Have you ever been in the middle of watching a TV show when, all of a sudden, one of its sets struck you as oddly familiar? This has an explanation: possibly, the show was actually using the sets of some other popular TV series. Making a TV production isn’t easy and can be very expensive, and the expenses associated with creating a project from scratch can easily turn into thrown-away money if the production fails to impress the audience. Sets represent a significant part of a TV show’s identity, and building them takes up a substantial portion of any production’s budget.
Naturally, many productions need custom-built sets that have to be constructed exclusively for them. But sometimes, producers manage to save some of their budget by reusing sets from other popular TV series, either for the entire production or for a few scenes (such was the case, for example, between The Office and Scrubs). Over time, shows of all kinds have been doing this to save money, which is how sets from some of television’s most iconic series ended up appearing in other popular shows. Take a look at 15 instances below.
15 Desperate Housewives (2004-2012)
Same Set as The Munsters (1964-1966)
2004 marked the premiere of Desperate Housewives, an ABC show that aired for eight seasons following the convoluted lives of a group of women on Wisteria Lane. This popular show was shot at Universal Studios Hollywood’s backlot, and in order to create Wisteria Lane they used a set known as Colonial Street.
Oddly enough, the same set was home to the legendary mansion from the 1960s sitcom The Munsters, which was located at 1313 Mockingbird Lane in Mockingbird Heights. Although the ABC show initially avoided featuring the mansion, they eventually modified it and included it in a few episodes. Stream on Hulu
14 One Tree Hill (2003-2012)
Same Set as Dawson’s Creek (1998-2003)
One Tree Hill premiered in 2003 to chronicle the story of two half-brothers from Tree Hill, North Carolina, and their group of friends. A few years earlier, Dawson’s Creek introduced audiences to another group of young people from Capeside, Massachusetts. Eventually, these productions grew into two of the most popular teen drama shows of the era, forever shaping television. However, there is one thing that One Tree Hill and Dawson’s Creek have in common that is not as well known to mainstream audiences: both shows were shot in Wilmington, a small town in North Carolina. Stream on Max
One Tree Hill
- Release Date
- September 23, 2003
- Cast
- James Lafferty , Bethany Joy Lenz , Paul Johansson , Sophia Bush , Robert Buckley , Austin Nichols , Shantel VanSanten
- Seasons
- 9
13 iCarly (2007-2012)
Same Set as Saved by the Bell (1989-1993)
Back in 2007, iCarly launched Miranda Cosgrove to stardom by making her a household name among teenage audiences. For six seasons, the show followed her adventures as a Ridgeway Secondary School student and internet sensation, and proved so popular that it was brought back in 2021 for an additional three seasons.
Carly’s school may have seemed familiar to the adults in the audience, as it was the same set on which Saved by the Bell, NBC’s late-1980s sitcom, was filmed. The iCarly crew also upcycled some of the sets from Drake & Josh, another popular Nickelodeon show also starring Cosgrove. Stream on Paramount+
iCarly
- Release Date
- September 8, 2007
- Main Genre
- children
- Seasons
- 6
12 Friends (1994-2004)
Same Set as Full House (1987-1995)
Friends is arguably one of the most iconic shows in the history of television, and it is still relevant two decades after the premiere of its final episode. Among all the things that helped make this NBC sitcom memorable were its iconic sets, replicated in many countries around the world so that fans could snap their photos in the places that their favorite characters used to go.
As it turns out, some of the locations frequented by this group of friends were also spotted on another popular 1990s sitcom: ABC’s Full House. Both shows used the same set at Warner Bros. although, naturally, it underwent major upgrades from one show to the other to create a completely different identity. Stream on Max
Friends
- Release Date
- September 22, 1994
- Seasons
- 10
11 Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)
Same Set as Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990-2000)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Beverly Hills, 90210 are two very different TV shows that managed to charm teen audiences in the 1990s with their storylines and memorable characters, establishing themselves as highly beloved shows to this day. As with iCarly and Saved by the Bell, the characters in these two teen shows spent much of their time in a school setting.
Certain people in the audience may have noticed that Sunnydale High School and West Beverly Hills High School, the schools featured in both shows, look strikingly similar, and that’s because they are the same building: Torrance High School, based in Torrance, California. Stream on Hulu
10 Pushing Daisies (2007-2009)
Same Set as Quantum Leap (1989-1993)
Over time, several shows shared sets even though they had absolutely nothing in common with one another, as is the case with Pushing Daisies and Quantum Leap. ABC’s comedy-drama show, following the pie maker who can revive dead people just by touching them, premiered in 2007, many years after NBC’s sci-fi TV series following physicist Dr. Sam Beckett as he experimented with time travel. Despite being very different productions, the two shared a common set: the Bradbury Building, one of the most iconic buildings in Downtown Los Angeles. Stream on Max
9 Gilmore Girls (2000-2007)
Same Set as The Waltons (1972-1981)
Gilmore Girls and The Waltons are two shows set in different eras that deal with common themes related to family and community life. The show starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel aired for seven seasons, following the lives of mother and daughter, Lorelai and Rory, in Stars Hollow, and was filmed on the Warner Bros. backlot, which featured an exact replica of the Walton family home built in the aftermath of a fire that destroyed the original. It is featured in Gilmore Girls as the Dragonfly Inn, owned and operated by Lorelai and Sookie St. James. Stream on Netflix
8 Glee (2009-2015)
Same Set as The Wonder Years (1988-1993)
2009 marked the premiere of Glee, a musical show produced by Fox that grew to become one of the most successful productions of the late-2000s and 2010s. For six seasons, Ryan Murphy’s show followed the students of William McKinley High School’s glee club, led by Will Schuester.
