couldn't have been a very long drive otherwise I don't think Earl's car would have made it at all. So I'm thinking it is probably meant to be one of the southern states surrounding Florida. Not to mention, at one point Joy makes a comment about moving to Florida. And there are many times that you see palm trees in the distance on the show. I understand that the show is filmed in California, but there are many other states in the country that have palm trees. So I'm still thinking my best guess would be one of the southern states around the Florida area. It just seems like the most logical guess to me.

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[–] 10 years ago

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[–] cherox 13 years ago

I've always figured it to be Arizona. Dunno why, really.

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[–] pswanson00 12 years ago

All of this analysis is funny. It's just a fictional place called Camden, and not specifically any real place. It's so clearly filmed in southern California that I'm unable to place it anywhere else, so I simply think of it as Non-Specific Camden.

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[–] Doc80 10 years ago

While the town is fictional it most definitely is in the US which means it has to be in a state that does in fact exist. As you said, as well as others, I always assumed it was in California or maybe Arizona. It is most definitely not on the East Coast because they don't have winter weather there.

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[–] Asteri-Atypical 13 years ago

One of those "Hill Street Blues" type locations, where it's an amalgam of numerous cities and not specified.

I usually thought Texas. It's very much like some areas of Arkansas or Alabama, even Georgia, but the accents aren't quite right and it's a bit less green than those states.

Any "redneck, white trash small town" fits.

Whoever said Maryland - I don't buy it. I've been to a number of places in MD and in the south and Camden doesn't seem like MD. Maybe they were referring to the size, architecture and layout but not the "feel" of the people.

You're spoiled!

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[–] lostintheyes 13 years ago

It's definitely not Alabama, a few episodes ago that I watch Randy was talking and said that he wanted to go to Alabama.
For some reason, I vaguely feel like I remembered Earl saying something about Tennessee.

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[–] Thindy_Brady 13 years ago

Thanks everyone. You have all made interesting points even when some aspect of the show contradicts it (for example, Ariz. but they don't have those accents like that there lol). Amalgam, yes. Maybe there isn't a particular state. It's up to the viewer.

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[–] cinsmith1 11 years ago

I vaguely recall him mentioning Missouri, I think it was the northern part near Iowa. That would actually fit geographically, since the area contains both Amish settlements & double-wides.

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[–] dianalela7 10 years ago

I wanna play.... my feeling was always this fictional town fit northern Florida.

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[–] dolphinslayer2 9 years ago

I live in Northern Florida, and I can definitely see a connection between life here and the show.

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[–] djmikescott 13 years ago

The show does reference Hagerstown and I believe Cumberland in one episode - can't remember which one. Frostburg St. University as well. All are in Western Maryland.

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[–] laserdiscforlife 13 years ago

In the penultimate episode, it is mentioned that Camden County is in the central time zone, and considering it is warm all year (no snow is ever shown), I assume the show is set somewhere in central or southern Texas.

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[–] speedolitec 13 years ago

I'm guessing it has to be somewhere warm. I was just watching an episode that had a New Years Day parade and most of the people there were wearing spring clothes. Tshirts, light pants, no jackets, etc.

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[–] Doc80 10 years ago

The "central" part you are referring to was that they seceded during the civil war to become a neutral country because they didn't want to fight for either side.

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[–] mascara_massacre 13 years ago

I was wondering the same thing, so I looked up "Camden" on this website:

http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx

There's four Camden counties, and the two that fit best are Georgia and North Carolina.

However, if the DVD interview says it's loosely based off of a Maryland city, there's no point in denying that.

"It's around 4 o'clock. We've been here since 12 o'clock. Five hours is like enough."

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] lostintheyes 13 years ago

I don't think it's Texas? I gotta say though, I live in Houston originally but I live in Huntsville for now 'cause of school, and Huntsville DOES look like the little town in the show.
But, I remember that episode. I figured Estrada just had certain states vote in his show and it was Texas' turn for the show to calculate their votes, y'know?

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] ZIPPY-34 13 years ago

I has always assumed, without any real basis except the weather and the fact they had a drunken TV star hanging around, that it was California, from around Bakersfield, which has more than it's fair share of red neck types.

Of course they had the town nearby with the circus "freaks" living there, which suggests Florida, and in fact, IIRC, a part of the Florida panhandle is in the Central Time Zone.

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] TwoThousandOneMark 12 years ago

I always pictured it New Mexico, perhaps Arizona.

Based entirely on the motel, the year round summer, trailer park, several hometown Hispanic characters... but without the largess of Texas nor the sophistication of SoCal (I get the feeling none of the characters have been to any urban centre larger than Las Vegas- & it was probably Las Vegas... If it was Texas or SoCal, they'd probably run into more urban adventures.)

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] tyler-92 12 years ago

He says "text-in", not Texan.

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[–] atgonzalez777 12 years ago

I always thought it was Texas for some reason. But yeah, it's not anywhere in particular. I like the Springfield comparison.

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[–] ragreen259 13 years ago

Garcia says "it's FICTIONAL."

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