San Francisco in popular culture

Depictions of San Francisco in popular culture can be found in many different media.

Literature

San Francisco's diversity, eccentric characters, and geographic scenery have provided a backdrop for many works of fiction, including:
* The Bridge trilogy by William Gibson
* "Altered Carbon" by Richard K. Morgan
* "Angels in America" by Tony Kushner
** In the play and the 2003 television miniseries, it was disclosed that Heaven was located in San Francisco
* "Godspeed" by Lynn Breedlove
* "Bone (novel)" by Fae Ng
* "City Come A-Walkin'" by John Shirley
* "The Crying of Lot 49" by Thomas Pynchon
* "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" by Philip K. Dick
* "The Golden Gate" by Vikram Seth
* "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggers
* "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan
* "Maltese Falcon" by Dashiell Hammett
* "Martin Eden" by Jack London
* "McTeague" by Frank Norris
* "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac
* "Dharma Bums" by Jack Kerouac
* "Ransom" by Danielle Steel
* "Tales of the City" by Armistead Maupin
* "The Time of Your Life" by William Saroyan (play)

Non-fiction

* "The Big Strike" by Mike Quin
* "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" by Tom Wolfe
* "The Mayor of Castro Street" by Randy Shilts

Film

As in the case of fiction novels, San Francisco has served as a backdrop to a large number of films, including several deemed classic or influential.Who|date=January 2008 Films set in the city include:

Documentary

* "The Bridge" (2006)
* "Crumb" (1994)
* "Jonestown" (2006)
* "Thoth" (2001)
* "The Times of Harvey Milk" (1984)
* "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill" (2005)
* "Fog City Mavericks" (2007)

Television

Although the city is a frequent backdrop for many television shows, many 80s sitcoms set in San Francisco such as "Full House" were actually shot in studios in the Los Angeles area. Since the mid-90s, many productions supposedly set in the City by the Bay are actually filmed in Canada, most notably in Vancouver, British Columbia, a frequent double for the cities of San Francisco and Seattle, Washington on the small screen. Canadian provinces often offer attractive tax incentives and more flexible union regulations for production companies. "Monk" was shot in Vancouver before moving to Los Angeles, and only a few exterior shots involving San Francisco landmarks are actually filmed in the city. Similarly, recent short-lived series such as "Presidio Med", "The Evidence" or "Killer Instinct" were actually shot in the Los Angeles or Vancouver areas. The city of San Francisco has tried to counter this trend over the past few years by reducing filming fees and streamlining the permit approval process.

Fiction

Television programs that highlight the city and its people include:

Reality

* "30 Days"
* ""
* "Color Splash"
* "MythBusters"
* ""

Music

Video Games

The City San Fierro in is largely based on San Francisco.

San Fierro features Rockstar's interpretations of the Haight-Ashbury district ("Hashbury"), the Castro district ("Queens"), Chinatown, and the Golden Gate Bridge ("Gant Bridge"), as well as the city's prominent cable cars and hilly terrain. Several other familiar landmarks have been recreated, from the Embarcadero clock tower and the Transamerica Pyramid ("Big Pointy Building") to Lombard Street ("Windy Windy Windy Windy Windy Street"), and Scottish landmarks such as the Forth Bridge and the Forth Road Bridge. There is a district known as "Garcia", a tribute to Grateful Dead frontman and San Francisco native Jerry Garcia, and San Fierro's City Hall closely resembles San Francisco's ornate city hall.

In the "Carmen Sandiego" computer games, the headquarters of the ACME Detective Agency is always located in San Francisco.

San Francisco is a level in both "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater" and in "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4".

San Francisco is one of key locations in "Fallout 2".

Advertising

* Rice-a-Roni
** The famous jingle touted the product as the "San Francisco treat"
* Dockers
** In 2005, they started to print "San Francisco" on the Dockers trademarked logo.

ee also

*Hollywood North