7 TV Shows That Spotlight Minnesota

“The Mary Tyler Moore Show” was required viewing throughout the 1970s. Moore’s character of Mary Richards was a TV first: an independent career woman who led the fictional WJM newsroom and its "Six O'Clock News" segments. 

Minneapolis is a major piece of the show, with Lake of the Isles, Richards’ apartment, and an infamous hat toss sequence that was commemorated with a Nicollet Mall statue in 2002. The hat toss that symbolized Richards’ fresh start took place in 1970 at the corner of Nicollet Avenue and 7th Street, just outside of Donaldson’s department store, which burned down in the Thanksgiving Day fire of 1982. Today the statue marks a memorable TV event that’s been parodied by everyone from “The Simpsons” to Oprah Winfrey.

The courtyard at Basil's Restaurant in IDS Center makes a famous appearance as Moore dines in the opening sequence. Meanwhile, external apartment shots took place at 2104 Kenwood Parkway, a real-life private residence. During the show’s initial run, its owner famously put up signs to discourage tourists from visiting.

Minnesota natives Ethan and Joel Coen puzzled audiences with their 1996 film "Fargo", which was set largely in Brainerd despite its North Dakota-based title. The hit TV series captures the Coens’ quirky, dark take on small-town life, moving each season to a new Minnesota locale: season one in Bemidji , season two in southwest Luverne, and season three in St. Cloud, Eden Valley, and Eden Prairie.

Season five shifts to Scandia, a charming town with strong Nordic roots. While filmed elsewhere, it nods to local landmarks like the Gammelgården Museum, an open-air site dedicated to preserving and sharing Swedish immigrant heritage in the United States.

Though much of the show’s scenery features period-inspired homes and storefronts, Fargo brings real Minnesota landmarks into key moments. Duluth’s Aerial Lift Bridge plays a dramatic role in season one, and episode nine unfolds in the shadow of Bemidji’s iconic Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox statues. Built in 1937, these colorful giants have celebrated the city’s logging heritage for more than 80 years.

Netflix's popular reality dating show premiered in February 2025, featuring singles from the Twin Cities. During the season, they visited St. Paul (Como Park Zoo and Conservatory, BlackStack Brewing), Minneapolis (Parcelle, Puttery, Pryes Brewing Company, Bryant Lake Bowl, LUSH Lounge & Theater, Luna & the Bear), Robbinsdale (Travail Kitchen + Amusements), and Eagan (TCO Performance Center). The show also visited Nickelodeon Universe and the Mall of America in Bloomington.

Did you know Minneapolis boasts more "Bachelorette" contestants than any other destination? Fan favorites Becca Kufrin and Michelle Young put Minneapolis into the hearts of viewers with many dates taking place in Minnesota at spots like Target Field, U.S. Bank Stadium, The Bell Museum, Mill City Museum, and more.

Leslie Fhima, a contestant on the popular spinoff "The Golden Bachelor", showed Gerry the sights of her hometown of Minneapolis with stops at the Stone Arch Bridge, Mill Ruins Park, and the North Loop neighborhood.

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s nine novels inspired this long-running show about prairie life in the 1880s. The series was a hit in its day and still lives on in syndication.

Though Wilder moved throughout her life, the TV version takes place near Walnut Grove in southwest Minnesota. The small town of just under 1,000 people still celebrates her legacy today. The location of the family’s dugout home is just outside of town, and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum is in the heart of town, just off Highway 14. The museum also hosts a live pageant every summer reenacting Laura's life on the prairie.

The show was filmed on a TV set built in California to replicate the late 1800s environment, but the museum includes many scale models from the show and real-life relics from the Wilder family and her novels. There are seven buildings in total, open seasonally, that emphasize the pioneering experience through a mixture of family-focused entertainment, history and memorabilia. 

In 2025, Netflix announced a new series based on the “Little House on the Prairie” books. Instead of rebooting the original series, the series will focus on the original books.

“Coach” followed a divorced father, Fox, who reconnects with his college-aged daughter. Fox lived in a cedar-paneled home on the lake, frequently going for walks or going fishing when stress overcame him.

At the time of the show, there was no Minnesota State University, but many noted that Mankato was similarly close to the Twin Cities and boasted a university with a gold and purple color scheme similar to the Screaming Eagles.

The show played heavily on Minnesota culture, with references to ice fishing, winter  and a strong emphasis on core family. With a primary character who was a TV reporter for a Twin Cities station, it captured Minnesota’s urban-rural blend that connects over family, football and the outdoors.

Campus shots were actually of the University of Iowa (show creator Barry Kemp’s alma mater), but the dialogue was heavily Minnesota-centric. In 1998, after the show’s run, Mankato State University changed its name to Minnesota State University Mankato for unrelated reasons.

A play on International Falls’ motto as “icebox of the nation,” show creator Jay Ward spoofed the town with Frostbite Falls, home of Rocket J. Squirrel and Bullwinkle J. Moose. The cartoon variety show captured the Cold War era perfectly as the two title characters took place in the race to the moon, foreign espionage, and all manner of timeless buffoonery.

Besides boasting more freezing temperatures than any other incorporated city in the continental United States, International Falls is also home to stoic beauty. The Rainy River forms a natural border with Canada, where visitors can take the Fort Frances-International Falls International Bridge into Ontario and back.

Voyageurs National Park, Smokey Bear Park and the Bronko Nagurski Museum are all nearby. Bullwinkle’s native island of Moosylvania is completely fictional, though the show’s producers pulled a publicity stunt in 1963, leasing an island near Lake of the Woods and petitioning President John F. Kennedy for statehood.