Series and shows that you didn’t know were filmed around the Smoky Mountains
It’s certainly a big deal when Hollywood comes to the Smoky Mountains. Over the decades, several big-name stars filmed movies on location in the mountains. But with current economic incentives, it doesn’t happen much anymore. Stars like Harrison Ford, Paul Newman, Ingrid Bergman, Bradley Cooper and many more have filmed movies in and around the mountains.
But TV shows? That’s a different kettle of fish. There haven’t been many big-name television productions done in the mountains. An exhaustive search of IMDB contains a lot of filler-type material. Sure, there are some reality shows about making moonshine or chasing the mountains’ many rumored ghosts. You also get a lot of Dolly Parton-based productions from made-for-TV movies to variety shows or a handful of travel documentaries designed to show the wonders of the mountains to the outside world. But with this in mind, I’ve sifted through the information and separated the wheat from the chaff.
1. Christy
“Christy” was the most complete and famous television production filmed in the Smokies. The concept was “Little House on the Prairie” for a new generation. “Christy” follows the story of a young teacher who comes to a small, poor mountain town where a culture clash ensues. The show ran from the fall of 1994 to the spring of 1995 and starred Kellie Martin. Martin had been a young star on the “Life Goes On” show. Christy also starred Tyne Daly of “Cagney and Lacey” fame.
I lived about 20 minutes from where much of the series was filmed so I can promise you it was a big deal locally. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a big deal in the ratings and was canceled after a single season. A TV movie was produced to wrap up loose ends to satisfy fans who were unhappy with the cancellation. However, it became something of a classic and for several years. At one time, there was even a Christy-inspired Festival in Townsend.
2. Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors (TV Movie)
This made-for-TV movie is the biggest hit of the Dolly Parton projects filmed in the Smokies. It’s based on Dolly’s life as a poor youngster in a large Sevier County family growing up in the mountains in the 50s. It’s an expansion of the story in her classic hit “Coat of Many Colors” about a patchwork coat her mom made for her at Christmas. The movie stars singer Jennifer Nettles and former child star Ricky Schroder as her parents.
Bonus points for me because the character actor Gerald McRaney, half of the brother detective duo in the classic “Simon & Simon”, played the pastor. But it was the young girl who played Dolly, Alyvia Alyn Lind, who stole the show in this 2015 production.
3. Davy Crockett
Part of the anthology series that began as Walt Disney’s Disneyland, “Davy Crockett” was a series split into five one-hour episodes running from 1954 to 1955. The episode “Davy Crockett: Indian Fighter” was filmed in the mountains at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. The series starred Fess Parker as Crockett and Buddy Ebsen, later of the “Beverly Hillbillies” as Crockett’s friend, George.
The series sparked a Crockett national obsession. The five shows were recut into a pair of theatrical releases. Parker’s version of the “Ballad of Davy Crockett” was the second most popular version that year. How popular was Crockett? In the 1956 presidential race, Estes Kefauver of Madisonville, Tennessee was the vice-presidential candidate supporting Adlai Stevenson against Dwight Eisenhower and Nixon. Kefauver would wear a coonskin cap on the campaign trail to highlight his mountain roots. Stevenson lost though, so there must have been a limit to the Crockett craze.
4. The Dollmaker (TV Movie)
This 1984 TV movie had a star-studded top-billed cast including Dolly’s “9-to-5” castmate Jane Fonda as well as another member of the Hollywood royal family, Amanda Plummer. The most surprising appearance? The band’s drummer Levon Helm plays someone named Clovis. The plot? Well, it’s set in World War II when a farmer leaves his home for a factory job in the big city. His wife Gertie is skeptical but comes along. When city life and loose spending prove too much, Gertie keeps the family afloat by carving handmade dolls.
5. Buried in Barstow (TV Movie)
Filmed in 2022 at least partially in Cherokee, North Carolina, this made-for-TV movie features Angie Harmon of “Law and Order” fame. As a bonus? A little further down the line is famed character actor Bruce McGill known for “Animal House,” “The Insider” and “My Cousin Vinny.” The plot? Hazel King is a single mother trying to protect her daughter from the life she once led while defending and protecting those who can’t help themselves.
6. Wrestling with Ghosts
To borrow a phrase from Sam Jackson’s “Jurassic Park” character, hold on to your butts. “Wrestling With Ghosts” started as a web series in 2017. It was promoted to a full-blown TV show on Intrigue TV. The show begins in the Greenbrier Restaurant where a paranormal investigator who has lost his team is dining following a “demonic possession” and ensuing fight. He then asks the manager about hauntings and is introduced to Big Luke Walker, a professional wrestler, former police officer and fellow employee. They form a team with another small-time professional wrestler, Funkmaster V, and explore the region’s haunted locales.
7. Scaly Adventures
We have reached the reality show/documentary portion of the list. This youth educational program lasted five seasons and 48 episodes. While you would think from the title and the promotional artwork featuring the stars holding a variety of reptiles that it would be primarily devoted to lizards and snakes and such. However, the show doesn’t limit itself. Season 4, episode 10 is entitled Appalachian Artistry and features lessons from a candlemaker, a glassblower and a blacksmith. In other episodes, they also filmed at Zoo Knoxville, Biltmore and on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
8. Outsiders Inn
This “reality” TV show featured Maureen McCormick – better known as Marcia Brady – and Carnie Wilson from Wilson Phillips and Bobby Brown. Filmed at the now-closed Christopher Place Resort, the Outsiders Inn featured McCormick trying to open a bed and breakfast with Wilson as head chef and Brown as entertainment director. Neither the participants nor the people of the mountains come off very well in this one. Let’s just say the scriptwriters held some outdated views regarding the people of the mountains.
9. American Restoration
A spinoff of the “Pawn Stars” franchise, this show is chiefly featured around Rick Dale, a Las Vegas-based business owner who makes vintage items like new. In later seasons, the show expanded the cast and featured locations around the country. In one late-season episode, they visited the Wheels Through Time Motorcycle Museum in Maggie Valley, North Carolina.
10. Alistar Cooke’s America
British-born journalist Alistar Cooke won an Emmy for this 13-episode series that tracked American history from the Colonial Days through the 1970s when it was filmed and debuted. We chose this series to represent the various historical and geographic documentaries filmed in the mountains.
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