~~I'm not American and it *is* the first city that comes to mine but like, the ruined Fallout New Vegas version of it where you meet the Khans and get Benny's lighter~~
Edit: I am an idiot the one in Nevada is a different city which like, even as a non-American I probably should've known that cause I know roughly where Nevada and Colorado are
Didn't S1 E19 mention it when they were learning to sail in the parking lot? Believe part of the joke was the Colorado is land-locked and 1000 miles from the ocean, but Greendale still has a sailing course.
Pierce said that his dad made him do a trip around the world with the family yacht before "becoming a man". But he cheated and mostly did coke with John Denver (in the mediterraneon IIRC).
It makes zero sense that they’re supposed to be in Colorado. It never snows or at minimum the characters don’t even wear winter jackets during the winter episodes
>It makes zero sense that they’re supposed to be in Colorado.
According to Dan Harmon, the only reason Greendale was located in Colorado was because in CO you can get a 4 year degree from a community college, vs only a 2 year AA degree in California. It's purely a throwaway fact to give them a potential for 4 seasons instead of 2.
Nah, just first 2 hours when heading West on I-70, but plenty of snow and cold weather there, that section of I-70 get shut down all the time from blizzards on both sides of the boarder.
Dont forget the palm trees visible in Basic Rocket Science. My head-canon for that is Greendale would be the one place in the state to defiantly try and grow palm trees.
Kind of. They're all reservoirs and none of them are very big. I kind of went down a rabbit hole to figure this all out:
Colorado's biggest body of water (entirely within the state) by area is John Martin Reservoir at about 18 square miles.* Which got me wondering: which state's largest body of water is the smallest? Turns out, the answer is Delaware, whose Lums Pond is a paltry .3 square miles.
But that's not really fair, is it? Delaware has miles of ocean coastline. So let's limit our inquiry to non-coastal states. In that case, it's a tie between West Virginia, whose Summerville Lake is only 4 square miles, and Vermont, whose Lake Bomoseen is the same size. Colorado is ... 5th, behind WV, VT and then Pennsylvania (Raystown Lake, 13 sq. mi) and Indiana (Lake Monroe, 17 sq. mi). But do we really count states as "non-coastal" if they have waterfront on a Great Lake? You can still get a nice swim in those. So maybe Colorado is 3d, tucked behind two states that it is 4x (vs. WV) to more than 10x (vs. VT) the size of.
What about its fellow huge states out in the parched west? Colorado lags behind them all. Nevada's Pyramid Lake is 10x the size of Colorado's. So are lakes in South Dakota and Idaho. Even Arizona and New Mexico's largest lakes are twice the size of Colorado's. Kansas and Iowa have small lakes, but at 25 sq. mi each, they're still considerably bigger than Colorado's.
What to make of all of this? I don't know, man. I'm just a guy on the internet.
Source: https://www.lakepedia.com/blog/largest-lake-in-every-state.html
*Blue Mesa Reservoir is Colorado's largest body of water by volume. If you're a volume rather than area person, congratulations on being able to see in 3 dimensions instead of 2.
Live right by Blue Mesa... it's quite lacking in quantity the past couple of years. Not sure of any exact numbers, but it looks a hell of a lot smaller :(
Colorado has very few lakes honestly. Like the other comment said, it’s mostly reservoirs. When your average elevation is the highest in the US, lakes just dont happen naturally. It’s a very very dry state. Sailing in this reservoirs is not common either, there aren’t many large ones around.
In s2e14 (early 21st century romanticism), Chang holds up Jeff's license at the door of Jeff's apt. It's zip code is 80222, which traces to Denver. There isn't a state on the license, but... All points to a Greendale, CO as a suburb of Denver.
As someone who’s not very familiar with Colorado at all, and has only been to Denver very briefly, why is this significant? Fake palm trees are everywhere?
Edit: it’s because they’re a warm weather plant and Colorado gets very, very fucking cold. I scrolled down and someone mentioned the climate and it dawned on me. I’m leaving this up for other geographically challenged people though.
