History UsefulNotes / LosAngeles

* ''{{Cars}}'' - the final race is at their {{Expy}} of the Los Angeles Coliseum.

* ''{{Dollhouse}}'' is based in LA as well. Native New Yorker JossWhedon likes his adopted city as a setting.

L.A., Los Angeles, City of Angels, [[{{Convoy}} Shaky Town]] -- by any of its nicknames, [[OverlyLongName El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Rio de Porciúncula]] [[hottip:* : The City of our Lady the Queen of the Angels of the River of Porciúncula, the little portion]] is one of the world's most famous cities and home to much of the US film and television industry. Also gets bonus points for having one of the longest ''and'' one of the smallest place names in the world, and being the largest metro area in the US contained entirely within a single state.[[note]]The only one larger, [[NewYorkCity Greater New York]], spreads over three states ([[NewYorkState New York]], Connecticut, and [[{{Joisey}} New Jersey]]).[[/note]]

It has been described as the biggest ''small town'' in the country instead of its second-largest city. As with many cities in the American West, it experienced an explosive growth in the years after WorldWarII. With the rise of car culture at the same time, Los Angeles raced outwards in all directions, blanketing the land with {{Suburbia}}. To cope with the sheer vastness of the place, the local lexicon splits the megalopolis into a patchwork of neighborhoods and cities that don't legally exist. Of these, Hollywood is the most well known, but other examples are: Venice Beach, Century City, Encino, Sherman Oaks. There are also many independent cities and towns that both surround and are surrounded by Los Angeles, such as Compton, Santa Monica, East Los Angeles, [[{{Gayborhood}} West Hollywood]], and El Segundo. And the entire vast region of neighboring cities is often referred to as "Greater Los Angeles."[[hottip:*:People from the neighboring high desert to the north refer to Greater Los Angeles colloquially as "Down Below."]] Don't worry, it can be rather confusing even for long time residents.

Los Angeles was first built in 1781 as an outpost for travellers, cattle ranchers and the Spanish military. The town at that time was medieval-style, radiating from a central marketplace. Despite a tiny population, the town was staggeringly diverse[[hottip:*:This would turn out to be a CharacteristicTrope of the city]], and by the time of the {{Mexican-American War}}, it housed as many Italians, Chinese and Americans as native Mexicans.

Los Angeles began to decline in TheFifties as crime increased, inner-city neighborhoods fell into disrepair, and huge numbers of people fled to the suburbs.[[hottip:* : Because of its vast land holdings, population nominally continued to increase, but even today there's a '''major''' distinction between the suburban ''West Side'' and ''Valley'' and the more traditional, landlocked "City."]] Despite many civic improvement projects, things didn't really pick up until the 1984 Olympics [[hottip:* : Los Angeles is the only American city to host the Olympics twice; the first time being in 1932.]] the old rail system began rebuilding in TheNineties (construction has sped up ''significantly'' since the Great Recession) and people no longer needed cars in the inner city. Having possibly hit the hard limits of urban sprawl, the outer suburbs are now in significant decline following the subprime mortgage bust while Los Angeles and nearby cities like Pasadena continue re-building-up.

* {{Tool}}'s song "Ænema" is one giant TakeThat at the city which fantasizes about it being buried beneath an ocean. This song is an {{Homage}} and ShoutOut to BillHicks, as mentioned below.

* BillHicks, born in Texas, spent several years in Los Angeles and never tired of reminding his audience how much he hated it. ''Arizona Bay'' is a borderline ConceptAlbum which repeatedly comes back to the subject of how much better off the country and the world would be if Southern California sank into the Pacific.

