Top 7 TV Shows That are Set in Missouri

Missouri isn’t your traditional setting for TV shows. The coasts believe that the Show-Me state is part of “Fly Over Country”. But there have been some successful TV series that have unfolded in Missouri over the years. These are the seven biggest by episodes and seasons.

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Mama’s Family: The Missouri centered show with the most episodes (130 from 1983-1990) featuring Vicki Lawrence as Mama. The show was a spinoff from sketches that Lawrence did on The Carol Burnett Show. Set in Raytown.

Superstore: Focused on the staff of Cloud9, a fictional big box chain store in St. Louis starring America Ferrera as Amy. It ran for 113 episodes over six seasons from 2015-2021.

Grace Under Fire: Set in the fictitious small Missouri town of Victory. The show was centered on Brett Butler’s lead character “Grace” as a single mom as a recovering alcoholic raising three kids. It ran for 112 episodes over 5 seasons from 1993-1998.

Malcolm & Eddie: Co-Leads Malcolm Jamal Warner and Eddie Griffin are roommates with opposite personalities that run businesses out of the building they own. A bar and a garage/towing company in Kansas City.  The show ran for 89 episodes over 4 seasons from 1996-2000.

The John Larraquette Show: Larraquette plays a night shift manager/recovering alcoholic at a St. Louis bus station. The show even used AA’s twelve steps program as themes for specific episodes. Lasting 84 episodes over 4 seasons from 1993-1996.

Master of Sex: Set in the 1950’s and 60’s the show focuses on the research and relationship of Michael Sheen’s “William Masters” and Lizzy Caplan’s “Virginia Masters” during their work at Washington University in St. Louis. There were 46 episodes over 4 seasons from 2013-2016.

Ozark: Follows the Byrde family from Chicago to the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri as they try to figure out how to get away from working for drug cartels. Jason Bateman and Laura Linney are Marty and Wendy Byrde, and they wind up in intense situations in mid-Missouri. The Netflix show ran for 44 episodes over 4 seasons from 2017-2022.

There are many other TV series that take place in the Show-Me state, including Defiance, On Our Own, AfterMash and currently the “reality” show The McBee Dynasty. Also don’t miss the mini-series set in Missouri: The Act, Sharp Objects and The Thing About Pam.