Inspired by author M.O. Walsh’s book of the same name, the American comedy series named, The Big Door Prize released its first season on March 29th, 2023. The Big Door Prize was launched on Apple TV+ and has already been given the green light for a second season. Developed by David West Read, the show is set in a small town that falls into crisis as a mysterious machine gets placed in one of the town’s supermarkets.
The machine apparently is able to predict people’s true potential, acting like a mirror that shows the townspeople their true selves. Soon, the news spreads like wildfire, and everybody wishes to consult the machine about their life. It becomes a problem when the people of the town are forced to rethink their lives completely, and they start questioning their relationships, jobs, and even their beliefs and ideologies.
The comedy series stars Chris O’Dowd as Dusty, Gabrielle Dennis as Cass, Patrick Kerr as Mr. Johnson, Damon Gupton as Father Reuben, and Josh Segarra as Giorgio. For the first season, the producers of the show seemed to have stuck with a small cast of main characters and a few supporting roles and guest appearances.
Since its debut, the show has received positive feedback from both viewers and critics, who praised the series for casting actors who were a good fit for the roles. The characters seem lovable and share great chemistry with each other, which makes the comedy feel more natural than awkward.
While the audience seemed to appreciate the characters, the script of the show has received certain criticism because of the continuous dependence on the use of profanities for comedy effects. While that is something that can be worked upon, the series shows great potential for its future season. Fans of the show can find below all the locations where this comedy series was shot to get insight into their favorite show.
The Big Door Prize’s Filming Locations
Georgia
The show is based in a small town, and throughout the season, the makers of the series have put in great effort to give off a pleasing small village vibe from the sets and backgrounds used in the film. The town name used in the show is “Deerfield,” and the use of special props has been done to bring more focus to it, like placing a deer statue to enhance the town’s name.
Significant portions of the show have been shot in two specific towns in Georgia, Loganville and Atlanta. Parts of the show that were more aesthetically inclined to make the scenes look like they were in a quiet village were shot in Loganville, which is a city in Georgia. And those scenes that required more main city center vibes were filmed in Atlanta, also located in Georgia.
The filming process for the show started in December 2021, and the crew and actors actually stayed in these two locations for quite a few months. A lot of props, like the deer statue on the main street and the ice cream stall called Dairy Field, were constantly added and removed throughout the process of the shoot.
Loganville City has been an important part of another comedy series called Schitt’s Creek, for which the place was turned into a brand-new small town. The novel, originally written by M.O. Walsh, the story is based in a town called Deerfield, but it is located in Louisiana, though. Either way, the town remains fictional and non-existent.
Atlanta has been home to shows like “Do Revenge,” “House Party,” and “Drop Dead Diva” and many more. For the series “The Big Door Prize,” it is speculated that the high school scenes and scenes that required more city vibes in terms of the interiors of buildings were probably shot there.
Creator of the show, David West, revealed in an interview after the release of the series that the reason why he stuck with creating and producing small-town stories is because of the mystery and secrecy that comes with locations and spots used for shooting which keep the audience guessing where the shooting actually took place.
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