L.A., Los Angeles, City of Angels, [[{{Convoy}} Shaky Town]] -- by any of its nicknames, [[OverlyLongName El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Rio de Porciúncula]] [[hottip:* : The City of our Lady the Queen of the Angels of the River of Porciúncula, the little portion]] is one of the world's most famous cities and home to much of the US film and television industry. Also gets bonus points for having one of the longest ''and'' one of the smallest place names in the world, and being the largest metro area in the US contained entirely within a single state.[[note]]The only one larger, [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity New York]], spreads over three states ([[NewYorkState New York]], Connecticut, and [[{{Joisey}} New Jersey]].[[/note]]

L.A., Los Angeles, City of Angels, [[{{Convoy}} Shaky Town]] -- by any of its nicknames, [[OverlyLongName El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Rio de Porciúncula]] [[hottip:* : The City of our Lady the Queen of the Angels of the River of Porciúncula, the little portion]] is one of the world's most famous cities and home to much of the US film and television industry. Also gets bonus points for having one of the longest ''and'' one of the smallest place names in the world, and being the largest metro area in the US contained entirely within a single state.[[note]]The only one larger, [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity New York]], spreads over three states ([[NewYorkState New York]], Connecticut, and [[{{Joisey}} New Jersey]]).

L.A., Los Angeles, City of Angels, [[{{Convoy}} Shaky Town]] -- by any of its nicknames, [[OverlyLongName El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Rio de Porciúncula]] [[hottip:* : The City of our Lady the Queen of the Angels of the River of Porciúncula, the little portion]] is one of the world's most famous cities and home to much of the US film and television industry. Also gets bonus points for having one of the longest ''and'' one of the smallest place names in the world, and being the largest metro area in the US contained entirely within a single state.

* ''SingingInTheRain''

* ''SingingintheRain''

* ''EncinoMan''

[[HollywoodCalifornia The film district]] is mostly in the [[ValleyGirl San Fernando Valley]]. Disney, Universal, and Warner Brothers' studios are all in the Valley. Paramount is south of Hollywood Boulevard, and Fox and Sony are also on the Westside. The non-filming parts of The Industry may, of course, be done anywhere, but KirksRock is conveniently located just a half hour's drive away.

[[HollywoodCalifornia The film district]] is mostly in the [[ValleyGirl San Fernando Valley]]. Disney, Universal, and Warner Brothers' studios are all in the Valley. Paramount is south of Hollywood Boulevard, and Fox and Sony are also on the Westside. The non-filming parts of The Industry may, of course, be done anywhere.

* Some ''{{Zorro}}'' series took place here. At the time, Spanish was the de jure language..

* ''PowerRangers'' with the city of Angel Grove, explained by California being founded by the [[AlternateHistory British]] [[TheBritishEmpire Empire.]]
** And while they had adventures worldwide, the Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive team is based in San Angeles.

* ''KamenRiderDragonKnight''

* Maybe this is kind of a reach, but... ''LALaw''.
* TheCloser

* ''Series/LawAndOrderLA''
* ''NCISLosAngeles''
* ''MenOfACertainAge'' is set and filmed in Granada Hills, out in The Valley.
* ''{{Jonas}} LA''
* ''{{Southland}}''
* ''{{Adam-12}}''
* Most episodes of ''PerryMason''
* ''TheLAComplex'' has fun with this; after Abby's AllegedCar is towed in the pilot, she becomes possibly the first major character in a set-in-LA series to use public transportation regularly. Note that the show is made by people who live [[{{Toronto}} elsewhere]].
* ''{{Cybill}}''
* The setting of ''TheBigBangTheory'' is nearby Pasadena

It has been described as the biggest ''small town'' in the country instead of its second-largest city. As with many cities in the American West, it experienced an explosive growth in the years after WorldWarII. With the rise of car culture at the same time, Los Angeles raced outwards in all directions, blanketing the land with {{Suburbia}}. To cope with the sheer vastness of the place, the local lexicon splits the megalopolis into a patchwork of neighborhoods and cities that don't legally exist. Of these, Hollywood is the most well known, but other examples are: Venice Beach, Century City, Encino, Sherman Oaks. There are also many independent cities and towns that both surround and are surrounded by Los Angeles, such as Compton, Santa Monica, East Los Angeles, [[{{Gayborhood}} West Hollywood]], and El Segundo. And the entire vast region of neighboring cities is often referred to as "Greater Los Angeles." Don't worry, it can be rather confusing even for long time residents.

