L.A. Plays Itself: How Shows Like ‘Nobody Wants This,’ ‘Hacks,’ ‘Shrinking’ and More Are Honoring the City of Angels Right When We Need It Most

From its very first beat, “Nobody Wants This” spoke to me. The series opens with a quick montage of Los Angeles sights — palm treelined avenues, Echo Park Lake — as Haim’s “Summer Girl” (with its lyric “L.A. on my mind”) plays. From there, we see stars Kristen Bell and Justine Lupe as they stroll on a Los Feliz side street, just off Vermont Avenue.

“Nobody Wants This” isn’t the only Emmy comedy contender with L.A. on its mind. “Hacks,” “Shrinking,” “The Studio” and even portions of last season’s “Only Murders in the Building” shone a spotlight on the City of Angels. Other series in recent years that have done a great job showcasing the joy of living in Los Angeles include “Platonic,” “Running Point,” “Forever” and “No Good Deed.”

All of these shows pride themselves — justifiably — on heading outdoors and finding some of the more unique and hidden corners of Los Angeles. It’s something I strive to do every year (self-serving plug alert!) with the Great Los Angeles Walk, which I created in 2006 as a way to find fellow Angelenos as passionate as I am for exploring our city on foot. Every year we walk the length of an avenue across Los Angeles, from downtown to the ocean, always discovering new attractions, landmarks, architecture and restaurants along the way. (The 20th annual Great Los Angeles Walk will travel across Wilshire Boulevard on Nov. 22 — come join us and read more about it here!)

Los Angeles comprises 502 square miles, while Los Angeles County is 4,753 square miles — so it’s understandable that even most lifelong Angelenos have only explored a fraction of their own backyard. Part of my goal with the Great Los Angeles Walk is to expose people to a new side of their hometown, and that’s also what shows like “Nobody Wants This” are doing. Creator Erin Foster was born and raised here, but spent most of her life on the West Side — so shooting in places like Eagle Rock (where the character of Noah, played by Adam Brody, lives) gave her a new perspective on the city.

“That’s a part of L.A. that I really haven’t spent a lot of time in,” she says. “And so it was interesting, getting a feel for the neighborhoods. It’s got a real, sweet, small-town feel.”

Read more here.