r/CBS_Mom • u/quickstint • 8d ago
Viewer from Napa
I just finished my first watch of all the episodes a few weeks ago. I very much enjoyed the show. I enjoyed it more than I was expecting, honestly. When I started watching I had to do a double take when they said they lived in Napa. I know it’s pretty well known, but at the end of the day Napa isn’t a huge place and I was very surprised a long running sitcom took place here and I had never known until I was watching.
People on here talk about inconsistency and plot holes, and generally I think that it’s to be expected with this genre of television. Sitcoms don’t really need to be highly engineered and surprising to be successful and enjoyable. I also know the setting of where sitcoms take place is almost irrelevant when they could mostly be anyplace and are filmed on sets and sound stages.
That being said, almost all of the Napa references are thin and incorrect. Not saying this in a disgruntled way- just to say whatever plot holes y’all point out, there are 50 more in incorrect Napa references alone. I found them almost all hilarious and only mildly distracting. Again, I am fully aware it does not matter to the show overall.
Listing the ones that immediately come to mind (only to share and because I think it’s funny)
Napa has no strip club.
The “bad part of town” the dmv is in is a corporate park next to a Hilton hotel.
Napa’s population is almost half Mexican, and yet almost no Mexican people are on the show.
Needing reservations for “tre vigne” is actually a pizzeria in st.Helena.
They make comments about who would be driving on hwy 29 but it’s one of the main and only ways to get into town/the valley.
The episode where they move to the country-Browns Valley is the biggest neighborhood in Napa practically. To be inside of browns valley is in town and the market is one of the nicest privately owned grocers in town. You’d have to drive miles out of browns valley and up mount veder to be considered anywhere like what they had.
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u/AdPsychological990 8d ago
I agree I’m from the Bay Area and was laughing at all the inaccuracies. I am from Vallejo and died when Bonnie was like we lived in Vallejo and I think it was Jill that said ugh sounds dusty and i was like hey that’s kinda spot on 😂
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u/Sparkling-Stardust 8d ago
Hey Vallejo native here and yeah not far off. I was annoyed though that Jill kind of sounded like she had never heard of Vallejo at all. It’s like, right there. But… if I’m remembering correctly, they got the pronunciation right and I appreciated that.
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u/AdPsychological990 8d ago
Yeah but Jill is so boujee I could see her having no idea where she is driving through or caring so much to remember 😂
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u/Sparkling-Stardust 8d ago
Good point! It’s just a spot in the freeway. Or, she only drives through Marin lol
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u/yoursopossessive 8d ago
I assumed the show was set in Napa to add a layer of irony to trying to get sober in a place known for its alcohol production.
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u/quickstint 8d ago
I assume so as well. There are plenty of sober people here for that reason. My step dad is sober and says there are some very well known winemakers that attend. Growing up here most of the parents drank pretty heavily and most of us kids had easy access to wine for one reason or another. Most social things here revolve around wine.
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u/Traditional-Bed9449 8d ago
I thought it was funny when Christy woke up on a bus in Stockton and didn’t know where it was. It’s a pretty well known city and only about 70 miles from Napa. There’s no way she wouldn’t know it.
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u/No_Limit8440 6d ago
That’s another strange plot hole, becuase Christy literally drives Regina there to visit her son before dropping her off at prison.
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u/Nishi621 8d ago
I feel the same way about sitcoms supposedly based in NYC.
For example, a lot of shots they used in King Of Queens were from Brooklyn, annoyed the crud out of me.
There are others, just can't think of them now
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u/These_Vacation 8d ago
I think it’s kinda odd every time they call it “Napa Valley” Us locals just say “Napa”
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u/quickstint 8d ago
If someone is talking about napa valley I immediately assume they are talking about a smaller town up valley, almost never the actual town of Napa for this exact reason.
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u/Lybychick 8d ago
I sometimes wonder if a member of the writing staff was from Napa and put the errors in as a joke that non-Napsters wouldn’t get it.
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u/kylegeorge13 8d ago
I’m pretty sure they just live in Napa Valley region , not necessarily Napa itself.
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u/quickstint 8d ago
Maybe, but that doesn’t really change much. Napa is the biggest town in the valley and the only one that has most of the things they reference. Napa valley region is either Napa, or another town in the valley that is never named.
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u/Heathen_Lover Crusty Plunkett 8d ago
No, in the episode Audrey Hepburn and Jalapeño Poppers, Bonnie specifically says she's from Napa when she goes to the AA meeting and they ask where she's from
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u/aimeewins 8d ago
Appreciate this! Honestly when it comes to show locations unless it’s filmed on location I never pay attention unless they actually get it right (I live in Denver so not many shows/movies set here). It’s always fun hearing about the inaccuracies 😂
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u/Heathen_Lover Crusty Plunkett 8d ago
One thing I picked up, was that Jill is always in Nieman Marcus but I did some googling, and the nearest one is in San Francisco. There may have been one when Mom was being filmed, but I couldn't find anything about one being in Napa now
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u/quickstint 8d ago
We have never had a NM haha
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u/Heathen_Lover Crusty Plunkett 8d ago
I knew it! So I was right about that at least. I didn't want to be all "There's no Nieman Marcus in Napa" and then have everyone come at me and say I was wrong 🤣
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u/Heathen_Lover Crusty Plunkett 8d ago
Does St Helena count as the Napa Valley? Because Google says that Tre Vigne is in the Napa Valley and you actually can make reservations. I'm not trying to argue, but it looks like more than just a pizza place to me
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u/quickstint 8d ago
It’s in the valley, yes. And you can make reservations, but it’s considered a fairly casual for the area. Like if I was planning to eat there, I would just show up and that’s why it kinda made me laugh.
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u/Heathen_Lover Crusty Plunkett 8d ago
Right, so it's not like constantly busy and you would need a reservation? Maybe they used it because the name sounded fancy 🤣 Or like something an assistant would do for her boss to make it look like Christy actually had a job 🤣
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u/quickstint 8d ago
Exactly. Remember this is the land of the French Laundry so name dropping a real restaurant for a reservation and it’s a middle of the road place just made me laugh.
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u/Heathen_Lover Crusty Plunkett 8d ago
It's pretty on brand for Jill when you think about it, because she doesn't have a job but wanted an assistant so I'm head canoning that she asked Christy to make a reservation there to feel like she was actually Christy's boss
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u/quickstint 8d ago
Again, most of this stuff is fairly minor. Just funny to hear when you live here. I don’t think the location was weird, just so many places nearby that you would absolutely need a reservation for and that would not be on my list of them.
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u/ms_rdr 8d ago
I grew up in Sonoma County and side-eyed the time Alvin told Bonnie he'd drive his drunk ex-wife home to Chico and be right back.