L.A. is sometimes called the "City on Wheels" -- nobody walks anywhere in Los Angeles. Because of the decentralized nature of the sprawl, long work commutes of 50 miles or more are common. A nice advantage to this sprawl is that most houses will have at least a small backyard, and the climate lends itself well to gardening. Bordered by Pacific Ocean on one side, LA has glorious weather for most of the year, full of sunshine and trade-winds and relatively insect-free.

Yeah, you wish you lived there, don't you? It comes with a side order of bad air quality, the worst traffic in America, expensive real estate, and all the headaches that come with sharing 4000 square miles (~10,000 square kilometers) with over four million of your fellow human beings, all of whom want your parking spot.

It has been described as the biggest ''small town'' in the country instead of its second-largest city. As with many cities in the American West, it experienced an explosive growth in the years after WorldWarII. With the rise of car culture at the same time, Los Angeles raced outwards in all directions, blanketing the land with {{Suburbia}}. To cope with the sheer vastness of the place, the local lexicon splits the megalopolis into a patchwork of neighborhoods and cities that don't legally exist. Of these, Hollywood is the most well known, but other examples are: Venice Beach, Century City, Encino, Sherman Oaks. There are also many independent cities and towns that both surround and are surrounded by Los Angeles, such as Compton, Santa Monica, East Los Angeles, [[{{Gayborhood}} West Hollywood]], and El Segundo. Don't worry, it can be rather confusing even for long time residents.

L.A. is sometimes called the "City on Wheels" -- nobody walks anywhere in Los Angeles. A nice advantage to this sprawl is that most houses will have at least a small backyard, and the climate lends itself well to gardening. Bordered by Pacific Ocean on one side, LA has glorious weather for most of the year, full of sunshine and trade-winds and relatively insect-free.

* The setting of ''TheBigBangTheory'' is nearby Pasadena, home of the California Institute of Technology and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where the main cast works (Except Penny and Bernadette)

* ''EscapeFromLA'' is set in a dystopian future where The Big One (the next big West Coast earthquake, rumored to hit a 10 or more on the Richter scale, which is set to happen any day now) hit, splitting California in two. Los Angeles has become an island where those who break the laws of an [[OppressiveStatesOfAmerica America gone fascist]] are sent.

LA is sometimes called the "City on Wheels" -- nobody walks anywhere in Los Angeles. A nice advantage to this sprawl is that most houses will have at least a small backyard, and the climate lends itself well to gardening. Bordered by Pacific Ocean on one side, LA has glorious weather for most of the year, full of sunshine and trade-winds and relatively insect-free.

Los Angeles began to decline in TheFifties as crime increased, inner-city neighborhoods fell into disrepair, and huge numbers of people fled to the suburbs.[[hottip:* : Because of its vast land holdings, population nominally continued to increase, but even today there's a '''major''' distinction between the suburban ''West Side'' and ''Valley'' and the more traditional, landlocked "City."]] Despite many civic improvement projects, things didn't really pick up until the 1984 Olympics [[hottip:* : Los Angeles is the only American city to host the olympics twice; the first time being in 1932.]] the old rail system began rebuilding in TheNineties (construction has sped up ''significantly'' since the Great Recession) and people no longer needed cars in the inner city. Having possibly hit the hard limits of urban sprawl, the outer suburbs are now in significant decline following the subprime mortgage bust while Los Angeles and nearby cities like Pasadena continue re-building-up.

* ''BattleLosAngeles'': Ironically, not actually filmed in LA, but in Louisiana (which has the postal abbriviation, LA). Based on an incident during World War 2 when antiaircraft guns opened fire on an unknown object- the film is based on it being an alien aircraft, and the aliens coming back.

* ''EscapeFromLA'' is set in a future where The Big One (the next big earthquake to hit LA) went down and the city turned into an island that has become a place to send those convicted of breaking the laws of an [[OppressiveStatesOfAmerica America gone fascist]].

* ''EscapeFromLA''