Rhode Island in the Limelight: Television

(1951) cartoon

Rhode Island is often the punch line of jokes, perhaps for no better reason than its own improbable existence, as in this Warner Brothers cartoon starring the Three Bears:

Junyer Bear: I will fill your favorite pipe for you, dear old dad, Pa. G-U-N-P-O-W-D-E-R, duh, "tobacco." I am a good speller, I am. C-A-T, "dog." B-A-T, "Rhode Island."

Cartoons in this era were originally produced as short subjects to be viewed at movie theaters, but heck, we grew up with them on television, so we include them here on the television page.

(1952-'58) adventure series

Contrary to popular belief, the Industrial Trust Tower (1927) in Providence was not the model for the Daily Planet. The newspaper's building exterior in the series is actually Los Angeles City Hall, completed in 1928. Although the structures share a similar style, they were designed by separate teams of architects.

(CBS, 1964-'67) situation comedy

Wikipedia notes that Thurston Howell III is a resident of Newport, or at least implies he spent some of his formative years there. The entry on his wife, Lovey Howell, further allows that the wealthy couple owns residences in every state.

(CBS, 1964-'66) situation comedy

Another joke at the expense of Rhode Island (and noted short actor Mickey Rooney) comes from this show's season one, episode three, entitled "Walk on the Mild Side." Grandpa (Al Lewis) shows off his "enlarging machine," invented to make grandson Eddie (Butch Patrick) taller:

Grandpa: Why, with this machine, I could make Rhode Island the size of Texas. We'll make millions, and I'll make them bigger! I could even make the world's biggest Mickey Rooney!

The episode originally aired October 8, 1964.

(1966-'71) gothic soap opera

Newport's Seaview Terrace (aka the Carey Mansion, aka Burnham-by-the-Sea) provided some of the eerie exterior atmosphere for Collinsport, Maine's, Collinwood Mansion in this cult-classic gothic soap opera. Another Newport location was reportedly the Black Pearl Restaurant on Bannister's Wharf, which in the series was called the Blue Whale.

The connection between these and other real-life and fictional places was highlighted in a 1999 documentary called Dark Shadows on Location.

(ABC, 1967) cartoon series

George of the Jungle was brought to us by the same twisted minds that created Rocky and Bullwinkle, and like that Cold-War classic, it included segments starring supporting players. One of these was Super Chicken, which chronicled the adventures of the titular character and his sidekick, a lion named Fred. In the second episode, September 16, 1967's "One of Our States is Missing," an evil villain tows Rhode Island out to sea. The episode is riddled with Rhode Island jabs and jibes, beginning with a scene in which an airliner comes in for a landing in Providence:

Pilot: Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seatbelts, we are about to land at Providence, Rhode Island.
Co-pilot: Chauncy, are you sure that's Providence?
Pilot: What's it look like?
Co-pilot: Looks to me like there's nothing there.
Pilot: That's Providence all right. Set 'er down, Edgar.

(CBS, 1968-'70) cartoon series

Based on the 1965 film The Great Race, this cartoon series follows eleven sets of odd characters as they vie to win races with their equally bizarre vehicles. The villain of the piece is Dick Dastardly who, along with his sometimes faithful dog Muttley, takes every opportunity to cheat. Many of the episode titles are a play on words of place names, and it was the title "Rhode Island Road Race" (first aired on November 9, 1968), that brought the show to our attention.

The episode itself has dang little to do with Rhode Island (beyond an early reference from the narrator that the racers are on their way to Rocky Road, Rhode Island), and the title was clearly chosen merely in order to use a pair of alliterative homophones. Still, the endlessly repeating background scenery is vaguely reminiscent of New England, with stone walls, split-rail fences, farm houses, fields, steepled churches, and covered bridges rolling by. About half-way through the episode the racers roar into Big Town, population 50,000. There, Dastardly directs one racer into a subway, then detours everyone else onto the girders of a partially built skyscraper.

It's ultimately pointless to try to discuss the correlations between a cartoon and the real world (after all, this is a medium where an anvil dropped on someone's head merely raises a very tall bump), but we can at least agree that the writers of this episode were completely unfamiliar with Little Rhody.

(ABC, 1970-2011) soap opera

Rhode Island Monthly dutifully reported in its June 1992 issue that "the characters [of] Dr. Chuck Tyler and his wife, Donna, are leaving the fictional town of Pine Valley for... Rhode Island, where Dr. Tyler is assuming the post of chief of medicine at none other than Rhode Island Hospital." When contacted by the magazine, the actual chief of medicine at the hospital, Dr. Albert Most, seemed to take the news of his replacement in stride. "It might be a job exchange," he mused. "I've always had my eyes on a career in the soaps. The trade might satisfy both of us."

(ABC, 1970-'75) situation comedy

Site visitor Bob alerted us to the existence of an episode with a Rhode Island reference; eferruci came up with the episode title, "The Odd Candidate" (S5E7, aired October 24, 1974); and Len filled us in on the specifics:

Felix has persuaded Oscar to run for city council and, as part of the campaign, has arranged for Oscar to appear on a Saturday morning TV show on which old horror movies are shown. The host of the show is a Dracula knock-off played by Guy Marks who spends most of his time between commercials in a coffin. After one commercial break during a movie called, "The Monster That Ate Rhode Island," he sits up enthusing about the picture. And then he says, "Didn't you just love the part where he spits out Providence?"

Thanks, guys!

(CBS, 1971-1979) comedy series

In an episode from 1976, "The Draft Dodger," Archie asks a friend of Mike and Gloria's where he's from:

Gloria: He's from up north, north of Niagara Falls.
Archie: Oh! Over by Rhode Island way?

A friend of ours who pointed this episode out to us noted, "Very authentic use of Rhode Island in a geography conversation, I thought."

(BBC and NBC, 1972-1973) documentary series

Here's an odd one—who knew that a documentary series about the history of the United States could survive more than a few episodes on network television? This one apparently did, and even managed a complete run of thirteen episodes, "ending with the social upheavals and counter-culture revolutions of the 1960s and 70s," according to IMDb. Rhode Island made an appearance in one of the episodes—probably episode 9, "Money on the Land," about the rise of wealth in the United States—with scenes shot at Marble House in Newport.

Narrated and co-written by Alistair Cooke, this series still occasionally shows up on PBS.

(CBS, 1972-'73) situation comedy

"Greener Pastures," the final episode of this controversial (at the time) show had Bernie Steinberg (David Birney) considering relocating from New York City for a job in Rhode Island.

It would be interesting to know why the writers chose Rhode Island as the Steinbergs' possible new home. The controversial reputation of the show stemmed from the inter-religious, inter-class marriage of the main characters, working class Jew Bernie and rich Catholic Bridget (Meredith Baxter Birney). Rhode Island historically has been a haven for persons with minority beliefs. Connection? Random pick? Or was Rhode Island chosen for the usual reason, because of its utility as a punch line?

