70's City of Champions era

It could use a frasier high brow sitcom but with characters who are all wild eyed artists living in the south side flats or north shore. All of them live normal lives, and of course have amazing lofts but paint and sculpt and make interesting observations about society today

I mean Red Foreman would be right at home in most 2022 Pittsburgh housing stock. He’s even got ENM neighbors!

And everyone loses their steel related jobs only to get hired back as contractors at 1/4 pay and no benefits so then up working two or three jobs and all the kids move to other cities for work. The 'show' is an empty basement.

But will the basement have the Pittsburgh potty?

The 80’s show. It would be a program for those who like dark dramas about sadness, despair and tragedy.

I think the 1980s

Ehhh, I’m a 90s baby/2000s kid. I don’t know if we have nostalgic shows for my generation yet or if enough time has passed. When we get to that point I think I could come up with something similar to The Goldbergs.

Yeah and every 10 minutes or so it fills for a few seconds because of a leaky seal.

Late 80s. Center it around Beth Snodgrass and her friends working at Kennywood.

And teenage girls with really, really big hair

Too real

It really depends on the vibe you're trying to go for. If you wanted something more upbeat probably the early to mid 2000's or early 70's. Something more depressing probably the late 70's early 80's following the family of a steel worker. Honestly though I really wish they'd do a Pittsburgh show that made even a half hearted attempt at being faithful to the Pittsburgh/Western PA region. Seems to me most media set here ignores the accent, assumes the culture is a copy of NY or Philly culture. There are similarities for sure, but most places around Pittsburgh have more in common with other Appalachian areas like WV than they do any east coast city.

Like him or not I personally think Pittsburgh Dad's short films would be great if they were adapted into an actual show or movie. Granted you'd have to make some references non Pittsburghers could relate to and appreciate. But I just wish for once Pittsburgh got treated the way movies set in places like Boston are treated and they made an actual attempt to make it seem like these characters were from here.

Edit: In all fairness though that 70's show was pretty depressing in the beginning under the surface level. The show is largely seen through the eyes of Eric so we see the fun teenage shenanigans he and his friends get into. But in the background the household is really struggling and everything is sort of falling apart from Red's perspective, until he gets his job at the supermarket. That said though while Eric is aware, and by proxy we're aware, he still gets to be a kid and is always provided for. Hell they even take in his best friend. So to some degree he never really knows how bad it got. So I guess if they wanted to do something similar in the 80's set in Pittsburgh they could and still make it somewhat upbeat.

Seventies

1940’s when the mills were cooking, downtown department stores had awesome window displays, small towns were alive with shoos, public transportation was fantastic and cheap, and no malls.

Definitley the 80's. Great growing up here during that time.