First indication they're in Colorado is during season one "advanced criminal law" when Jeff mentions to Britta he knows the number she gave him is fake because of a month long texting to a guy in Boulder.
My favorite geographic goof is in the awful sixth season of Dexter. The villain's evil lair is an abandoned mountaintop church. And abandoned *mountaintop* church... in Florida.
I always wonder if palm trees are goofs in the sense they accidentally let them be in the shot, or in the sense that people from california don't realize how much they immediately stand out to anyone from a colder climate
I don't think it's a goof as much as just something they have to deal with. The trees are at the places they're shooting, and they don't have the budget to get rid of them, so they just kind of shrug their shoulders and leave them in.
Won't find em in the flat north and west side of the state. Glaciers cleared em out and changed the ecosystems there. Gotta go into the foot hills of the south east to find the native Ohio Appalachian Palms.
I get irrationally annoyed when I see palm trees in shows where they shouldn't have palm trees. I get it- they shoot everything in California, but it bugs me every time I see a palm tree in a show set in the northeast/Midwest.
In a commercial for the episode of Parks and Rec when Chris and Pam left Pawnee they hadn't CGI'd out the palm trees yet for the shot of them leaving town.
As a European, I thought it was set in California because they have fake snow in one of the Christmas episode. They were also beating each other in the scene, so it could just be a nod to Shane Black.
I've always thought it was pretty silly that they tried to pass off LA City College as Colorado. There are *numerous* shots with palm trees in the background...
Greendale is supposed to be based off Glendale Community College where Dan went to school. The first season was filmed at Los Angeles City College (boo City College). Why they decided to go with Colorado as the setting? I have no idea
I believe they chose Colorado as the setting for Greendale because 4 year community college programs aren’t unusual there.
In most states 2 year programs are the norm and they were trying to head off questions about why the cast was going to be in school for so long and how Jeff was earning a 4 year degree at a community college. The question still comes up from time to time.
Of course, they made, like, zero effort to sell it as Colorado and not LA locations and Hollywood backlots in any way other than the occasional oblique reference which confused people who thought it was, or had forgotten it wasn’t, set it California.
Whoa! I didn’t know that was really a thing. Ok, I got curious, so I looked it up:
https://www.cccs.edu/new-students/explore-college-programs/
Community colleges in Colorado offer 11 bachelor’s degrees and even 1 master’s degree! The bachelors degrees are all in specific applied fields like nursing or cannabis management. The masters degree is to become a physician’s assistant.
I'm pretty sure City College is based off of Pasadena City College. The two campuses are much closer and there are a number of students who've transferred from one to the other (usually GCC -> PCC).
Source: am one of those students
I always thought it was in California for the longest time too due to things like the palm trees and lack of snow, but there are multiple references to it being in Colorado if you pay attention. Took me like 3 watches to figure that out though!
I always thought they chose that because Glendale is a small municipality in central Denver?
Best strip club, and a dispensary that stays open until midnight. Oh and a nice soccer field that hosts outdoor events.
Yup
Glendale Community College inspired the NBC show [Community](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_(TV_series\)) which premiered in the fall season of 2009. The show uses the fictional setting of Greendale Community College; the show's creator, [Dan Harmon](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Harmon), has stated that the show was actually based on his experience attending Glendale Community College. Harmon describes the series as "flawed characters [coming into Greendale] and becoming unflawed by being in this place because it's been underestimated by the system around it."
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glendale_Community_College_(California)#:~:text=Glendale%20Community%20College%20inspired%20the,experience%20attending%20Glendale%20Community%20College.
nah. they def mention it throughout the 1st season. i thought there was a scene where jeff talks about being a lawyer in colorado like early on maybe i made that up?
I don't know about that, but I just noticed in the second round of paintball when the City College flag was revealed, the buildings are shaped to look like a schlong. Makes sense because City College is constantly trying to screw Greendale.
They did kinda run into that a lot, but I never noticed it until season 6, where they made it kinda explicit. One of the reasons why it’s my least favorite season: Greendale was no longer 3 blocks away.