(NBC, 1975-present) live variety show

This long-running late-night live sketch comedy institution has taken a number of jabs at the Ocean State over the years.

From the March 22, 1997 show:

Linda Richman (Mike Meyers): Talk amongst yourselves. I'll give you a topic: Rhode Island, neither a road nor an Island. Discuss.

From the November 13, 2010 show:

Seth Meyers: Voters in Rhode Island rejected a proposition last week to change the state's official name from The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations to just Rhode Island, but I think people are just going to keep calling it "Connecticut's foreskin."

From the January 17, 2015 show:

Colin Jost: A new survey shows that the state with the most marijuana use is Rhode Island. Which explains Rhode Island's official state motto, "But if it's an island, where does the road go?"

From the April 14, 2018 show:

The establishing shot for the "drag brunch" segment, featuring host John Mulaney, is of Newport's Brick Alley Pub.

From the November 6, 2021 show:

A segment titled "Wake Up Rhode Island" features a meteoroloist who spent so much time preparing a silly, Thanksgiving Day-themed rap that he failed to predict a deadly nor-easter.

Additionally, it should be noted that the 1980-'81 cast included Charles Rocket, a RISD alumnus who was a leading light in the early-1970s Providence arts and performance scene. He worked as a news reporter at WPRI Channel 12 for a time before joining SNL. He performed a number of impressions and characters on SNL, and hosted a recurring filmed segment called "The Rocket Report," but he is perhaps best remembered for dropping the F-bomb at the end of the February 21, 1981 show, for which he was dismissed.

(PBS, 1976) miniseries

A large part of the complicated logistics involved in shooting this thirteen-part series included taping in various locations around Rhode Island. Newport's Marble House stood in for the court of Louis XVI at Versailles, for instance, and other Newport mansions were used for scenes that took place in England, France, Holland, and Saint Petersburg. Providence streets passed for Boston streets, and a farmhouse on Jencks Road in Foster represented one in Braintree, Massachusetts. Providence's John Brown House also got some screen time, and according to Kim Klyberg (whose father, Al, was director of the Rhode Island Historical Society at the time), "My Dad... was a nervous wreck that some hot light would come crashing down and torch the place!"

(1979)

"1978 Nov. 30. For a 90-minute TV drama on Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a pioneer feminist, the Green Inn was catapulted back to 1867 to a small saloon in Kansas."—www.narragansetthistoricalsociety.com, March 27, 2017.

(1982-'93) sitcom

The character of Carla Victoria Angelina Teresa Apollonia Lozupone Tortelli LeBec grew up on Federal Hill in Providence. And Rhode Island native Nicholas Colasanto starred as Ernie "Coach" Pantusso during the first three seasons of the show.

(CBS, 1984-'96)

We're informed by Marcia W., who messaged us on Facebook on May 9, 2018:

I am watching an old episode ("Incident in Lot 7") of Murder, She Wrote. A body has just been discovered in the Universal Studios' building that had been used as the Bates' house in the movie, Psycho. One of the characters described his regard for the dead man, "If I had to tell anyone that I liked the guy, I'd get struck by a bolt of lightning the size of Rhode Island."

"Incident in Lot 7," S8E13, aired January 19, 1992.

(Fox, 1988-2011; Lifetime, 2011-'12; Fox, 2021-present)

This venerable cops 'n' robbers show focused on Rhode Island a number of times. The first that we're aware of was a 1997 show on the apprehension of alleged killer Anthony Fitzroy Patterson. Patterson was mistakenly identified by a Most Wanted viewer as another alleged murderer, Dudley Forbes. When police attempted to question him, he fled in a car, injuring twelve people in a frantic ride through downtown Providence. AMW film crews recreated the chase on location a short time later, for an episode that aired on November 22, 1997. As the Providence Phoenix's Philippe and Jorge noted, "...some might find it odd that, after scaring hordes of downtown regulars out of their gourds, the whole fiasco was recreated again for television. But hey, if we want to be in the big leagues, this is the kind of stuff we gotta do."

The next intersection of the worlds of AMW and Rhode Island was when two fugitives, Tracey Lee Poirier and Pamela Kay Trimble, were arrested in Cranston and Providence on September 28, 1998. Convicted murderer Poirier had escaped from the Oregon Women's Correctional Center in Salem, Oregon, with the assistance of Trimble, a former guard at that facility. After the August 28, 1998, escape was featured on AMW, a tip led the FBI to Rhode Island. Poirer was apprehended by Providence detectives at Crugnale Bakery and Pizza in Cranston, where she had been hired (through an employment agency) as a temporary employee, and Trimble was picked up at a sausage shop called Baun Sou Nam, located on Sutton Street in Providence. A followup story on the capture was told on the October 10, 1998, show.

In early May 2005 AMW spent three days in Newport collecting footage for a segment on convicted rapist and fugitive Ronald Fischer. A Newport Superior Court jury convicted Fischer, a former East Greenwich anesthesiologist, in absentia on April 28, 2005, on two counts of first-degree sexual assault and one count of second-degree sexual assault, for the rape of a Westerly woman aboard his yacht, The Lion King, at Portsmouth's Hinckley Marina in April 2003. Possibly sensing which way his trial was heading, Fischer fled Rhode Island just days prior to the verdict. The segment aired on May 14, 2005, but despite an estimated audience of ten million viewers, there have been few leads, and Fischer is still at large as of July 2021.

A brief segment aired on August 6, 2006, trolling for information on the whereabouts of two men wanted for the murder of 24-year-old Pawtucket resident, Jessica C. Imran, and attempted murder of her friend, 28-year-old Julie Lange, in Imran's Lawn Avenue apartment July 27th. Suspects Barry Offley, 19, of Woonsocket, and Alonzo P. Shelton, 28, of Central Falls, were subsequently captured in a housing project in Ocala, Florida, September 7, 2006.

The August 26, 2006, show profiled alleged child-molester James W. Bell. He's accused of inappropriate actions with three girls, aged nine to thirteen, while employed at the Newport County YMCA in Middletown between 2000 and 2003. He was arrested in Washington state in August 2003, brought back to Rhode Island, and then released on bail in October. A new order for his arrest was issued when he failed to appear at a pretrial conference in Newport Superior Court on July 15, 2004. In April 2015 he was captured again in Washington, where he was held pending extradition back to Little Rhody.

Jonathan Quaweay's alleged crimes were profiled on the June 13, 2009, broadcast. Quaweay disappeared after allegedly shooting three people at the Sportsman's Inn and Gentleman's Club in Providence on March 24. After the story aired a viewer tip led U.S. Marshals to the Atlanta, Georgia, apartment where Quaweay was hiding out. Arrested, he was taken to the Fulton County Jail to await extradition back to Rhode Island.

