Camp Grizzly obviously wasn't a really long drive from Lawndale. But
at the time when Daria went there she hadn't moved to Lawndale yet...she
was still in school with B&B. The camp also must have been fairly close
to her home at that time.
Ergo, Lawndale can't be all that far from where B&B lived.
Now, we know that B&B were inhabitants of Texas. My guess is that
they lived in Austin. That's the home of Mike Judge; also, the hills
visible in at least one episode seem to rule out most other parts of
Texas.
I conclude: Daria herself must live in Texas. My guess is that
Lawndale is a suburb of Houston.
Thoughts anyone???
*grin* Actually I was thinking along the same lines, but I pointed Daria & Co. in the other direction--Dallas. Dallas is perhaps a three-to-four hour drive from Austin (I was stationed at Ft. Hood and would make the drive up to see my family a weekend a month), so distance-wise that would work. Plus I know it has snowed in Dallas (remember "Daria Dance Party" where it snowed), but I don't know that it snows in Houston, to be honest.
IIRC, there was an ep where Daria and Quinn had to "drive into Texas" to bail Mystyk Spiral out of jail. The clear implication is that Lawndale is not in Texas, but is less that a day's drive away from some part of Texas. What state could it be in?
The candidates are New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Obviously only eastern NM and Colorado east of the Continental Divide qualify. The Memphis TN area, OTOH, is also within a day's drive of some part of Texas.
I think we can rule out southern states and Oklahoma on the basis of dialect. I know, from having grown up in Atlanta, that many Gen-X and Gen-Y kids from the south don't "talk Southern," but the middle-aged southerners (of which I am one) can boast at least a detectable trace of regional accent. NO ONE in Lawndale has a detectable trace of a regional accent. This is another argument against Texas, BTW.
You'll also notice that Daria never makes fun of rednecks, cowboys, or C&W fans when she derides her Lawndale neighbors.
Lawndale isn't arid enough to be in NM, and the surrounding countryside is very flat, which rules out CO. This leaves Kansas and Missouri north of the Ozarks. I prefer to believe it's Kansas, or if Missouri then it's just east of Kansas City, which straddles the state line.
I think this answer fits best. I suspect, however, that the show's writers would prefer to remain vague about what state Lawndale is in. I once participated in a debate over where Springfield is in the Simpson NG. Jordan Bassior probably recalls it. The evidence proved to be very contradictory, didn't it, Jordan?
The episode was "Speed-Trapped", but I don't think a particular state was mentioned - only that they crossed a state line to get there.
It really can't be placed in any state. It can be placed in or near Texas only if several other episodes are ignored.
In "College Bored" the Morgendorffers take a quick weekend drive to Middleton College, which was founded in 1776 and has colonial artifacts and architecture - their tour guide referred to events from that era. So that has to be on or near the east coast, in one of the 13 original states.
The events of "Anti-Social Climbers" also appear to take place far from Houston or Dallas. (I lived in Austin myself for ten years and rarely went more than a month without a weekend trip to Houston or Dallas).
Lawndale's in the USA. Other than that, it's wherever it's convenient for the writers to put it for the space of an episode, when it has to be put anywhere.
I'm sure I would remember it if a specific state had been mentioned.
Suburbs, especially new suburbs in fast-growing metropolitan areas, can be remarkably lacking in regional flavor. I'm guessing you could find Houston suburbs in which an absolute majority of the population was born elsewhere than in Texas.
Hmm, yes, I hadn't thought of that. I'm afraid we have an unresolvable contradiction.
I seem to have missed that episode. What's your reasoning?
Myself, I hardly ever go to Houston or Dallas any more.
But we shouldn't let that stop speculation! That would be the intentional fallacy. Authors don't have the last word on their own creations.
I glanced over the episode transcript on Outpost Daria and also did a search on "Texas". It isn't there.
That's definitely true.
In "Anti-Social Climbers", there were high mountains with enough snow and cold to be life-threatening.
This issue has been speculated to death already. Lawndale can't be in any actual location.
It would be more interesting to do what one poster suggested for the Simpsons' Springfield - prove that it can't be in any of the 50 states, one by one. (Although that's a LOT of states. Too bad the show doesn't take place in Canada, which has only 10 provinces and a few territories. It'd be a lot quicker to do, eh? :-) )
I was suggesting that it be done for Lawndale, not Springfield.
And the Canada reference was a joke. Of course, a lot of states could be eliminated in one swoop. The vast majority of US states have no colonial-era Puritan-founded college, for example.
My best guess, if you plot all the points and take the "best curve" approach, I would guess Maryland or southeastern Pennsylvania (between Baltimore and Philadelphia). Here's why:
1) It's close enough wheer the Morgendorffers can take a quick weekend
trip to Middleton, that religious college founded in 1776.
2) Snow in the Appalachians during the school year (Anti-Social Climbing)
is not uncommon, especially during the second half of the school year
(season 4).
