It sometimes seems as though every film, book and TV show is set in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago or Washington.
But lest you think Columbus never gets any love from popular culture, know that it does find its way into entertainment media from time to time.
Among the appearances of Columbus in pop culture are:
-Bad Grandpa, a movie by the team behind MTV-stunt-show-turned-movie-franchise Jackass that was just released Oct. 25. Per a USA Today story, a scene in the movie shows titular “bad grandpa” Irving Zisman, played by Johnny Knoxville, deliberately infuriating golfers while working as a groundskeeper at an unspecified Columbus golf course.
-Family Ties, the 1980s sitcom best known for the breakout performance of Michael J. Fox as Alex P. Keaton, the conservative son of liberal ex-hippie parents. Though the show was not filmed here and direct references to local events and landmarks were rare, the Keaton family was stated to live in suburban Columbus.
-Ready Player One, a 2011 science fiction novel by Ernest Cline. The book, set in 2044, depicts the world as desperately low on resources and most worthwhile interaction taking place in a massive multiplayer online role-playing game. The lone holdout is Columbus, which is stated to have become a shimmering technology Mecca while the rest of the country has gone to pot.
-“The Good Soldier,” a first-season episode of TV thriller Homeland. In the episode, two would-be terrorists make for a safe house in what’s allegedly Columbus – it looks more like generic back-country – but change their plans when they get there and realize it’s booby-trapped.
-Traffic, a 2000 ensemble film that explores multiple aspects of the illegal drug trade. One scene shows Robert Wakefield, the Ohio judge played by Michael Douglas, giving a press conference on the steps of the Ohio Statehouse, where the scene was filmed.
-Man Up!, a critically loathed sitcom that was canceled before the end of its first season in 2011. An off-handed reference in the second episode indicated that the action takes place in Gahanna, though it never figures into the plot.
It’s a slow battle for recognition, but we can all hope that someday, Hollywood producers just may stop portraying Columbus – and Ohio as a whole – as no more than backwoods flyover country.
Garth Bishop is editor of CityScene Magazine. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
Where Columbus Isn’t
Other media reference Columbus without ever moving the action there. These include:
-Zombieland, a 2009 horror-comedy about a world overrun by the undead. Rather than their names, characters identify themselves by their hometowns, and main character Jesse Eisenberg goes by “Columbus;” the character specifically states that he is referring to Ohio, and not Georgia or some other state with a Columbus in it. He never actually returns home to Columbus, as the city has been devastated by the zombie menace.
-Jericho, a TV action-drama that ran for two seasons from 2006 to 2008. After the U.S. is thrown into chaos by a series of nuclear attacks on major cities, the country is split into factions, with the Eastern United States maintaining its capital in Columbus. It’s eventually revealed that the city was supposed to be bombed, but the man given the job – Robert Hawkins, played by Lennie James – was a deep-cover CIA agent and did not go through with it.
-The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the Undead, a 2010 reworking of Mark Twain’s literary classic by Don Borchert. The book, which incorporates zombies into the tale, features a foreword by a professor at fictional Middlebrook College, supposedly located in Columbus.
Movies Partially Filmed in Columbus, but Not Set Here:
- -1984 Nick Nolte comedy-drama Teachers
- -1991 Jodie Foster drama Little Man Tate
- -2010 horror-comedy Horroween featuring cameos by William Shatner and Tom Savini
- -2011 Paul Sorvino drama God Don’t Make the Laws.
- -2013 Jason Statham-Jennifer Lopez action film Parker
Actors from in or around Columbus:
- -Rapper and actor Bow Wow
- -National Lampoon’s Vacation star Beverly D’Angelo
- -Taken actor Maggie Grace
- -Diary of a Wimpy Kid actor Rachael Harris
- -Eileen Heckart, known for roles in The Bad Seed and The First Wives Club
- -How I Met Your Mother star Josh Radnor
- -Pro wrestler and occasional actor “Macho Man” Randy Savage
Actors Who Went to School Here:
- -Steve Carell, Denison University (The Office)
- -Jennifer Garner, Denison University (Elektra)
- -David Graf, Otterbein University (Police Academy)
- -Clark Gregg, Ohio Wesleyan University (The Avengers)
- -Patricia Heaton, The Ohio State University (Everybody Loves Raymond)
- -Hal Holbrook, Denison University (Into the Wild)
- -Gordon Jump (WKRP in Cincinnati)
- -Rob Leibman, Ohio Wesleyan University (Archer)
- -Ann Magnuson, Denison University (Desperately Seeking Susan)
- -Wendie Malick, Ohio Wesleyan University (Just Shoot Me)
- -John Schuck, Denison University (McMillan & Wife)
- -Melvin Van Peebles, Ohio Wesleyan University (Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song)