(PBS, 1989—) cooking series

For the show's 2001 season, host Mary Ann Esposito traveled to Italian-American and Italian-Canadian cities in search of food good enough to come home for, landing in Providence for show #1003. There, Mary Ann rode in a Venetian gondola with then-Mayor Buddy Cianci, then helped out while Cianci prepared his Aunt Anna's eggplant parmesan casserole for the television viewing audience.

Ciao Italia Executive Producer Paul Lally recalls that "Buddy was gracious, bombastic, and fun to be with. Just before we filmed in his kitchen he phoned his great-Aunt Anna to make sure he got the recipe right. [Then] he and Mary Ann cooked up plenty of eggplant. A memorable occasion to say the least."

Time moves on, and so do mayors, so 2008 brought us an episode filmed in the kitchen of Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline. The theme was "Entertaining with the Mayor," and Esposito helped hizzoner make enough antipasti to serve a passel of post-Columbus Day Parade guests. Italian-style cold meat products were supplied by Daniele, Inc., and other ingredients were provided by Eastside Marketplace.

Ciao Italia, in its thirtieth season as of 2023, is the longest-running cooking series in America. The series was filmed at the studios of Rhode Island PBS beginning in 2001, when Esposito was invited down from New Hampshire by Rhode Island legislators who saw a chance to spotlight Providence's Italian heritage. Most of each season's twenty-six episodes are shot in one marathon two-week session. For the first eighteen seasons the show's set was a duplicate of Esposito's own kitchen back in New Hampshire, but in 2008 she got a brand new, bigger kitchen set. All of the design, materials, and labor to build the set were donated by Rhode Island companies—HSI Construction, Kenneth Castellucci and Associates, Douglas Lumber and Home Center, and Ann Huntoon Design.

Production left Rhode Island PBS around the 23rd or 24th season (2013-'14).

(1990-2007) syndicated home improvement series

The second half of the eleventh season (2000) of this popular home improvement show is given over entirely to profiles of eleven properties being renovated in Providence's Elmwood neighborhood. The first episode includes a short history of Elmwood Avenue. One of the featured houses is the 1896 Colonial Revival/Victorian at 203 Lexington Avenue, owned by Mark and Christina Macheska.

(NBC, 1990—) crime series franchise

per Marcia W. on Facebook, January 10, 2018:

Law and Order periodically references Rhode Island. I've heard them use Rhode Island, Providence, and Westerly. It's usually where the bad guys try to create an alibi, e.g., "I went to...," "I was in..."

In one SVU episode, a stalker stayed on the first floor at a Providence hotel. He bypassed the door entry system by climbing out a window. He then drove to New York, raped his victim, and got back into his room the same way. It was only when the detectives went to the hotel that they realized how he carried out his crime.

(NBC, 1991-'95) comedy drama

Blossom's (Mayim Bialik) brother Anthony (Michael Stoyanov) moves with his family to Rhode Island in S5E18, "The Departure." The fact that show creator Dan Reo grew up in Cranston may have something to do with this narrative choice.

(pilot, 1992) situation comedy

This was a pilot for CBS that never got picked up. Set in Providence, it was about "Eddy Procacini [Peter Dodson], a street-smart hustler who suddenly becomes father to his sister's orphaned 12- and 13-year-old children." Show creator Dan Reo (also the creator of Blossom) grew up in Cranston and based the main character on a Cranston East High School classmate. The principal set was the Miss Providence Diner, an eatery owned by Eddy's father, from which Eddy ran a number of shaky business deals from a bank of pay phones. In a Providence Journal article about the show, Reo admitted the accents wouldn't be authentic because he didn't think a New Jersey actor could imitate a Rhode Island accent. He also mentioned that he had called George's of Galilee to find out how much they charged for clam cakes, because the diner was going to have clam cakes on its menu. "They said, 'We don't give out that information on the phone.' I said, 'What? It's a state secret? How much are your clam cakes?!'"

Actual production took place on a California soundstage, but a second-unit crew came to Cranston in March 1992 for some exterior shots. For Eddy's house they filmed the front of 19 Briarcliffe Road, a house belonging to Cranston Fire Department Captain Bruce Shaw. The Miss Providence was based on the Miss Cranston on Oaklawn Avenue, but the set built to represent the diner didn't match the exterior of the real restaurant, so a historical photo of a defunct Woonsocket diner (possibly O'Connor's) was used for the exterior establishing shot. A diner modeled on Haven Brothers was originally considered, but it was just too small to be a workable sitcom set.

Note: The Miss Cranston Diner was heavily damaged by fire in 2014. The business moved to a nearby strip mall, and the original diner was demolished in 2015.

(Fox, 1993-2001) sci-fi drama series

Special Agent Fox Mulder's (David Duchovny) family owns a cottage in Quonochontaug. This spells trouble for Assistant Director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) when he can't pronounce it:

Skinner: Agent Mulder, we've just received a call here that might cause you some alarm.
Mulder: What is it?
Skinner: Your mother has been admitted in a hospital in serious condition, in a small coastal town in Rhode Island called... Quono...
Mulder: Quonochontaug? I'm on my way.

—S3E24, "Talitha Cumi," broadcast May 17, 1996.

(A&E, 1994-1998) documentary series

A look at some of America's most over-the-top examples of Gilded Age conspicuous consumption. Some of the local examples of excess include Belcourt Castle, The Breakers, Château-sur-Mer, The Elms, Marble House, and Rosecliff—all in Newport—and Blithwold in Bristol.

(BBC-WGBH, 1995) mini series

This was the first BBC mini-series to be shot on American soil. Based on an unfinished novel by Newport resident Edith Wharton, the story follows five rich New York girls who travel to England in search of titled husbands. Action that took place in Saratoga Springs, New York, in the novel, was switched to Newport for the film. Shooting took place in Newport over two weeks in May 1994.

Locations that are featured prominently in the production include Château-sur-Mer (sitting room and dining room), Marble House (ballroom), The Elms (conservatory), and The Ledges, a white Victorian at 66 Ocean Drive owned by resident Fred Cushing. When the heroines descend the staircase to be introduced to society, that's Marble House. The scenes under the copper beech tree are at Château-sur-Mer. The scenes at the beginning and end of the program, with the girls on the lawn, are at Fred Cushing's. Bellevue Avenue, covered with a layer of gravel and dirt for exterior scenes with horse-drawn carriages, stood in for 1873 New York and Saratoga.

Shot on a huge (for its time) ten million dollar budget, the series was watched by approximately sixteen million potential British tourists when it first aired.

