They have to be in Florida


From my understanding, it's rather ambiguous as to where this show takes place, and has been debated upon for awhile. The only real logical choice is Florida. It would explain the climate (it's always sunny and hot, rains frequently, and never snows), and was made fairly obvious by Malcolm's comment towards Francis upon his announcement about moving to Alaska. "It's 5,000 miles away."

Also, their vacation with Stevie and his parents in the houseboat looks to be off the coast of south or North Carolina, and it would explain Francis' military school--which is located in Alabama--being far enough away to warrant a flight, yet close enough for him to find a way home if he desperately needed one.

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they say its an 8 hour drive to alabama when francis is at military school.

also they say harvard is 2000 miles away.

my guess is they have to be in texas somewhere maybe near the coast. (plus they drove to vegas once and i think it was a day trip for them so florida would be too far)

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It was also an 8-hour drive to the ranch which seemed to be in the southwest. In the episode "Buseys Run Away," Dewey said when it got cold the leaves would fall off the trees and spoil their hiding place, but in episodes set in December this didn't seem to be the case. Hal said it hadn't snowed in a year and a half so nowhere north.

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I always thought they were in San Diego.

When they go to the water park and Dewey gets lost, a lot of the places he ends up are very reminiscent of the California area.

I've never seen it rain in the show though or heard mention of rain, which would make sense in that area.

The comment about Alaska may have been an exaggeration. There is no Mamu county in Alaska, but I'm assuming its similar to Nome, which is close to 3,000 miles away.

There are two problems with it though, and it kind of throws the whole thing completely out of whack -

To drive to Alabama it would take closer to 18 hours, not 8. The thing is though, in some of the earlier episodes the distance seemed to be much further as Francis had tried to take flights to get home. In later episodes though it seemed as though he were able to get home in almost no time at all.

The episode where Reese is supposed to get on a bus to visit his Grandma in Canada and came back to throw a party. They said that the bus ride there would take 26 hours, and it would take another 26 for him to get back. None of the areas where they could potentially live with the climate and setting would fit in that time frame.

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The only thing that saves us from the bureaucracy is its inefficiency

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I've never seen it rain in the show though or heard mention of rain, which would make sense in that area.


In the second season finale, "Flashback," there's a flashback scene where Lois is in labor with Dewey and her and Hal are arguing in the backyard and it starts raining. The whole scene took place in the rain.

There may have been other episode with rain, but I just watched the "Flashback" episode so it's fresh in my mind

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In terms of the story, their location is supposed to be ambiguous and exists for the purposes of each show's plot. If we went purely by aesthetics, it's obvious that they live in Southern California, most likely a suburb in the Los Angeles area.

They don't call me Col. Homer cause I'm some dumbass army guy!

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“If we went purely by aesthetics, it's obvious that they live in Southern California, most likely a suburb in the Los Angeles area. ”
This

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It's pretty obvious that they live in CA. Look at the landscaping and houses on the show.

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I always thought they were in either Texas or Arizona. Both Vegas and New Mexico were a day trip for them and they seemed to always be very close to the desert and it would only take a mere 8 hours to be down South.

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They are supposed to be 1,000 miles from Alabama so draw 1,000 miles in every direction and figure which one would be 5,000 miles from Alaska.

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"they say its an 8 hour drive to alabama when francis is at military school.
also they say harvard is 2000 miles away.
my guess is they have to be in texas somewhere maybe near the coast. (plus they drove to vegas once and i think it was a day trip for them so florida would be too far)
When they go to the water park and Dewey gets lost, a lot of the places he ends up are very reminiscent of the California area.
I've never seen it rain in the show though or heard mention of rain, which would make sense in that area.
The comment about Alaska may have been an exaggeration. There is no Mamu county in Alaska, but I'm assuming its similar to Nome, which is close to 3,000 miles away.
There are two problems with it though, and it kind of throws the whole thing completely out of whack -
To drive to Alabama it would take closer to 18 hours, not 8. The thing is though, in some of the earlier episodes the distance seemed to be much further as Francis had tried to take flights to get home. In later episodes though it seemed as though he were able to get home in almost no time at all.
The episode where Reese is supposed to get on a bus to visit his Grandma in Canada and came back to throw a party. They said that the bus ride there would take 26 hours, and it would take another 26 for him to get back. None of the areas where they could potentially live with the climate and setting would fit in that time frame."

This is all made to keep the confusion going. They don't leave any hints, just a bunch of random information that is supposed to keep people guessing, just like with The Simpsons.

Brilliant :)


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Also it would seem to be near some coast as Dewey visits a pier in one of the two-part Baby episodes.

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OK

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That is true. Florida seems to be a breeding ground for crazies.

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