Washington Stuck in the 90s, Again

Remember that movie map we posted a couple weeks ago? It was kind of cool (and kind of frustrating). And now someone has made this map of the U.S. states accompanied by representative TV shows. This time Washington's pick was among the most obvious. Yes, all you Kelsey Grammer fans, the rest of the country still thinks of “Frasier” when they think of our home state.

Honestly, we’re kind of okay with this choice. The show highlights many of the (often true) stereotypes about our fair city. The intellectualism, the coffee obsession, the passive-aggressive behavior are all fairly accurate depictions of the typical Seattleite (of a certain class, age and race…). True, the show makes us all look like narcissists living in fancy apartments with impossible views of the Space Needle. But it’s a fun little show with a major following and a long-established syndication.

There are, as always, a few things we find a bit irksome. Firstly, and predictably, it wasn’t actually filmed in Seattle. Secondly, its appearance on the map indicates that people still haven’t moved on from the “glory days” of 1990s Seattle. It’s a little funny to think that the two most iconic figures of Seattle are Kurt Cobain and Dr. Frasier Crane (ooh that rhymes!), who happen to be absolute opposites. So we’re forced to either identify with depressed rockers or intellectual snobs? No thanks.

Obviously, this map is meant to generalize. No one’s really offended here. At least it wasn’t “Grey’s Anatomy,” right? But here’s to hoping some new show comes our way, forever immortalizing our modern Seattle experience, complete with Four Loko debates, transportation crises and unemployment. On second thought, let’s keep idealizing. That sounds like a really depressing show.