(WGBH, 1997—) antiques appraisal show

On August 21, 1999, WGBH's beloved Antiques Roadshow chose the Rhode Island Convention Center in downtown Providence as a stop on its nationwide tour. The two one-hour shows that resulted premiered on February 21 and 28, 2000, and featured visits to the Nightingale-Brown House on College Hill and the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, respectively. The biggest find of the day turned out to belong to a woman from Chepachet, whose jeweled jade-and-gold box, made at the Edward Farmer Studio in New York, was valued at $80,000 to $120,000.

AR returned to the Rhode Island Convention Center on June 18, 2005. Rhode Island was chosen as one of only five stops for AR's tenth season, and the only stop in the Northeast. Local profiles featured Rose Island Lighthouse, the Culinary Archives and Museum, and the Providence Jewelry Museum. The collected footage aired in three parts on Boston's Channel 2 on May 8, 15, and 22, 2006.

A September 19, 2017 visit to the grounds of Newport's Rosecliff mansion was set to be the show's first all-outdoor shoot, but passing remnants of Hurricane Jose forced a change to an outdoor/indoor event. Aired over three episodes (S22E17, 18, and 19) on May 14, 21, and 28, 2018, the shows featured "segments narrated off-camera by Mark Wahlberg about [Rosecliff's] construction, history, and features, as well as those of neighboring mansions." The coolest appraised item in our opinion was the wooden paroramic viewer box, containing two thirty-foot rolls illustrated with "Excursion Views of Narragansett Bay and Block Island," circa 1878. The appraiser valued the object at $6,000-$8,000.

Digitized copies of similar rolls, courtesy of Paolo and Larry DePetrillo, can be found here (East Bay) and here (West Bay).

(Fall 1998)

Filmed in front of Brown University's John Hay Library, complete with a slicked-down street and a fog machine.

(HGTV, 1999-present) real estate series

If watching other people shop for real estate is on your top ten list of life's pleasures, this show is for you. And if, additionally, you're a real Rhode Island-o-phile like us, there are six episode you won't want to miss:

S19E13, "Planting Rhode Island Roots," aired March 18, 2007. Recent college grad Stacy Kish is so done with her cramped little apartment near the airport, and can't wait to begin paying the mortgage on her own little slice of heaven. She enlists the help of realtor Alayna Berek who guides Stacy through three Warwick properties: a single-level condo, a semi-detached townhouse, and a regular townhouse. After much agonizing, Stacy chooses the semi-detached and, presumably, lives happily ever after. The episode includes a montage of Warwick scenes, and a scene with Stacy and some of her friends hanging out at an empty Grille on Main in East Greenwich.

S25E8, "Renting in Rhode Island," aired May 18, 2008. Lisa Davis and her kids, Rachel and Ryan, tired of the rental rat race, tour three Cranston properties—all of which have pink bathrooms. One of the properties, according to a Quahog reader who was surprised to see a familiar house in the episode, is located on the corner of Rangely Road and Crestwood Court. "I recognized our neighbors' house directly across on Rangely and then the exterior of the house next door, the featured home," she told us. "I also remember all three of the prospects in this episode having pink bathrooms and the buyer... asking if all the bathrooms in Cranston were pink. We laughed as our home had a pink and black bath, which we renovated to black and white! Anyway, we knew that the featured house contained a lower-level in-law suite (because we had met the couple who lived in that apartment). Oddly, the in-law suite was neither shown nor mentioned. As the camera panned the outside area, we saw a portion of our roof. The buyer did not choose our neighbors' house. What is really strange about this is neither we or any neighbors noticed a film crew around the neighborhood."

S68E5, "Swim Instructor Wants Home Near Beach in Narragansett, Rhode Island," aired September 28, 2012. HGTV episode description: "Swim instructor, Jaimie, is ready to move out of her sister's place and into a home of her own. She wants a three-bedroom home with a large yard for her dogs. Since she enjoys open-ocean swimming, Jaimie wants her home as close to the beach as possible. But with just $250,000 to spend in one of New England's most sought-after coastal enclaves, she's in for a wake-up call."

S98E5, "Young Providence Buyers Battle Over Loft vs. Single Family Home," aired March 4, 2015: HGTV episode description: "Dylan and Jenica are looking for their first home in Providence, Rhode Island. He's set on a loft, or an income property, in the heart of downtown. She has her eyes on a single family colonial in the suburbs, with a formal dining room and good space for her to give voice lessons."

S156E1, "Situated in Scituate," aired December 12, 2018: HGTV episode description: "Two buyers searching outside of Providence are like oil and water. From the need for a pool to picking a design style, their wish lists just don't mix. But with four kids and a limited budget, they'll have a lot of compromising to do." Verde Vineyards in the adjacent town of Johnston is a featured location.

S156E12, "Picky in Providence," aired January 29, 2019: HGTV episode description: "A Providence, Rhode Island, couple wants to buy a vintage home. But while he appreciates the ornateness of a Victorian, she finds them creepy and would prefer the simplicity of a Craftsman."

Believe it or not, there's more of this incredible edge-of-your-seat drama just waiting to be seen. With several seasons being chucked in the can each year, there are (as of April 2021) 199 seasons of House Hunters to look at.

(The WB, 2000-'07) comedy-drama series

The Providence Journal plays a small part in episodes 18 and 20 of the seventh season. Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) declines a job opportunity with the Journal in anticipation of a possible internship with the New York Times. But that doesn't work out, and when she finds out the Chicago Sun-Times isn't hiring either, she calls to beg for the Journal job, without success.

(CBS, 2001-present) travel competition series

Season 10 (September 17 to December 10, 2006), included father-daughter team Duke (of Narragansett) and Lauren Marcoccio (of Warwick). They were eliminated at the end of the third leg of the race. Duke is the owner and operator of My Little Town, purveyer of nostalgic ornaments and keepsakes.

Season 16 (February 14 to May 9, 2010), was won by brothers Jordan and Daniel Pious, of Barrington. Michael Naylor, of Warwick, and Louis Stravato, of Bristol, were eliminated in the eleventh leg. Naylor and Stravato are Newport and Providence police detectives, respectively.

Season 23 (September 29 to December 8, 2013), was won by Jason Case, of Attleboro, Massachusetts, and Amy Diaz, of Providence.

Olivia "Olive" Beauregard of Providence made it to ninth place in Season 29 (March 30, 2017 June 1, 2017).

As of Season 33 (2022), The Amazing Race has not yet filmed in Rhode Island. The only New England state visited so far is Massachusetts (in Season 17).