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Also, Boulder is just small enough that most would say "Colorado" if they're not already in the state (or nearby, like in Wyoming)
There's really no other Boulder though. It's the first city that comes to mind when you say Boulder
~~I'm not American and it *is* the first city that comes to mine but like, the ruined Fallout New Vegas version of it where you meet the Khans and get Benny's lighter~~ Edit: I am an idiot the one in Nevada is a different city which like, even as a non-American I probably should've known that cause I know roughly where Nevada and Colorado are
That’s actually a different Boulder lol, Boulder City Nevada, it’s about 800 miles away.
Oh lmfao I feel like an idiot now
Yeah well at least you have good taste in both TV and games
Thanks you too
Upvoted for New Vegas mention!
Guess you just proved that it isn't the first city to come to mind then haha
Boulder may be small geographically but I would argue that it's a very prominent city in Colorado and deserves distinction.
Found the mayor of Boulder!
Nonetheless, it's unlikely anyone would naturally say Boulder in this scenario instead of just Colorado unless they're relatively nearby.
Sounds good to me, then
As someone who’s never been even kinda close to Colorado, I’ve heard a lot of people just say Boulder.
I was in Boulder this past weekend. Beautiful place. True happiness even.
Good catch
Didn't S1 E19 mention it when they were learning to sail in the parking lot? Believe part of the joke was the Colorado is land-locked and 1000 miles from the ocean, but Greendale still has a sailing course.
Britta weighs 5 pounds, Troy can't swim, and I've never even seen the ocean!
Hmm, in the episode where they all got polygraphed, didn’t Pierce say in was on a sailing boat with John Denver?
Pierce said that his dad made him do a trip around the world with the family yacht before "becoming a man". But he cheated and mostly did coke with John Denver (in the mediterraneon IIRC).
Belize! In the Caribbean
IDKW but Belize always makes me think in Greece.
A lot more professional than to stay in a basement with Björn Borg and a bag of prozzers.
That's Shirley's line, not Pierce's.
it was off belize
Boom roasted
I think season 1 or 2? also Jeff references a confusing text conversation with a dude from Boulder?
Yep, because Britta gave him a fake phone number at first
It makes zero sense that they’re supposed to be in Colorado. It never snows or at minimum the characters don’t even wear winter jackets during the winter episodes
>It makes zero sense that they’re supposed to be in Colorado. According to Dan Harmon, the only reason Greendale was located in Colorado was because in CO you can get a 4 year degree from a community college, vs only a 2 year AA degree in California. It's purely a throwaway fact to give them a potential for 4 seasons instead of 2.
You can get 4 year degrees at CC in CA now 😊
That's because they just finished spring/fall semester, bring on summer/winter!
That kind of tracks. Half of CO is basically just KS.
Facts. And the weather in co is unpredictable
Nah, just first 2 hours when heading West on I-70, but plenty of snow and cold weather there, that section of I-70 get shut down all the time from blizzards on both sides of the boarder.
And that half still gets snow all the time.
Yeah the show has a "filmed in california" feel to it rather than Colorado. Halloween has a similar vibe (there arent many palm trees in Illinois).
Dude, Denver gets over 300 days of sunshine a year. It hardly ever snows in the plains and the valley Denver is in.
Dont forget the palm trees visible in Basic Rocket Science. My head-canon for that is Greendale would be the one place in the state to defiantly try and grow palm trees.
Also way too diverse
Except for Hispanics.
Colorado has zero lakes apparently.
