For the past 17 years, metro Atlanta has been home to an array of films and TV shows, courtesy of its generous tax credit system.
Most are fictionally set somewhere else, such as Los Angeles (“Reasonable Doubt,” “Cobra Kai”), New York City (“Anchorman 2,” “Avengers: Infinity War”), Missouri (“Ozark”), Hawkins, Indiana (“Stranger Things”) and Wakanda (“Black Panther”).
But over the decades, Atlanta has also been the setting for plenty of notable and sometimes legendary films and TV shows. Some are historical (“Gone With the Wind”), some are fanciful (“Atlanta”), some are medical (“The Resident”), some are pure soap (“The Real Housewives of Atlanta”). While most were shot in Atlanta, some, like “Designing Women” and “Matlock,” were not.
Here are 20 of the most memorable TV shows and films set in the city:
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
“Gone with the Wind” (1939)
What makes it special: Shot in Culver City, California, this early era blockbuster earned critical accolades and remains the highest-grossing domestic movie of all time, inflation-adjusted. Based on a novel of the same name, its portrayal of Atlanta during and after the Civil War gives modern historians conniption fits, but the movie itself remains an enduring masterpiece of filmmaking.
Available to watch: Max
Credit: Bettmann
Credit: Bettmann
“Smokey and the Bandit” (1977)
What makes it special: After shooting “Deliverance” in 1972, Burt Reynolds fell in love with Georgia and filmed multiple movies in the state. This modestly budgeted comedy was his most popular entry, generating $126 million at the domestic box office, the second biggest film of the year behind only “Star Wars.” It established Reynolds as an A-list movie star and featured two sequels.
Filming locations: Helen, Cumming, Jonesboro, McDonough
Where to watch: Netflix
Credit: File
Credit: File
“Sharky’s Machine” (1981)
What makes it special: Reynolds, Georgia’s most vocal cheerleader at the time, heavily showcased Atlanta in this action drama. The film culminates in a shootout between the bad guys and vice cop Sharky (Reynolds) at the Westin Peachtree Plaza and includes a 200-foot fall by a stunt guy from the Atlanta Hyatt Regency hotel.
Sample filming locations: Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Peeples Elementary School
Where to watch: $3.99 via Amazon, Apple TV, YouTube, Google Play
Credit: CBS
Credit: CBS
“Designing Women,” CBS (1986-1993)
What makes it special: This sitcom set in an Atlanta interior design firm used “Georgia on My Mind” as its theme song and featured Southern professional women in a positive light. The series was filmed at Warner Bros. Burbank Studios in Burbank, California.
Where to watch: Hulu
Credit: Unknown
Credit: Unknown
“Matlock” NBC, ABC (1986-1995)
What makes it special: Andy Griffith, already famous for the classic “The Andy Griffith Show,” plays a charmingly folksy attorney with a knack for winning nearly all his cases. The series was shot in Los Angeles for six seasons and Wilmington, North Carolina, for three seasons. CBS revived the series in 2024, starring Kathy Bates, but this version is set in New York City.
Where to watch: Pluto
Credit: File
Credit: File
“Driving Miss Daisy” (1989)
What makes it special: This film subtly explored race and class through the lens of an unlikely friendship between a Black chauffeur (Morgan Freeman) and his employer, a wealthy white Southern woman named Daisy. The movie, which won Academy Awards for best picture and best actress, was written by Atlanta native Alfred Uhry.
Sample filming locations: Druid Hills neighborhood, The Temple synagogue, Agnes Scott College
Where to watch: Tubi, Plex, Sling TV
Credit: Zade Rosenthal/Twentieth Century Fox
Credit: Zade Rosenthal/Twentieth Century Fox
“Drumline” (2002)
What makes it special: Inspired by the early life of Atlanta record producer Dallas Austin, the high-energy film highlights marching band culture through a fictional historically Black college called Atlanta AT&T University. It also made Nick Cannon, who plays a cocky 18-year-old New York recruit adjusting to life in the South, famous.
Filming locations: Clark Atlanta University, Morris Brown College and the Georgia Dome.
Where to watch: Disney+
“ATL” (2006)
What makes it special: This is a beloved coming-of-age drama that provided an early glimpse of the power of Atlanta hip-hop culture and features Atlanta legend T.I. in his first major acting role. The story is loosely based on the life of Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins of TLC, who served as an executive producer.
Sample filming locations: Cascade Skating and Fun Center, Waffle House
Where to watch: Tubi
Credit: RAINFORE
Credit: RAINFORE
Stomp the Yard (2007)
What makes it special: Set at a fictional historically Black college in Atlanta, the movie features a troubled but gifted street dancer who finds himself in the middle of a tug-of-war among fraternities who want him to join their team for an upcoming stepping competition. Critics mostly panned the movie, but viewers embraced its mix of melodrama and dancing. Producer Will Packer was able to sell it on the heels of the success of the dance film “Step Up.”
Sample filming locations: Clark Atlanta University, Morris Brown College, Morehouse College, Georgia Tech
Where to watch: on demand for $3.99 on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, YouTube, Fandango and other services
Credit: BET
Credit: BET
“Tyler Perry’s House of Payne,” TBS, BET (2006-2012, 2020-present)
What makes it special: All of Perry’s projects are shot in Atlanta, and many are also set here. This sitcom was his first TV show on TBS, and he brought it back after he signed a deal in 2019 with BET. In all, the show has generated an incredible 378 episodes.