(Food Network, 2001-2005) food and travel series

The show featured the Ocean State in it's second and sixth seasons:

• S2E9, La Petite Auberge Restaurant, Providence
• S2E10, Fire and Ice, Providence
• S2E37, Agora, Providence
• S2E48, Chez Pascal, Providence
• S2E59, Scialo Brothers Bakery, Providence
• S6E4, Salvation Café, Newport
• S6E11, The Black Pearl and Hot Dog and Chowder Annex, Newport
• S6E12, Flo's Clam Shack, Middletown
• S6E14, Cheeky Monkey Café, Newport
• S6E16, The Chanler at Cliff Walk's Spiced Pear Restaurant, Newport
• S6E18, Aunt Carrie's, Narragansett
• S6E28, Castle Hill Inn and Resort, Newport
• S6E32, Castle Hill Inn and Resort, Newport

We actually learned something from one of the Castle Hill Inn episodes—in Rhode Island, "Happy Hour" is illegal. To get around the law, the Inn hosts "Social Hour" instead. Who says semantics are overrated?

(PBS, 2002-2003) health and fitness series

Episode 111, "Trails to Fitness," was shot in Cranston and Providence.

From the episode description on pbs.org:

Trail Steward Linda Heroux of Cranston, Rhode Island was 60 lbs. overweight and began walking at a trail across town. After getting tired of driving to the trail everyday, she decided to maintain a trail of her own near her house.

The Providence-based East Coast Greenway Association is a system of trails and greenways maintained all along the East Coast; ECGA representative David Dionne discusses their work and how long-distance trails are sure to be the recreation of the future.

A visit to Providence, Rhode Island which has made a remarkable comeback in recent years. Its revitalized waterfront is a lovely place to walk.

(Fox, 2002—) talent search series

Season eleven included South Kingstown singer Erika Van Pelt, who made it to tenth place before being eliminated on March 22, 2012. Her first appearance was in the second episode during auditions in Pittsburgh, which aired July 15, 2011. The episode prior to her elimination included a profile of Erika that showed her home in the Green Hill neighborhood of South Kingstown and a shot of Wakefield's Main Street.

(ABC, 2002—) reality series

Warwick resident Krisily Kennedy (Miss Rhode Island USA 2003) graced the Spring 2005 (S7) season of the show, making it all the way to the final two before being rejected, in the May 16 finale, in favor of a nurse from Texas.

In one episode, cameras followed the twenty-five-year-old Kennedy back to Warwick for a visit with her family. Her grandmother, Kathy Kennedy, danced a bump and grind with Krisily, then advised her grandaughter that sleeping with the Bachelor (Charlie O'Connell) would give her an edge over other contestants. All right, grandma!

Here's how other Rhode Island contestants have fared:

• S5, Karen Lindsay, a former Miss Rhode Island (1999). Eliminated in week four (5th place).
• S15, Jackie Gordon from Newport. Eliminated in week six (7th place).
• S17, Lauren Marchetti from Cranston. One of seven eliminated in the week one rose ceremony.
• S26, Jill Chin from Scituate. One of three eliminated in the week five rose ceremony.

(Food Network, 2003-2007) food series

S5E4, "Chowder Festival," finds us in Newport, where perpetual eleven-year-old Jim O'Connor hosts a look at the 2004 Newport Chowder Cook-Off. Greg Davenport of Davenport's Bar and Grill, East Providence, talks about his lobster, shrimp, fish, clam, and scallop chowder. Bill Sousa of The Mooring Restaurant, Newport, shows off his scallop chowder. We see some second unit shots along the Newport waterfront and around the harbor, then we join Bill Silks and Todd Carreira as they harvest oysters. Bill Squid demonstrates quahogging. Then back to the festival, where Jim "helps" judge clam cakes.

The results: Chelo's clam cakes are the number one choice for the third year in a row. The Mooring takes second place in the Creative Chowder category, edged out from first by San Francisco's Blue Mermaid Chowder House. Davenport's secures first place for their Seafood Chowder, and in the Clam Chowder category it's Captain Parker's Pub from West Yarmouth, Massachusetts.

The episode aired on January 4, 2006.

(ABC, 2003-2005, 2008—) reality series

In S15E4, host Chris Harrison announces the location of the next group date: "It might be the smallest state in the union, but it's where the rich and powerful play. Okay, you guys are heading to Newport, Rhode Island!" The guys stay at Gurney's Newport Resort and Marina, and play a rugby game at Fort Adams with the Newport Rugby Club. Bachelorette Hannah Brown has evening conversations with the dude-bros at Linden Place in Bristol. The next day includes a lobster fishing date near Sakonnet Light, dinner at the White Horse Tavern, a concert at the Jane Pickens Theatre, and a cocktail party at Belcourt of Newport. The episode began filming in Newport on March 21, 2019, and aired June 3. Aardvark Antiques provided props for the show, including a pair of monumental lions.

Only a handful of Rhode Island contestants have taken part in the series:

• S6, Jay Resmini from Barrington. One of eight eliminated in the week one rose ceremony. Prior to elimination he was featured in a brief profile in which he visited his parents' home in Barrington, Barrington town hall, and the inside of a Providence courthouse. Resmini is a lawyer with his father's firm, Resmini Law Associates.
• S7, Michael Burns from Providence. One of seven eliminated in the week one rose ceremony.
• S11, Jared Haibon from Warwick. Eliminated in week seven (4th place).

(Food Network, 2003-'04) cooking series

Batali (or his producers) was sufficiently impressed with Little Rhody's cuisine scene that he slipped segments filmed here into at least three episodes of this short-lived show.

In S1E8, "Italian Snack Food" (aired December 10, 2003), Mario's looking for an Italian snack, and, among other places, he's drawn to Rhode Island.

The segment begins with a shot from Providence's Memorial Boulevard, looking past the Meeting House of the First Baptist Church in America and up the Moshassuck River. Mario's then shown ambling down Atwells Avenue, past Andino's Restaurant.

Suddenly the camera's inside a "no-frills joint called Caserta Pizzeria." Instead of saying "caSURda's," like anyone from Rhode Island would, though, he says "caSEARta PIZaREEuh" (rolling the Rs). It's rather disconSEARting, reminiscent of the way that normally white-bread NPR reporters in the '80s would refer to the conflict in "Nichhhhhhhhhoragua."

Mario's idea of an Italian snack is Caserta's "signature stuffed pizza," the Wimpy Skippy, which is really a spinach pie stuffed with cheese and pepperoni. Mario helps make some, and we learn that Caserta's goes through two tons of cheese and 500 pounds of pepperoni in a week—probably about the same as Mario himself. The secret to the popularity of Caserta's crust, says baker John Campagnone, lies in one of the ingredients. "Rhode Island water makes it good," he claims, somehow managing to keep a straight face.

Batali: Where'd the name Wimpy Skippy come from?
Campanone: Wimpy Skippy, they were guys that hung out together on the Avenue, because they came here so often, the owners, what they did is they named one of their calzones after their two best friends.
B.: One was Wimpy and one was Skippy?
C.: Yes.
B.: Cool.

