This Fall, L.A. Plays Itself

After years of fronting for plenty of other series in primetime drama (New York, Chicago, etc.), Los Angeles has finally been getting its due in recent years. This fall's new ABC drama "The Nine" (above) continues that trend.

Exec producers Hank and K.J. Steinberg, who met with reporters last week as part of the TV Critics Association summer press tour, said they initially flirted with setting their show (about a group of nine strangers who bond after surviving a bank hostage crisis) in New York. But they changed their mind, Hank Steinberg told the crix:

It became very apparent to us that Los Angeles was the perfect setting for this show -- Los Angeles, a city of millions of people that are driving around in their cars and very disconnected. And this idea of nine people in Los Angeles winding up in this place through a series of fateful moments seemed very apt.

And it's incredibly fun to be able to shoot the show in L.A., having shot "Without a Trace" in L.A. for New York and having to look like this all the time and shoot around the palm trees and spend all this money to make it look different from what it is and have it kind of be a rough approximation of New York. This is so fun to go out there and explore all the great nooks and crannies. And L.A. is an incredibly visual city and is a perfect backdrop for the actual stories that we're telling.

Indeed, one lengthy scene -- a party in the backyard of a character's Angelino Heights home -- is indeed visually stunning (with the city skyline in the background).