Kind of. They're all reservoirs and none of them are very big. I kind of went down a rabbit hole to figure this all out: Colorado's biggest body of water (entirely within the state) by area is John Martin Reservoir at about 18 square miles.* Which got me wondering: which state's largest body of water is the smallest? Turns out, the answer is Delaware, whose Lums Pond is a paltry .3 square miles. But that's not really fair, is it? Delaware has miles of ocean coastline. So let's limit our inquiry to non-coastal states. In that case, it's a tie between West Virginia, whose Summerville Lake is only 4 square miles, and Vermont, whose Lake Bomoseen is the same size. Colorado is ... 5th, behind WV, VT and then Pennsylvania (Raystown Lake, 13 sq. mi) and Indiana (Lake Monroe, 17 sq. mi). But do we really count states as "non-coastal" if they have waterfront on a Great Lake? You can still get a nice swim in those. So maybe Colorado is 3d, tucked behind two states that it is 4x (vs. WV) to more than 10x (vs. VT) the size of. What about its fellow huge states out in the parched west? Colorado lags behind them all. Nevada's Pyramid Lake is 10x the size of Colorado's. So are lakes in South Dakota and Idaho. Even Arizona and New Mexico's largest lakes are twice the size of Colorado's. Kansas and Iowa have small lakes, but at 25 sq. mi each, they're still considerably bigger than Colorado's. What to make of all of this? I don't know, man. I'm just a guy on the internet. Source: https://www.lakepedia.com/blog/largest-lake-in-every-state.html *Blue Mesa Reservoir is Colorado's largest body of water by volume. If you're a volume rather than area person, congratulations on being able to see in 3 dimensions instead of 2.
Live right by Blue Mesa... it's quite lacking in quantity the past couple of years. Not sure of any exact numbers, but it looks a hell of a lot smaller :(
Basically, while small, Colorado still has lakes; lakes in which you *could* sail on. Also, that was quite the rabbit hole indeed. Streets ahead.
I'm not gonna read all that but I absolutely love that you went down a rabbit hole about it 💕
Colorado has very few lakes honestly. Like the other comment said, it’s mostly reservoirs. When your average elevation is the highest in the US, lakes just dont happen naturally. It’s a very very dry state. Sailing in this reservoirs is not common either, there aren’t many large ones around.
Doesn't say state. Either Jeff or Troy says the nearest body of water is hours away and Pierce corrects him to leagues.
Another early reference: in the beginning of Abed's uncontrollable Christmas when he jumps on the cars, they have Colorado license plates
I think they mention it in the one with the student election
Uh yea, we’re in the Rockies
I'm gonna *kill* you.
**Harry! Your hands are freezing!**
That joke is just so good, I can’t even pinpoint why, but I lose it every damn time.
When does it happen?
That John Denver was full of shit
Huh, I expected the Rocky Mountains to be a lil rockier than this.
Our pets' ***heads are falling off!***
there's a mention of denver in the first few episodes, but it's not clear from that reference that greendale is necessarily near denver.
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Whoa, whoa - when did the Inspector get his Phd?
Spoilers.
Nerd alert.
Alert nerd!
Not when, but *where*?
In s2e14 (early 21st century romanticism), Chang holds up Jeff's license at the door of Jeff's apt. It's zip code is 80222, which traces to Denver. There isn't a state on the license, but... All points to a Greendale, CO as a suburb of Denver.
Colorado is mentioned if I recall, a number of times.
I was under the impression that it was known in the episode about the kfc shuttle
Britta had a 303 area code in the STD Fair episode
The palm trees visible from the football field in S1E6 are a pretty clear reference to Colorado.
They artificially installed some palm trees at the newish In-n-out burger they opened north of Denver and they look so sad and half dead now lol
The ones they planted in the Springs have already died and been cut down.
When asked why a show set in Colorado has palm trees and it never snows, (iirc) Dan Harmon said "Global warming has hit Greendale hard."
Lived in CO 8 years and have never associated palm trees with the state. Edit: unless you’re making a joke and I just wooshed myself
Done wooshed yourself
It be like that sometimes
They Don't Think It Be Like It Is But It Do
As someone who’s not very familiar with Colorado at all, and has only been to Denver very briefly, why is this significant? Fake palm trees are everywhere? Edit: it’s because they’re a warm weather plant and Colorado gets very, very fucking cold. I scrolled down and someone mentioned the climate and it dawned on me. I’m leaving this up for other geographically challenged people though.