After proclaiming "This is the perfect snack food," Mario then appears at Al Forno for some high-falutin', thin-crust, fire-grilled pizza. It's one of those places where instead of shaking on spices, they squish a leaf and drop it on the top.

We couldn't help but notice, however, that Mario did not try (or even mention) Rhode Island's own pizza strips. The Food network shall be notified.

We haven't yet seen S2E3, "Menu of the Day" (aired February 18, 2004), in which the Ocean State supplies the local backdrop for a preparation of seafood ravioli.

S2E4, "America's Little Italys," however, we have seen. It first aired on February 25, 2004. The Rhode Island segment starts with Batali walking along with the automated post office in the background (Did he mail himself to Rhode Island? In a big, big box?). Suddenly he's slouching down Atwells Avenue to Mediterraneo (closed in 2015) where they add "a little American flair" to traditional antipasti. In this case, American flair means deep frying breaded mozzarella with basil and Parma ham in a li'l treat they call "mozzarella in a carriage," (Which sounds way classier than "Cheesy Camaro").

Mozzarella in a carriage makes cardiologists cry. Won't anyone think of the cardiologists?

(Of course it should be noted that, Batali having been swept up in the Me Too wave of the late 2010s, one is unlikely to come across any episodes of this or any other Batali show rerunning on broadcast, On Demand, or streaming service. So these contemporary descriptions, complete with cringy fat-shaming japes, will have to fill the void).

(Travel Channel, 2004-2006) lifestyle series

One episode (S1E1, "Beach Homes," aired September 6, 2004) of this Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous knockoff, features one of Block Island's nouveau mansions, dubbed the Boat House by its owners, David Peters and Pam Hamilton. (It's referred to as "The Ark" on the show). David and Pam say they vacation on Block Island year 'round. While we don't doubt that they visit once in a while, the house, which was inspired by cruise ship design, is so spotless and empty it's obvious no-one really lives there. The segment includes footage of North Light, the Harborside Inn, Crescent Beach, Mohegan Bluffs, Old and New Harbor, Clay Head, and the Block Island Ferry, at least some of which is stock footage supplied by the Block Island Chamber of Commerce. The views of the island from the upper floors of the three-story Boat House are truly breathtaking. It's a shame we can't all afford to own such a home.

(CNBC, 2004-2008) talk show

Three segments of a feature entitled "Will it Play in Peoria," in which average Joes give opinions on new products, were filmed at Doherty's East Avenue Irish Pub, 324 East Avenue, Pawtucket. The Modern Diner was the first choice for a location, but it proved to be too small. The segments aired on March 24, 25 and 27, 2008.

(WE TV, 2004-'13, 2018-) reality series

In S1E3 (aired June 21, 2004), New York couple Brooke and Charlie spend $250,000 getting married on Block Island, which the snotty, faux-posh narrator claims is "five miles off the coast of Connecticut." It's not really fair to call Brooke a Bridezilla, though, as this episode primarily features the wedding planner, Kate, and her cell phone.

Highlights of the three-day event include a clambake near the visitors' center with brie and raspberries, an imported French videographer having a hissy fit, and the last-minute chartering of a plane to deliver the disappointing wedding cake. The reception itself takes place at the Spring House hotel.

(Food Network, 2005) travelogue

Using Providence's Johnson & Wales University Culinary Museum and Archives as a base, Al visits a number of diners around the country in this Food Network special (episode ARSP16). One of the featured diners is Pawtucket's Modern Diner, owned by 1977 Johnson & Wales graduate Nick Demou.

As of August 2005 the museum was showing the episode on a continuous loop as part of their Diners: Still Cookin' in the 21st Century exhibit. (The Museum closed permanently on February 27, 2017).

(History Channel, 2005) documentary series

An episode entitled "Counterfeit King" takes a look at Louis B. Colavecchio, a former North Providence tool-and-die maker who used his skills for evil. In 1996 he fashioned counterfeit slot machine tokens that were almost as good as the real thing, and used and distributed them in casinos in New Jersey and New England. He was arrested in Caesars Atlantic City Hotel Casino in December 1996 by the FBI and New Jersey State Police, and earned himself a twenty-seven-month federal sentence.

The episode first aired on April 5, 2005.

Upon his release from prison Colavecchio seemed to go straight for a while, running a business fabricating metal orthotic devices, but in November 2006 he was again arrested for allegedly making dummy slot machine tokens. Rhode Island State Police held an auction of his counterfeiting machinery in September 2008. Colavecchio, out on bail at the time, told a Providence Journal reporter that he might attend, saying, "I could tell [potential buyers] a lot of stuff. They may know how it works, but it's been, let me say, 'modified'... so some things are not exactly as they seem." No word on if the machinery sold, or to whom.

(G4, 2006) animation series

This was a one-hour animation block bracketed by live action spots, and apparently (according to IMDB), some of those live action spots were shot at Club Ultra, 172 Pine Street, Providence, and the Providence Public Library. The show was produced by Pawtucket-based Hasbro, and was essentially a one-hour commercial for their Transformers and G.I. Joe properties.

(Showtime, 2006-'09) drama series

Originally to be called Southie, then The Hill, Brotherhood is the first television series to be filmed entirely in Rhode Island. Shooting for the pilot began in Providence on August 30, 2004. Once the show was picked up, the remainder of the season was filmed between July 6 and November 16, 2005.

The number of recognizable locations and references used in this series is unprecedented in Rhode Island television history. It was said by at least one commentator that Providence amounted to a separate and distinct character in the NBC series Providence, but if the city was a bit player on that show, it's a headliner in Brotherhood, and the part it's playing is a dark one. Many have complained that it's just wrong that the show should be about Irish politicians and gangsters on "The Hill," when locals all know that Providence's Federal Hill was the home of the New England Italian Mafia for several decades. But we think grousing that Providence is playing against type is like complaining that Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't really an indestructible assassin robot from the future. Besides, the other location option was Toronto, so why not suspend your disbelief and enjoy the show?

The story centers around two Irish-American brothers, Tommy and Michael Caffee (Jason Clarke and Jason Isaacs)—one an up-and-coming politician, the other an ambitious gangster. The parallels with real-life brothers William and James J. "Whitey" Bulger of Boston are inescapable. As different as their life paths may seem, the Showtime series paints the brothers as very much alike, with each displaying varying shades of good and evil behavior.

A sneak preview of the pilot episode was given at Avon Cinema on Thayer Street on June 26, 2006, and the first season of the show began its run on Showtime on July 7, 2006. As of October 2006 (end of season one) it was estimated that Brotherhood had brought as much as $40 million to the local economy.

