TV Shows That Butchered Depictions of Montana
Even though shows like Yellowstone display the Montana scenery and (to an extent) way of life, there are far more instances of TV shows completely butchering the depiction of our state.
One of my dad's favorite shows is The Big Bang Theory, and even though it's not my cup of tea, I see the appeal. I bring it up because Bozeman is featured in one of the episodes. I was intrigued, so I did some digging and found the episode.
In this particular episode of The Big Bang Theory, the main characters have their apartment broken into, and Sheldon decides to move to a safer location. He somehow lands in Bozeman, Montana. When he gets there, he's robbed again at the bus station. It's hilarious, but the problem is Bozeman doesn't have a standstill bus station anymore. The 'bus station' in Bozeman is located in the side parking lot at Walmart.
One thing they did get right was how cold Bozeman is during the winter. That was a nice touch.
So this got us thinking: what else have TV shows gotten wrong about Montana?
One extremely popular example is Supernatural. Supernatural has had a few episodes featuring Montana. One episode was set in Whitefish, which they depicted as a backwoods town, and another episode is set in Red Lodge. Both episodes show Montana as sparse and filled with monsters.
One of the more egregious errors was in Criminal Minds. Criminal Minds is a show about serial killers, and two of its episodes were set in Montana. Except, in one of the episodes, there is a scenic shot, and you can see palm trees in the background. There is nowhere in Montana that has palm trees, to my knowledge.
Finally, the big offender is the show Big Sky. Big Sky is a crime thriller set in the state of Montana, but they shot season one in Vancouver and season two in New Mexico. I don't know about you, but I don't think New Mexico looks anything like Montana. Plus, Yankee Jim Canyon looks nothing like what they showed.
Are there other TV shows that misrepresent Montana? Let us know.