New TV Show Set in Minnesota Is Now Renewed For Second Season

It only premiered on screens across the country back in January, but a new national TV drama set right here in Minnesota has just been renewed for a second season.

If it seems to you like there are more TV shows and series that get cancelled than get renewed, you're not wrong. Industry insiders say that only about 20 percent of new shows and series get picked up (as they say in the industry) and are renewed for another season. But this new TV drama series set in Minnesota just made the cut for a big season two.

It's been a while since the North Star State has been the setting for a network TV show. Over the years, Minnesota has had its share of famous moments, courtesy of TV and movies, though. The classic movie filmed and set in our backyard-- Grumpy Old Men-- just celebrated its 31st anniversary over the holidays last year. As did another 90s classic, The Mighty Ducks.

Minnesota characters were also front and center in TV shows more recently too. If you watched the sitcom How I Met Your Mother, which ran from 2005 to 2014, you already know that the character of Marshal Ericksen was a proud native of St. Cloud, Minnesota.

SEE ALSO: This Classic TV Commercial Was Produced Here in Minnesota

And now, the Fox series Doc, which premiered in January and airs Tuesday at 8 pm CST, is the latest show to be set here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. It's based on the adventures of Dr. Amy Elias, the Chief of Internal and Family Medicine at the completely fictional 'Westside Hospital' in Minneapolis.

After premiering on January 7th, the show has now aired eight of its 10-episode first season. And according to TV Line, Doc has just been renewed for a huge, 22-episode second season. The show has already become 'Fox’s most-watched entertainment program of the 2024-25 TV season,' TV Line reported.

This is good news for Minnesota because, so far, Doc has been fairly accurate in its portrayal of our fair state. While the show is actually shot on location in Toronto, it DOES contain the establishing shots of Minneapolis, which are used to give viewers a sense of place. I've seen both sweeping panoramic daytime and nighttime shots of the Minneapolis skyline used so far.

It also appears the Doc writing team has a Minnesota native on staff, or someone familiar with the Bold North, who created several different local references that have been accurate to our state. Episode 7 (S1 E7 'Secrets And Lies') included a new reference to Prince and tours of his former home and recording studio at Paisley Park, as well as the classic Minneapolis record store, Electric Fetus:

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Previous Doc episodes have also included several accurate references to our fair state, including:

• In Episode 4, the plot concerns the treatment of a Marine and includes a reference to Fort McCoy, the US Army's Total Force Training Center near Sparta, Wisconsin.
• In Episode 4, a conversation mentions not getting a reservation at Spoon And Stable, the downtown Minneapolis restaurant created by James Beard Award-winning chef Gavin Kaysen.
• Also in Episode 4, a patient being treated says she's a professor at the University of Minnesota-- and the writers were familiar enough with Minnesota to call it the 'U of M.'
• A flashback scene of a school field trip in Episode 4 shows a school bus with 'Minneapolis Public Schools' written on the side.

Doc does get a few things incorrect, however. In addition to creating the fictitious Westside Hospital, Episode 3 sees Dr. Elias travel to a warehouse in 'Dobbs, Minnesota' which is portrayed as a small town near the Twin Cities. But, there doesn't appear to be any actual city or town with that name in Minnesota.

Then, in Episode 4, Dr. Elias and her ex-husband head to the museum where their son's field trip took place. The Museum is called 'The Franklin,' but again, there doesn't appear to be any actual museum in Minnesota with that name.

Overall, for a show that isn't filmed here and doesn't have any Minnesota natives in the cast, it's done a pretty good job so far in accurately portraying our fair state. Let's hope they keep those Minnesota references coming in Season 2. While not in this show, our state does have its share of famous residents. Keep scrolling to check them out and see where they went to high school here in the Bold North!

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