Television treats Wisconsin a little nicer than the movies do. At least there are TV shows set here — even if, as on “That ’90s Show,” they’re fictional.
The small screen also kept numerous talented people with state ties very busy in 2023.
Comedian and actor Thomas Lennon, who grew up in the Chicago suburbs and now has a house outside Lake Geneva, did voice work in a half-dozen animated series this year, including “Rock, Paper, Scissors” and “American Dad.”
Casting director Ruth Lambert, who went to Nicolet High School, cast voices for some of the year’s best-reviewed animated shows, including “Rick and Morty” (created by Milwaukee native Dan Harmon), “Star Trek: Lower Decks” and “Solar Opposites.”
And lighting director Noah Mitz, who won his first Emmy in 2022 after 23 nominations, was nominated for four more Emmys this year: two for lighting design/direction for a variety series (for “Dancing With the Stars” and “America’s Got Talent”), and two for lighting design/direction for a variety special (“The 65th Annual Grammy Awards,” “The 75th Annual Tony Awards”).
And then there were the Wisconsinites who competed, battled and romanced their way through reality shows. In just the last five weeks of 2023, a Milwaukee wedding photographer tried to learn the truth about a girl he’d been Snapchatting with on “Catfish: The TV Show”; a pair of Milwaukee siblings made it to the final episode on “LEGO Masters”; former “Bachelor” star and Waukesha native Nick Viall made it through the survival competition show “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test”; and 2021 “Big Brother” winner and Milwaukee native Xavier Prather made it to the finale of the holiday spinoff competition “Big Brother Reindeer Games.”
Here are 15 TV shows with Wisconsin connections that aired in 2023. They’re listed in alphabetical order by title.
RELATED:14 TV shows with Wisconsin ties in 2022, from ‘Dahmer’ to ‘The Recruit’
Mark Ruffalo in ‘All the Light We Cannot See’
In the Netflix limited series based on the bestselling novel, Kenosha native Mark Ruffalo plays a museum curator in Paris whose flight from the Nazis with a legendary (and cursed) diamond leaves his blind daughter (Aria Mia Loberti) in peril.
Richard Riehle in ‘Barry’
Riehle, a veteran character actor from Menomonee Falls, plays the brutal warden in the fourth and final season of Bill Hader’s hitman comedy series.
“Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul”, a Netflix docuseries exploring the impact of e-cigarettes, included an interview with Children’s Wisconsin physician Lynn D’Andrea.
Adam Ciralsky producing ‘Dr. Death’
Ciralsky, the University School of Milwaukee alum whose résumé provided fodder for the 2022 Netflix series “The Recruit,” is one of the producers of Season 2 of “Dr. Death,” the dramatized true medical crime series that debuted on Peacock in late December.
Wade Wisinski producing ‘Hailey’s On It!’
Wisinski, a Waukesha native whose work in animation included “The Owl House,” “The Looney Tunes Show” and “Kim Possible,” produced five episodes of the Disney Channel series “Hailey’s On It!,” about a girl whose to-do list includes saving the world and getting her first kiss.
Dan Harmon’s latest animated creation, ‘Krapopolis’
While his award-winning hit series “Rick and Morty” was wrapping up its seventh season on Adult Swim, Milwaukee native Dan Harmon debuted his new animated series, “Krapopolis,” in Fox’s Sunday night animation block. Set in a vaguely ancient time, the show follows a flawed family of humans, gods and monsters as they try to invent something called “civilization.”
As a setting (sort of) in ‘Loki’
In the second season of the Marvel series on Disney+, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Mobius (Owen Wilson) travel back to 1893 Chicago in pursuit of Victor Timely, a variant of the Marvel villain Kang (played by Jonathan Majors, since fired from the role after his conviction for assaulting his ex-girlfriend). They follow Timely, an inventor and con artist, to his base of operations in Wisconsin. “I do all my sales in Chicago, but my lab is in Wisconsin,” Timely explains. Why? “Lower taxes.” (The exact location isn’t identified; in the comics, the supervillain creates his own town, Timely, Wisconsin.)
Rachel Brosnahan and Tony Shalhoub wrap up ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’
The award-winning Prime Video series concluded its fifth and final season, a season in which Midge “Mrs.” Maisel (Brosnahan, who was born in Milwaukee and grew up in the Chicago area) and her father, Abe Weissman (Green Bay native Shalhoub), both achieved new levels of clarity.
Chris Smith directing, producing ‘100 Foot Wave’
“100 Foot Wave,” by “Tiger King” producer and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee alum Smith, was renewed for a third season following Season Two’s six-episode run. The 2023 season, continuing to follow the adventures of surfing legend Garrett McNamara and his circle as they hit the big waves off Portugal, collected six Emmy nominations.
Judith Light in ‘Poker Face’
Light, who spent part of her early stage career with the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, was nominated for outstanding guest actress in a comedy series for her appearance in an episode of the acclaimed Peacock comedy-mystery series.
Another Wisconsin serial killer in the spotlight, in ‘Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein’
“The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein,” a four-part documentary series featuring excerpts from what were called the only recorded conversations of the notorious Wisconsin killer, made its debut on MGM+ in September.
Kristen Johnston in ‘The Righteous Gemstones’
Johnston, a Whitefish Bay High School alum, joined Season 3 of the HBO series about a family of TV evangelists as the younger, apocalypse-minded sister of Eli Gemstone (John Goodman), the leader of the often-bickering clan.
Harrison Ford in ‘Shrinking’
After his first starring role in a TV series in “1923,” Ford, who caught the acting bug when he was a student at Ripon College, earned rave reviews as an ailing therapist who’s something of a mentor to a depressed colleague (Jason Segel) in the Apple TV+ series.
Andrea Anders in ‘Ted Lasso’
TV sitcom veteran Andrea Anders, who’s had recurring roles on shows from “Better Off Ted” to “Modern Family,” played Michelle, Ted Lasso’s wife and later ex-wife, on the popular Apple TV+ series, which wrapped up its three-season run this year. Anders grew up in DeForest and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Kurtwood Smith, Andrea Anders and Point Place in ‘That ’90s Show’
New Lisbon native Smith returned as Red Forman — now a curmudgeonly grandfather — in Netflix’s sequel series to “That ’70s Show.” Anders added to the show’s Badger State accent as Red’s free-spirited neighbor Sherri. The new show, like the original, is set in Point Place, Wisconsin — which might or might not be in the neighborhood of Kenosha.
RELATED:33 movies from 2023 with Wisconsin ties, from ‘Barbie’ to ‘Air’
