Corn fed

Recently I’ve been noticing an influx of tv shows based in Indiana. Growing up, I knew Indiana was disinteresting not only because of the corn fields that surrounded my house but also because everything I watched on the picture box in the living room showed far more interesting places, like the mystical Bayside High School in California. Up until recently I truly believed Cali to be a state that was full of tanned beautiful people and sunshiney year round, apparently that is not the case and I should have a) used common sense and b) paid more attention in geography. Oh, and Baywatch- don’t think you’re getting off the hook here; my warped view of life on the west coast can’t solely be blamed on Saved by the Bell.

NBC and ABC both have shows depicting life in made-up Indiana towns--Parks and Recreation is based in Pawnee, Indiana which allegedly is somewhere 90 miles outside of Indianapolis—The Middle is based in Orson, Indiana. I think it’s about time that kids in California get a view of the Midwest on a national tv network. Granted, those cali kids probably caught an episode or two of Hang Time in the late nineties but that likely just led them to believe that in Indiana it was commonplace for a girl to be able to join a boys high school basketball team.



Anywho, shout out to NBC and ABC for providing an honest look at what life is actually like in the Midwest—a little backwards, roads that lead to the middle of nowhere, and lots of corn. Maybe if they would have left Saved by the Bell based at a high school in Indianapolis the world wouldn’t have had to wait for some honesty, maybe I wouldn’t have had grandiose illusions of California, or maybe I would have read more because the lives of Slater, Zach, Kelly and the rest of the gang would have been a little less interesting at JFK High instead of Bayside.