So much of Brotherhood's world is intertwined with the real world of Providence and Rhode Island that we decided to give it its own page. Visit The World of Brotherhood and explore.

(PBS, 2007) documentary

The longest-running Independence Day celebration in the nation gets the documentary treatment in this film produced by Bristol native Mary Lou Palumbo. Interviews, vintage photographs, and archival film bring the old days of the parade, the Miss Fourth of July Pageant, the July Ball, and other associated events to life. Bristol's Fourth of July premiered on Rhode Island PBS on July 1, 2007.

(BBC2, 2008) documentary mini-series

This four-part BBC miniseries explores American history in the context of the run-up to the 2008 presidential election. Part three, "American Fervour," delves into how "faith has shaped American political life." One of the filming locations is Touro Synagogue in Newport, the oldest surviving Jewish synagogue building in the United States. The four episodes ran on October 10, 17, 24, and 31, 2008 in the U.K., and combined into two parts on BBC America on January 19 and 20, 2009, in the U.S..

(PBS, 2008) documentary

Follows the stories of aging members of five Rhode Island families and how they are being cared for in their declining years. Featured locations include Brown University Center for Gerontology and Health Care Research, Providence; The Miriam Hospital, Providence; Rhode Island Hospital, Providence; Kent Hospital Wound Recovery Center, Warwick; Mansion Nursing Home, Central Falls; Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Providence; and Woodpecker Hill Nursing Home, Coventry.

Original air date was April 2, 2008.

(Motor Trend, 2008—)

The 2009 Concours d'Elegance in Newport is featured in S2E3, "Duesenberg Barn Find," aired October 13, 2009. The event, which takes place at Fort Adams, is essentially an up-up-scale version of cruise night at the local diner, with the moneyed class showing off their classic luxury automobiles and competing for prizes.

(TLC, 2009-2010) true story series

Best we can tell, this series tanked after three episodes. The premise was simple: tell the stories of ordinary folks who stumbled across valuable objects. The Rhode Island connection concerns Michael Westman, who, with friend Alan Golash, purchased a pearl brooch from a Newport antiques store for $14. One of the two purple pearls turned out to be one of the largest quahog pearls known, possibly worth as much as a million dollars.

A quick half-hour taping with Westman took place at Consignments Ltd, 597 Kingstown Road, Wakefield, on January 29, 2010, the original store having since gone out of business. The episode aired April 18, 2010.

(Food Network, 2009—) food porn series

This show has celebrity chefs and other notables gushing about extraordinary gustatory delights. As of 2022, Rhode Island cuisine has been singled out for mention in five episodes.

In S1E4, "Sugar Rush," chef Alex Guarnaschelli extols the virtues of Al Forno's Golden Delicious Apple Tart.

In S2E8, "Crunchy," the Fried Clams on a Roll and the Fish and Chips at Flo's Clam Shack in Middletown receive acclaim from chefs Chris Cosentino and Beau MacMillan, respectively. Aired February 19, 2010.

In S3E3, "Regional Favorites," host Guy Fieri sings the praises of hot wieners from Olneyville New York System. Aired June 14, 2010.

The show doubles down on the Al Forno love in S8E6, "Voted Most Popular," when cookbook author and food critic Katie Lee enthuses over their Corn Pizza. Portions of the segment resurfaced in the second episode of the 2020 limited spin-off series, All-Star Best Thing I Ever Ate.

In S9E13, "Back to School," Beau MacMillan goes into ecstasies over The Super Boffa Combo (a two foot long Italian grinder) from Edgewood Market in Cranston.

(Smithsonian Channel, 2010-2019) documentary series

This beautifully shot series includes an episode for each state, and additional episodes focus on American regions and cities. Rhode Island's episode, E8, is forty-seven minutes of the Ocean State from the air, with a healthy dose of local history on the voice-over. As you might expect, the emphasis is on Newport and Providence, but there's a whole segment highlighting our many lighthouses, as well. The episode aired August 28, 2010.

The full episode is available for viewing on YouTube.

(History Channel, 2010—) reality series

The town of Johnston doesn't find itself in the spotlight very often, but at least one Johnston business was illuminated in December 2010. Several businesses, actually—auction barn, carnival, auto repair shop, and frozen lemonade truck—all owned by Paul Ruotolo of Simmonsville Avenue. The show was the History Channel's American Pickers, and the draw was several buildings full of antiques, treasures, and junk collected by Paul's late father, Thomas "Okee" Ruotolo.

Hosts Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz spent Monday, July 19, 2010, climbing and digging through barns and outbuildings on the Ruotolo property, eventually emerging with a 1967 Triumph Bonneville motorcycle, a classic Evel Knievel pinball machine, and an antique wooden horse racing game. Not everything they bought was shown in the episode. "They bought a lot of stuff," Ruotolo told the Johnston Sun Rise. "They filled up a U-Haul." Also not seen on the show: when production stopped for lunch everyone chowed down on locally sourced Italian grinders. Mike and Frank had hoped to attend that night's auction, but they ran out of time.

If you're searching for the episode it's called "What's in the Box?," from S3E3, and it aired December 20, 2010.

Wolfe and Fritz returned to the Ocean State in late 2013 or early 2014, having been invited to pick the cast-offs from the renovation of Belcourt of Newport. S11E7, "Frank's Holy Grail," aired April 9, 2014.

S14E18, "Frank's Birthday," found the boys picking a former Indian Motorcycle shop at 75 Benefit Street in Pawtucket. There they found memorabillia related to a local motorcycle club, Jesse's Roamers, dating back to the 1930s, and they brokered a sale of motorcycles and memorabillia to the National Motorcycle Museum in Iowa. The episode aired February 24, 2016.

(Fox, 2010) legal drama

Only six of this stinker's contracted thirteen episodes were produced, and so it only appeared on-air from March 10 to April 18, 2010. Did the show fail because of subpar writing and unconvincing acting, or because the cinematic style incorporated unsteady cams, fast editing, and loud dialogue to lend a sense of artificial urgency? Or could it be that, for a show that purported to take place in Rhode Island (but was filmed in New York City) precious little Ocean State authenticity was on display?

The series was created by a guy named Dave Erickson who grew up in Raynham, Massachusetts, but worked summers in his dad's Warwick, Bristol, and East Greenwich sub shops. The title character, Elizabeth Canterbury (Julianna Margulies), is "a rebellious defense attorney who's willing to bend the law in order to protect the wrongfully accused." No Rhode Island accents are heard on the show because, according to Margulies, "People would have said, 'Huh?'"

In the pilot episode a skyline shot looks nothing like Providence and none of the landscapes or buildings look remotely Rhode Islandy. The only attempts at authenticity are a Providence police car and a Rhode Island license plate on Canterbury's car. When Fox is referenced, it's Boston's Fox 25 rather than Providence's Fox affiliate, WNAC 64. Even the one Rhode Island town mentioned—Claremont—is fictitious.

