Why the Bundys lived in Chicago (and not Los Angeles)

A question I get a lot is: “Why Chicago?” Why didn’t the Bundys live in L.A. like every other sitcom family, or New York, or any of the big TV cities? There’s a good reason – and it says everything about the show’s tone.

Michael Moye and Ron Leavitt were very deliberate about the setting. They didn’t want a glamorous city. They didn’t want palm trees in the background. They didn’t want a coastal vibe. They wanted the Bundys to live in a place that felt real, grounded, working-class, and unchanged by Hollywood gloss.

Chicago was perfect.

It represented the American middle (and lower-middle) class. People who worked hard, didn’t get much credit, and lived in houses with small yards and old couches. The weather wasn’t ideal. The jobs weren’t glamorous. The neighborhoods had character – sometimes too much of it. That’s exactly where Al Bundy belonged.

Chicago made everything believable. A guy selling women’s shoes in a mall? Chicago. A family arguing about money, scraping by, dealing with annoying neighbors and dumb luck? Chicago. A dad who peaked in high school? Chicago, baby.

Even though we filmed in Los Angeles, the spirit of Chicago was always part of the show. It grounded the absurdity. It made the Bundys feel like a family you might actually know – or be related to. It kept the comedy connected to real life, even when the episodes went completely nuts.

And honestly? It gave the show grit.

If we’d lived anywhere else, it wouldn’t have been the same show. Someday I still want to visit the house that they used as the exterior of our house in the opening credits. It’s somewhere in the Chicago suburbs.