15 TV Shows That Capture the Mood of the Pacific Northwest

Some television shows could be set just about anywhere. A courtroom drama is a courtroom drama, and hospitals are pretty interchangeable.

But for some programs, location is part of the appeal – and not just for shows with their locations in the titles. We’re talking architecture, natural wonders, or weather that’s so memorable it becomes a supporting character. The Pacific Northwest is one of those places that lends itself to the storylines of some iconic shows.

1. Grey’s Anatomy (2005- Present)

Premiering in 2005, Grey’s Anatomy is the longest-running scripted primetime series on ABC. It’s a medical drama set at a fictional Seattle hospital, highlighting the professional and personal stories of the staff. While it’s supposed to be Seattle, the show is filmed mainly in Los Angeles and Vancouver, British Columbia.

But, oh, those exterior shots were filmed in Seattle! Ferry rides in Puget Sound. Stunning city views from Kerry Park. Clam chowder at Pike Place Market. It’s enough to make you want to visit. If you do, bring an umbrella – they’re not kidding about the rain.

2. The Killing (2011- 2014)

Another Seattle show, this crime drama about a couple of homicide detectives, is based on a Danish TV show of the same name. A showrunner for the U.S. version told The Seattle Times that Seattle’s “brooding” atmosphere resembles Copenhagen.

Although it was filmed in British Columbia, the director found enough cloudy skies up north to give off a convincing PNW ambiance.

3. Grimm (2011-2017)

This monster-of-the-week drama focused on a Portland homicide detective whose family heritage is the ability to see supernatural beings and fight them.

Grimm made the PNW look rainy and menacing but postcard-perfect with scenes of verdant city parks and the beautiful Willamette River.

4. The Crossing (2018)

This sci-fi series, set in Seattle and a fictional Oregon town, concerns refugees from a war that takes place many years in the future. At least one of them has otherworldly powers – will she use them for good or for evil? And what will the Department of Homeland Security do about these newcomers?

Like many other shows set in the PNW, The Crossing was filmed in British Columbia. Canadian film incentives are just too good for most producers to resist.

5. Frasier (1993-2004)

Dr. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) reprises his character from Cheers but leaves Boston for his hometown of Seattle to host a radio call-in show. He also reconnects with his dad (John Mahoney) and brother (David Hyde Pierce).

Although it’s crammed with Seattle references, Frasier was filmed in Los Angeles. The setting doesn’t matter because most of the action occurs in the characters’ shared homes and in their favorite cafe.

6. iZombie (2015-2019)

Rose McIver (Ghosts) plays Olivia “Liv” Moore, who’s finishing her medical training when she gets turned into a zombie. (It happens.) Since she can’t be a doctor, Liv gets a job at the city morgue, which lets her eat a few brains on the sly.

Each time she does, she’s granted temporary flashbacks of that person’s life – and death. This knowledge lets Liv help the police solve murders. This show was filmed in Canada but leans into its Seattle setting: steeply angled streets, boating culture, and rain.

7. Backstrom (2020-Present)

Portland is the setting for this comedy-drama, which starred Rainn Wilson (The Office) as Everett Backstrom, a cop who’s brilliant but also overweight, cranky, and has almost no social skills. He heads up the city’s Special Crimes Unit, where he fights not just crime but his worst impulses. Wilson has called the show’s vibe “Portland Noir.”

You see lots of rain and hear lots of local references, but the fact is that Backstrom, like so many other shows set in the PNW, was filmed in British Columbia. Which is sometimes considered part of the PNW, so no harm, no foul, right?

8. Wayward Pines (2015-2016)

Based on the novels by Blake Crouch, this mystery/sci-fi series is set in a strange little Idaho town surrounded by electric fences and home to an ongoing clash between a “First Generation” and a band of rebels. Wayward Pines has an impressive pedigree: its pilot was directed by M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, The Village, Knock at the Cabin), and the director later served as an executive producer.

Its slate of actors is impressive, too, including Matt Dillon as a Secret Service agent looking for two missing agents, Carla Gugino as his former lover, Terrence Howard as the local sheriff, and Jason Patric as a surgeon.

9. Peacemaker (2022-Present)

John Cena reprises his character from The Suicide Squad in this series, the first TV spin-off from the DC Extended Universe. James Gunn created both, setting Peacemaker after the violent events of the movie.

The Peacemaker is a hair-trigger anti-hero who will kill anyone who needs killing to create peace. Now, he just wants to be left alone in his trailer in Evergreen, Washington. Nope: Special agents show up to give him the “choice” of returning to prison or joining a new mission. A guy can’t get comfortable in a small PNW town these days.

10. Maid (2021)

This Netflix drama is based on the best-selling memoir Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive. It’s set in Port Hampstead, Washington, based on the real-life Port Townsend on the staggeringly beautiful Olympic Peninsula.

Alexandra Russell is a young mom who leaves an abusive relationship and cleans houses to provide for herself and her toddler daughter.

11. Bates Motel (2013-2017)

This “contemporary prequel” to Psycho shows Norman (Freddie Highmore) and Mother (Vera Farmiga) moving to White Pine Bay, Oregon, where Mother hopes to start a new life after her husband dies.

It is hard to do when your son’s mental illness is so severe.

12. So Help Me Todd (2022-Present)

This legal drama has an interesting setup. Skylar Astin (Pitch Perfect, Pitch Perfect 2) plays a private investigator whose boundary-pushing gets him in big trouble. Fortunately, his overbearing attorney mom (Marcia Gay Harden) gets the charges dropped. Now, he must reluctantly take a job at her Portland law firm, where she expects him to play by the rules – as in, the rule of law.

The show’s creator, Scott Prendergast, wants the show to highlight the “old” Portland and the city’s current reputation. (Hint: The Rose City wasn’t always infested with doughnuts and hipsters.)

13. Portlandia (2011-2018)

The dream of the ’90s might be alive in Portland. Portlandia is one of the funniest shows about what life is like living in the Pacific Northwest. Some people who have moved to the area have made the joke that living in Portland is a lot like living in the show.

Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein are hilarious in this sketch show where they joke about riding bikes, getting brunch, and rainy days in Portland, Oregon.

14. Twin Peaks (1990-1991)

The beauty of nature and its unspoken menace significantly impact this surreal early 1990s TV drama from director David Lynch (Blue Velvet, Eraserhead, The Elephant Man, Mulholland Drive). Kyle MacLachlan plays an FBI agent sent to the small town of Twin Peaks to investigate the murder of a local girl.

The longer he stays, the more he’s affected by dark forests, quirky locals, and owls that are not what they seem. (Great pie, though.)

15. Dead Like Me (2003-2004)

Set in Seattle, Dead Like Me is about a young woman who doesn’t have a solid direction in life, but when she’s killed by a toilet falling from a space station, she is recruited in the afterlife to become a grim reaper and take this new job in death.

While the show is technically set in Seattle, it was filmed across the border in Vancouver, Canada.