(ABC, 2011-'13) drama series

The first season of this series—nine episodes—was filmed entirely in Rhode Island, even though the show is set in Philadelphia. Subsequent episodes also included scenes previously shot in Little Rhody, but the majority of the production moved to L.A. for seasons two and three.

Shooting for the pilot episode began on March 16, 2010, and continued through the end of the month. S1E1 includes the following locations: Fox Point Marina, north of the hurricane barrier (at 1:26); The GTECH Building as the Philadelphia County Medical Center ((at 2:58) this is a stock shot used in all the episodes; you can see the Weston Hotel next door, with three other buildings Photoshopped in, and Waterplace Park in the foreground); Todd Fleming's (Jeffrey Nordling) office is in the real-life offices of Providence law firm Brown Rudnick, 121 South Main Street (at 4:03; filmed March 20); Woman jogging westward on Smith Street (at 14:13); Mathewson Street United Methodist Church serves as an Overbrook halfway house (at 16:44); Aspire Restaurant, 311 Westminster Street (at 27:45; filmed March 23 and 24); the plaza at One Financial Plaza, outside the old Hospital Trust tower (at 29:33); the Washington Street exterior of the Providence Public Library as the Philadelphia Police Department ((at 44:50) another stock shot; variations of this view show up repeatedly throughout the series); the former Blue Cross Blue Shield building across Green Street from Cathedral Square (at 45:49); Megan Hunt's (Dana Delany) condo is at 100 Fountain Street—you can see the Providence Journal building out her window (at 57:00).

Also reportedly used for this episode (but not readily apparent onscreen): an East Side neighborhood; the Turk's Head Building; Burnside Park; the CCRI campus in Lincoln, and the Newport mansion Champ Soleil (filmed March 25).

The pilot episode premiered on March 29, 2011.

Once the show was picked up, production on the other eight episodes took place from late July to mid-December of 2010. Sound stage and production offices were located in a "former office building and lumberyard just north of Warwick Mall." Additional locations included Providence's Waterplace and India Point parks; the iconic Tri-Store Bridge on Clemence Street in Providence; and Marble House in Newport. Grayrock Mansion off Angell Road in Cumberland was used as a suspect's house (filmed July 23). Rehearsals for a scene with two women fighting were reported taking place on August 13 at the Todd Morsilli Clay Court Tennis Center, Roger Williams Park (standing in as Penn Hill College). Other sites filmed around the same time: Rhode Island College, Providence; Bold Point Park, East Providence; Iron Works Tavern and Twist, Warwick; and downtown Woonsocket. In S1E7, "All in the Family," the home of Maureen Lodge on Watch Hill Drive in East Greenwich was used as the scene of a murder. Blithewold in Bristol played the family home of a wealthy victim in S1E8 (filmed October 5). November 8 to 13 filming took place at Red Rock Farm in Foster, with horses and riders from Pine View Farm and Equestrian Center, Peeptoad Road, Scituate. The production was spotted filming on Empire and Washington Streets and in "a second-floor unit in the Cosmopolitan residences on Fountain Street... above Murphy's Deli and Bar" in Providence on November 16. The Woonsocket Call reported that S1E13 began filming December 3, with Pawtucket listed as a location. Since season one only had nine episodes, this presumably turned up in a season two episode.

One early episode included a flashback with a vintage 1970s Philadelphia police car. The prop was created in two days by Johnston resident Paul Ruotolo "out of an LTD that wasn't running and had flat tires." After its moment in the spotlight, Ruotolo displayed the car in the parking lot of his auction house on Simmonsville Avenue for a number of months.

Dr. Elizabeth Laposata, former chief medical examiner for Rhode Island Hospital, was a medical adviser for the show. S1E6, "Society Hill," features two married Trinity Rep actors, Phyllis Kay and Richard Donnelly, as husband-and-wife Jim and Suzanne Pollato.

(2011) web series

This started out as a 2009 48-Hour Film Project submission and blossomed into a five-part web series. The premise has a documentary film crew following the actors and crew on an independent film production. Most of the initial short was filmed at Optic Sugar design studio, Branch Avenue, Providence, while the fight scenes were filmed at Prospect Park. The web series was filmed in and around the converted mill building in West Warwick that served as 12 Guage Pictures' studio.

Links to the webisodes:
S1E1, "The Contracts," aired January 1, 2011.
S1E2, "The Scripts," aired February 1, 2011.
S1E3, "Becky, Take Your Top Off," aired March 1, 2011.
S1E4, "Internviews," aired April 1, 2011.
S1E5, "World's Best Episode," aired May 1, 2011.

(Food Network, 2011-present) dining/renovation series

S1E2: Chef Robert Irvine helps owner Jerry Porcaro bring Mount Pleasant institution Mainelli's (1366 Chalkstone Avenue, Providence) back from a living death. Providence Journal food critic Gail Ciampa had a part in the show and she confirmed in a column that appeared in advance of the January 26, 2011, airing that much of the episode, despite its veneer of "reality," was heavily scripted. For instance, many problems that had already been solved by Pocaro were trotted back out to increase the before and after differences; a scene in the ProJo offices with Ciampa was staged for effect; and menu prices were set by producers at about double what Mainelli's usually charges. Filming took place in August 2010.

Despite renovations and a revamped menu, Mainelli's closed for good in early 2012. An incident on March 5, 2011, in which a car crashed through the side of the restaurant and into one of the remodeled dining rooms probably didn't help.

(Cooking Channel, 2016-present) food tourism series

"...host Ali Khan... has just 12 hours to find the best deals for breakfast, lunch, a snack and dinner—on a budget of only $35." Here's what he found in S3E11, "Providence Eats," (aired September 20, 2017):

• Duck and Bunny, 312 Wickenden Street; Portuguese sweet bread French toast with maple berry compote. ($9)
• The Sandwich Hut, 1253 North Main Street; meatball grinder. ($7.95)
• G Pub, 61 Orange Street; stuffie ($4).
• Ogie's Trailer Park, 1155 Westminster Street; Everything But the Kitchen Sink Tater Tots ($12).

Total: $32.95.

(The Learning Channel, 2016-'18)

This series reunites family members who, through various unfortunate circumstances, have been separated for decades. S1E7, "Everything Your Parents Told You Was a Lie," features Benjamin from Providence, who's looking for his birth mother. Recognizable locations include the Rhode Island State House, Roger Williams National Memorial, the old State House, a view looking east on Route 195 (including the India Point pedestrian bridge), Prospect Terrace, State Street, a view of Providence at the head of the Providence River from Point Street Bridge, and Waterplace Park. The episode was filmed in autumn of 2015, and aired April 17, 2016.