Over two decades before this hit television show premiered came The Wonder Years, an ABC series centered on the life of teenager Kevin Arnold and his family in the late 1960s. Not only were Glee and The Wonder Years filmed in the same location, but the institutions featured in both shows also shared the same name. Stream on Disney+
Glee
- Release Date
- May 19, 2009
- Seasons
- 6
7 Arrested Development (2003-2019)
Same Set as My So-Called Life (1994-1995)
Arrested Development and My So-Called Life are two contrasting TV series aimed at different audiences. Even so, they have a few things in common. One is that they were both canceled too soon in spite of earning critical acclaim, although Arrested Development did manage to return for a few more seasons thanks to Netflix. The second, is that both shows filmed their school scenes at Los Angeles’ Balboa High School, although in My So-Called Life the school was known as Liberty High. Stream on Netflix
6 Jessie (2011-2015)
Same Set as Wizards of Waverly Place (2007-2012)
Wizards of Waverly Place hit Disney Channel in 2007 to recount the adventures of the Russo siblings, turning Selena Gomez into a teen icon around the world. The show aired for four seasons, broadcasting its final episode in 2012. As soon as the production finished filming back in the 2010s, its set was repurposed to film Jessie, another popular Disney Channel show starring Debby Ryan that also ran for four seasons. Stream on Disney+
Jessie
- Release Date
- September 30, 2011
- Seasons
- 4
5 This Is Us (2016-2022)
Same Set as 7th Heaven (1996-2007)
This Is Us is an NBC show created by Dan Fogelman that ran for six seasons following the life of the Pearson family, starring Mandy Moore, Milo Ventimiglia, Sterling K. Brown, Chrissy Metz, and Justin Hartley, among other actors. It received critical and audience acclaim throughout its run, and broadcast its final episode in 2022.
Among all the locations featured in This Is Us is the home of Brown’s character, Randall. Coincidentally, that same set was used as the Camden family’s home on 7th Heaven, The WB’s drama show that aired for 10 seasons until 2007. Stream on Hulu
This Is Us
- Release Date
- September 20, 2016
- Seasons
- 4
4 Pretty Little Liars (2010-2017)
Same Set as Gilmore Girls (2000-2007)
Over seven seasons, Pretty Little Liars followed a group of teens in Rosewood, Pennsylvania with secrets both dark and menacing. The show became a hit among young audiences and spurred the development of a franchise that currently boasts an additional four TV productions. The set of this series by I. Marlene King surely sounded familiar to many people in the audience, as it was previously featured in Gilmore Girls as Stars Hollow. In fact, this backlot set underwent major changes to restore it when it came to filming the show’s revival. Stream on Max
3 New Girl (2011-2018)
Same Set as Mad Men (2007-2015)
New Girl is a sitcom starring Zooey Deschanel that follows a teacher in her late-20s who, after finding out her boyfriend is cheating on her, moves into an LA loft with three men. Mad Men, on the other hand, is an AMC drama show set in the 1960s that deals with the men and women of the advertising business, focusing on the life of executive Don Draper.
Despite being completely different shows set in two different eras, New Girl and Mad Men have something in common: their main characters’ favorite bar. Both productions used The Prince, a bar located in Los Angeles, California, as a film set. Stream on Hulu
New Girl
- Release Date
- September 20, 2011
- Seasons
- 7
2 Star Trek (1966-1969)
Same Set as The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968)
1960 marked the premiere of The Andy Griffith Show, a CBS sitcom that, for eight seasons, followed Sheriff Andy Taylor and the rest of the townspeople of the North Carolina town of Mayberry. During its time on the air, the show was well received by audiences, and grew to become a staple TV production.
Star Trek debuted six years after this sitcom, becoming a sci-fi show that spawned one of the most popular franchises in the entertainment industry. Despite having nothing in common, these shows also happened to share a set: the iconic town of Mayberry was repurposed in Star Trek‘s first season episode “Miri”, where the crew of the USS Enterprise visits a ghost town looking for lost colonists. Stream on Paramount+
Star trek
- Release Date
- September 8, 1966
- Seasons
- 3
1 The Office (2005-2013)
Same Set as Scrubs (2001-2010)
Scrubs and The Office have a number of things in common: they are both nine-season sitcoms revolving around the work environment that launched their cast members to stardom and became two of the most popular productions of the 2000s. Furthermore, the two shows have utterly memorable sets: any fan is familiar with the nooks and crannies of Dunder Mifflin’s office and the corridors of Sacred Heart Hospital.
This is exactly why, for those who watched both shows, the scene in which Pam and Jim find out about their pregnancy rang a bell: the hospital in which they made the discovery was none other than the medical center used to shoot Scrubs, located in North Hollywood, California. Stream on Peacock
The Office (U.S.)
- Release Date
- 2005-00-00
- Cast
- Steve Carell , Jenna Fischer , John Krasinski , Ellie Kemper , Rainn Wilson , Angela Kinsey , Melora Hardin , Rashida Jones , Mindy Kaling , Creed Bratton , B.J. Novak , Ed Helms , Brian Baumgartner
- Seasons
- 9