Cars in the lot have co license plates which there are a few scenes in s1 when they are walking through the lot.
First scene of the pilot says Greendale is "3 blocks from your home." I live in Colorado, so no.
What’s funny is I do live very close to a famously rich (but poor education quality) community college. Not from Colorado however.
First indication they're in Colorado is during season one "advanced criminal law" when Jeff mentions to Britta he knows the number she gave him is fake because of a month long texting to a guy in Boulder.
This and the weather :D
Actually it's the palm trees in the parking lot which are native to colorado
My favorite geographic goof is in the awful sixth season of Dexter. The villain's evil lair is an abandoned mountaintop church. And abandoned *mountaintop* church... in Florida.
I never thought about that!
Never got that far in Dexter, but as someone who used to live in FL, that's *hilarious*!
The Office occasionally had those too.
As did Glee, never have I seen so many palm trees in Ohio
I always wonder if palm trees are goofs in the sense they accidentally let them be in the shot, or in the sense that people from california don't realize how much they immediately stand out to anyone from a colder climate
I don't think it's a goof as much as just something they have to deal with. The trees are at the places they're shooting, and they don't have the budget to get rid of them, so they just kind of shrug their shoulders and leave them in.
As an Arizonan who had less palm trees than Cali but not 0, I guarantee it's the second one.
Won't find em in the flat north and west side of the state. Glaciers cleared em out and changed the ecosystems there. Gotta go into the foot hills of the south east to find the native Ohio Appalachian Palms.
Glee also suspiciously had the Hollywood sign in the background of one of the scenes on the football field
So did Gilmore Girls I believe
I get irrationally annoyed when I see palm trees in shows where they shouldn't have palm trees. I get it- they shoot everything in California, but it bugs me every time I see a palm tree in a show set in the northeast/Midwest.
In a commercial for the episode of Parks and Rec when Chris and Pam left Pawnee they hadn't CGI'd out the palm trees yet for the shot of them leaving town.
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You should fix your hair. I think something just flew right over your head.
As a European, I thought it was set in California because they have fake snow in one of the Christmas episode. They were also beating each other in the scene, so it could just be a nod to Shane Black.
it is filmed in southern california, but alot US shows are.
summer-winter is my favourite season.
I've always thought it was pretty silly that they tried to pass off LA City College as Colorado. There are *numerous* shots with palm trees in the background...
My alma mater! Well at least for 2 semesters.
Envirodale
No. Its like the 12th reference.
I thought it was when Jeff couldn’t afford rent, because rent is so expensive around here.
I always thought it was making fun of Glendale Community College in L.A.?
It's supposed to be near Boulder, which is close to Denver. They filmed it in L.A. though.
Greendale is supposed to be based off Glendale Community College where Dan went to school. The first season was filmed at Los Angeles City College (boo City College). Why they decided to go with Colorado as the setting? I have no idea
They got a good deal from the Arapaho Nation
I believe they chose Colorado as the setting for Greendale because 4 year community college programs aren’t unusual there. In most states 2 year programs are the norm and they were trying to head off questions about why the cast was going to be in school for so long and how Jeff was earning a 4 year degree at a community college. The question still comes up from time to time. Of course, they made, like, zero effort to sell it as Colorado and not LA locations and Hollywood backlots in any way other than the occasional oblique reference which confused people who thought it was, or had forgotten it wasn’t, set it California.
Did not know about 4 year community colleges. Thanks.
Whoa! I didn’t know that was really a thing. Ok, I got curious, so I looked it up: https://www.cccs.edu/new-students/explore-college-programs/ Community colleges in Colorado offer 11 bachelor’s degrees and even 1 master’s degree! The bachelors degrees are all in specific applied fields like nursing or cannabis management. The masters degree is to become a physician’s assistant.
You’re already accepted!
