Ditmas Park/ Midwood/ Flatbush

‘Girls’ using Ditmas Park as a stand-in for Iowa

lena dunham girls
The face you make when you have to settle for your second choice

Last week, we were joking about the idea of HBO using Ditmas Park as a stand-in for Iowa in the new season of Girls, the way cheap producers use Toronto and Vancouver for New York. We discounted it though, because we wanted to believe that Marnie’s character arc requires her to use kung fu. But, sadly, another dispatch from Ditmas Park Corner puts that hope to sleep, as they report being told that Ditmas Park is being used to rep Iowa. Looks like the “first TV comedy to recognize South Brooklyn’s existence” race is wide open again.

DP Corner mentioned the neighborhood’s stand-in status while noting that the show would be filming there some more next week. According to the site, they were told that not only will there be Lena Dunham Jell-o wrestling scene this season (o/u on number of thinkpieces it inspires: 14), but that the neighborhood is supposed to be a stand-in for Iowa.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that the show won’t be doing any filming whatsoever in Iowa, but Ditmas Park residents can also probably feel somewhat safe from a tour bus showing up any time soon, since places like Sycamore or the Purple Yam won’t be namechecked this season. Or if they are, they’ll be called things like “Sycamore Iowa” or “The Purple Yam of Iowa.”

2 Comments

  1. Saw them shooting in Prospect Park South last week on Albemarle Road in a house that was also used by Fringe one season to depict Florida. Love it! F- Hollywood, Toronto &.. Iowa? Love seeing so much production here in NYC and especially in Flatbush (which encompasses all ditmas Park, PPS and other realtor names) which defies not only location but time periods due to so much landmark architecture and preservation.

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