3) Hurricanes can strike the Maryland coast and the Delaware River
valley. Anyone remember Hurricane Charley as it skirted the Atlantic
Seaboard a dozen or so years ago (then Mayor Ed Koch said, "New York scared
the hell out of it!")?
4) It has to be close enough for Jake's mom to visit on a moment's notice
when he had his heart attack (did anyone notice a cabbie or any driver
toting bags behind her when she came in the house?), most likely near where
Jake grew up (refer to Jake's ghost story in "The Teachings of Don Jake")
5) It's a short train ride to New York City ("The Lost Girls").
I grew up in the Atlanta suburbs and lived in metro Atlanta for more than 40 years, and I agree that you meet people there from all over the country. However, you can't go far without being reminded one way or another that you're in a southern state. I always ran into some people in Atlanta that were southern, for instance.
Doesn't it strike you as odd that, if Lawndale were in Texas, Daria would mention something of the state's distinct character at some point?
Gleen Eichler's right. I hereby renounce my Kansas theory. Lawndale is Anytown USA.
The thing is, Lawndale has with easy driving distance of it:
Mountains high enough and cold enough for you to die of exposure and hypothermia.
The sea, so forget the mid West
An semi-arid landscape (Speedtrapped)
(Alomost certainly) A big city where most people in Lawndale work and where I'd guess the Mall of the Milennium is located.
A colonial college founded by Puritians.
Must be far enough North to get at least some snow.
Must be a reasonable distance from New York or Jane wouldn't make a bid deal out of scamming a trip there out of Val in The Lost Girls
Nowhere seems to match all the criteria. Last time this thread was thrashed out, some people seemed to ignore the arid landscape in Speedtrapped and go for a suburb of Baltimore. If you want to ignore the Puritan College and go for Houston, then I guess Galveston Bay is just as good as Cheasepeake Bay as a setting for Just Add Water. My opinion is a dormatory suburb of Boston, but I'm British so what do I know.
In article , herecomethehawks@hockeymail.....com (Kyle) wrote:
That ought to end the discussion, IMO.
I forgot about "Just Add Water," which would require it to be on one of the three coastlines. This rules out my "Kansas City theory." The Puritan college, in an ep I've never seen, would drag it to the East Coast. That's enough to confirm Eichler's statement that "it's not anywhere."
I'm new here, but I should have realized that an obvious thread like "Where's Lawndale" would have been brought up before.
Highland is in Texas. 3 days by car gets you up to 70 hours*60 mph=~4200 miles. Of course, if they only drove half time, it's 2100 miles. By plane, 3 days will get anywhere on Earth. Hell, 3 days can reach the Moon and back.
I think Highland is in Texas.More to the point, I'm sure this is indicated in Beavis and Butt-Head Do America. Hurricanes can hit the pan-handle region, mpuntains are near there, it's not to far from some pretty dried out regions, it's not that far from Eastern areas where Middleton must be located.
Hmmm. You removed my :-) from the "moon" comment. I really did intend that a joke.
Lawndale in Louisiana? Well, I can see "Speed-Trapped" taking place in northeast Texas or maybe even Arkansas. Certainly hurricanes come to Louisiana ("Daria!").
But there are no southern accents in Lawndale. Mountains with blizzards nearby ("Anti-Social Climbers")? Snow at ground level ("Daria Dance Party")? And a quick weekend trip back and forth to Middleton?
By the way, there seems to be an assumption that "Just Add Water" indicates Lawndale is near an ocean. That water could be one of the Great Lakes.
But, in the end, I still don't think Lawndale can be pinpointed. And Mr Eichler's statements indicate this is intentional.
----- Original Message ----- From: "MMan37x" Newsgroups: alt.tv.daria Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2001 6:24 AM Subject: Re: I think I know where Lawndale is
Louisiana
As an early and vocal proponant of the Lawndale is in Texas theory, my answer to the Middleton problem is putting it somewhere in the neighborhood of New Orleans. Yeah, I know, a 200-year old Protestant (much less Puritan) college in that area is a BIG stretch, but the distance from New Orleans to Houston is about right, and New Orleans was both settled and civilized 200 years ago.
Party")?
Mrs. Johanson has a strong accent that sounds southwestern, and there are often (as in "every two or three years") light winter snow flurries exactly like the one shown in Daria Dance Party. The mountain is a bit of a problem, I admit, but as somebody has pointed out, it's possible to prove Lawndale isn't ANYWHERE based on at least one or two episodes.
People keep saying, "the producers say Lawndale isn't anywhere," as if that somehow invalidates the whole "where is Lawndale" game. Actually, that's exactly what makes the game possible.
The really fun game is "Lawndale isn't anywhere". It works as follows: someone comes up with a possible location for Lawndale, then someone else finds something in some episode to shoot down the theory. :-)
I have a theory. It takes into consideration all episodes and even what the producers say. I believe that Lawndale is a mobile city. One week it will hover in Texas, another week Washington state, and so on. So, in theory, you are all correct. :)