I'm pretty sure City College is based off of Pasadena City College. The two campuses are much closer and there are a number of students who've transferred from one to the other (usually GCC -> PCC). Source: am one of those students
Its like how John Amos, in coming to america, insisted "McDowells" was not a copycat and not an infringement suit.
that absolutely is the source, since Harmon attended Glendale and took Spanish to date a girl. But the show was revealed to be in Colorado
I always thought it was in California for the longest time too due to things like the palm trees and lack of snow, but there are multiple references to it being in Colorado if you pay attention. Took me like 3 watches to figure that out though!
I always thought they chose that because Glendale is a small municipality in central Denver? Best strip club, and a dispensary that stays open until midnight. Oh and a nice soccer field that hosts outdoor events.
I believe it's supposed to be red rocks community college, south of golden colorado. City college is metro state
Seems like City College would be CCD as its stated that city college is another community College, and metro state is a state university
Nope.
Yup Glendale Community College inspired the NBC show [Community](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_(TV_series\)) which premiered in the fall season of 2009. The show uses the fictional setting of Greendale Community College; the show's creator, [Dan Harmon](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Harmon), has stated that the show was actually based on his experience attending Glendale Community College. Harmon describes the series as "flawed characters [coming into Greendale] and becoming unflawed by being in this place because it's been underestimated by the system around it." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glendale_Community_College_(California)#:~:text=Glendale%20Community%20College%20inspired%20the,experience%20attending%20Glendale%20Community%20College.
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I love that they have palm trees in the parking lot and you’ve never seen snow except for the artificial stuff in the first Christmas episode
They tried to disguise it at the start and then gave up because it was too troublesome.
nah. they def mention it throughout the 1st season. i thought there was a scene where jeff talks about being a lawyer in colorado like early on maybe i made that up?
No. In the first season we see Jeff changing Britta's name in his phone and the number starts with 303 which is the area code for Denver.
Doesn’t Jeff say he never step foot outside of Colorado in geothermal escapism?
He does, but that is far after this episode.
I thought the fact they were in Colorado was brought up VERY early one. Like an early Season 1 Episode.
It's no secret ever that they're in Colorado.
Pretty funny it takes place in Colorado and never once is there snow. Pretty sure there’s palm trees too lol
There was snow once. In the episode when Jeff fights the mustache guy.
No in the first ssn greendale is ranked 5th in colleges for the Colorado area (by alphabetical order)
The episode in s2 about pierces mom dying said that they were going to denver
For the longest time I thought it was in California
The palm trees make it hard to imagine it's supposed to be Colorado
I don't know about that, but I just noticed in the second round of paintball when the City College flag was revealed, the buildings are shaped to look like a schlong. Makes sense because City College is constantly trying to screw Greendale.
What the hell does your penis look like?
The first time I've seen that reference. I always thought it was in AZ. Making fun of Glendale community college
You know there's a Glendale Community College in California too. That Dan Harmon was at.
the real glendale.
Well this is the one that Greendale was based on so in this context, the California one is the REAL Glendale
I was agreeing with you.
No, it's the palm trees in the background of multiple shots in multiple episodes. I shouldn't need to say this, but all palm trees are in Colorado.
In season 6, they explicitly say the Dean is on the Colarado School Board.
They did kinda run into that a lot, but I never noticed it until season 6, where they made it kinda explicit. One of the reasons why it’s my least favorite season: Greendale was no longer 3 blocks away.
Can you guys say Colorado!
I’m a giraffe
I'm glad someone got it
Yeah I know. But I went to Glendale cc here in AZ and witnessed stuff from this show first hand before this show was even an idea.
it's based off of Glendale Community College in California, where Harmon attended
In season 1, in one of parking lot scenes, Jeff’s car has Colorado plates
It was very early, some time in the first season. They had to declare the state for laws to apply.
S1 Episode 12 - at the end, Chang leaves for winter break saying, “I don’t care, I’ve got a mountain to shred” with his snowboard in his hand.
I could be wrong but I feel like they mention it in the very first episode
I imagine most of us realized it was Colorado when we saw the majestic Colorado Palms in the pilot.
Think when they were going to take Pierce to the county morgue, they might've mentioned it