Filming location: Tyler Perry Studios
Where to watch: BET and BET+
“The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” Bravo (2008-present)
What makes it special: This show, in its 16th season, gave the world a window into how wealthy Atlanta Black women lived, generating reality stars such as NeNe Leakes, Kenya Moore and Kandi Burruss while turning phrases like “spilling the tea” into mainstream vernacular. It also led to similar shows like “Married to Medicine,” “Love and Hip Hop Atlanta” and “Little Women: Atlanta.”
Where to watch: Bravo and Peacock
Credit: Gene Page/AMC
Credit: Gene Page/AMC
“The Walking Dead,” AMC (2010-2022)
What makes it special: This horror drama became the most popular basic cable show of all time. The show even placed a wall around a real neighborhood and made it a fictional town dubbed Alexandria for several seasons in Senoia. Technically, the show was set in downtown Atlanta only during season one and a brief foray during season 3. Otherwise, it was set in rural parts of Georgia before the main crew fictionally moved to the Washington, D.C., area during season 3.
Sample filming locations: Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Westside Park, Senoia, Newnan, Grantville
Where to watch: AMC+
Credit: Quantrell D. Colbert
Credit: Quantrell D. Colbert
“Ride Along” (2014)
What makes it special: This comedy propelled Kevin Hart into the stratosphere. He plays a security guard who tries to prove himself to his girlfriend’s brother, an Atlanta police officer played by Ice Cube, during a 24-hour ride along. Made for $25 million, it generated $135 million in box office gross.
Sample filming locations: Elliott Street Deli and Pub in Atlanta, State Farm Arena, Underground Atlanta
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
“Chrisley Knows Best,” USA (2014-2023)
What makes it special: This reality show came off more like a goofy sitcom anchored by the charismatic Todd Chrisley, who lived in metro Atlanta with his family for many years before moving to Nashville partway through the show’s run. Its feel-good vibes have since been clouded by Todd and his wife, Julie, serving prison sentences after being convicted of defrauding banks and evading taxes.
Where to watch: Peacock
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
“Atlanta,” FX (2016-2022)
What makes it special: This often surrealistic series from the fertile mind of Donald Glover, who grew up in Stone Mountain, is considered one of the most creative and offbeat presentations of Black Atlanta. There was the appearance of a Black Justin Bieber, a foot race with Mike Vick, an invisible car and an entire episode featuring a fake talk show on a fake Black cable network with fake commercials.
Sample filming locations: tourist town Helen, Sweetwater Creek State Park, J.R. Crickets, Gas South Arena, a now-closed Zesto on Moreland Avenue
Where to watch: Hulu
“Baby Driver” (2017)
What makes it special: As a popular heist movie focused around car chases, the producers give viewers a grand tour of the streets and highways of Atlanta, albeit with shockingly little traffic.
Sample filming locations: Candler Building, Pullman Yards, Dahlberg Hall, Freedom Parkway, Criminal Records in Little Five Points, Bacchanalia when it was still located on Howell Mill Road
Where to watch: The Roku Channel
Credit: Photo: Mark Hill/The CW
Credit: Photo: Mark Hill/The CW
“Dynasty,” The CW (2017-2022)
What makes it special: While not nearly as popular as the original 1980s version of “Dynasty,” this soapy CW reboot featured the scheming Carrington family as Atlanta alternative energy business titans, not oil tycoons in Denver. It was part of an array of CW shows that shot in metro Atlanta for many years, including “The Vampire Diaries,” “Black Lightning” and “The Originals,” before The CW changed owners and left Atlanta in 2022.
Sample filming locations: Buford, Suwanee, Eagle Rock Studios in Norcross
Where to watch: Netflix
“The Resident,” Fox (2018-2024)
What makes it special: This medical drama, set in the fictional Chastain Park Memorial Hospital, is a bit like “House” meets “Grey’s Anatomy” by blending complex high-stakes medical issues with a dose of soapy relationship shenanigans. It survived six seasons on Fox and has found new audiences via Netflix and Disney+.
Sample filming locations: High Museum, Film Rockdale Studios in Conyers
Where to watch: Netflix, Disney+
Credit: STARZ
Credit: STARZ
“BMF,” Starz (2021-present)
What makes it special: The series is based on the real-life story of two Detroit brothers, Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory and Terry “Southwest T” Flenory, who start a crime, drug and money laundering operation and expand to Atlanta, then the entire nation. Season 4 returns on Starz June 6.
Where to watch: Starz, Roku
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
“Will Trent” ABC (2023-present)
What makes it special: This police procedural, based on Atlanta author Karin Slaughter’s “Will Trent” series of books, has built a strong fan base for its likable characters, solid writing and blend of drama and humor. Season 3 concludes Tuesday.
Filming locations: Based out of Eagle Rock Studios in Norcross, “Will Trent” shoots all over metro Atlanta.
Where to watch: ABC and Hulu
The best of the rest includes: Clint Eastwood’s “Richard Jewell,” Starz’ “Survivor’s Remorse,” Amazon rom-com “I Want You Back,” 2012 rom-com “What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” Netflix’s limited series “Man in Full,” Fox’s “Star,” BET’s “Being Mary Jane” and Bounce TV’s “Saints and Sinners.”
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