Every reference to Tampa on TV comedies we could find
Got a reference we missed? Let writer Christopher Spata know at cspata@tampabay.com.
FULL STORY: What’s so funny about Tampa? We asked experts.
1994
The Simpsons (FOX), Grandpa vs. Sexual Inadequacy
MILHOUSE (discussing a conspiracy theorist’s book): Jeez, if it’s in a book, it’s gotta be true!
BART SIMPSON (looking at the author photo): Scary, no? And this guy’s the head of the Spaceology department at the Correspondence College of Tampa.
1997
Saturday Night Live, Jeff Goldblum, “Goth Talk”
CIRCE NIGHTSHADE (host of “Goth Talk): Once again we welcome you to the resplendent darkness of Azrael’s parents house in Tampa, Florida.
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CIRCE NIGHTSHADE: The Tampa Bay Lightning aren’t very goth Azrael.
Saturday Night Live, Sarah Michelle Gellar, “Goth Talk”
COUNTESS COBWELLA: Yes, Circy, parting is such a fiendish little slice of death! But Countess Cabuella was actually pretty phyched to get out of Tampa. Orlando is much more sinister.
CIRCE NIGHTSHADE: Well, Tampa’s pretty sinister too! It’s at least as sinister as Clearwater, or Tarpon Springs!
AZRAEL ABYSS: Ooooohhhh! Yes! It’s very sinister! They just opened a water-slide park downtown, a very macabre water-slide park!
COUNTESS COBWELLA: Don’t make me laugh! Ha. Orlando is much more sinister. Tampa’s Goth scene is lame. It’s pretty much just you two and that weird guy Azriel works with at Cinnabon!
1998
Frasier, Sweet Dreams
KENNY: I have to say I’m just a, whoo, huge fan. I only had this reaction once before. Did you ever hear of Norman Mailer?
FRASIER: Of course, the author.
KENNY: Oh, no, no, I’m talking about the drive-time guy, worked out of Tampa. Norman in the Mornin’.
FRASIER: Well, I’ll try to catch him next time I’m in Tampa ... in the mornin’.
2003
The Office (U.K.), Christmas Special Pt. 1
It’s revealed that Dawn Tinsley lives in Florida, trapped in a miserable existence with fiancé Lee, who is bouncing from job to job as they live with his sister rent-free and hidden from immigration authorities. An onscreen graphic reveals that this miserable life is happening in Tampa.
Nip Tuck (FX), Escobar Gallardo
DR. MERRILL BOBOLIT: A few months from now, you’ll have no other choice but to declare bankruptcy and move to Tampa.
2004
Everybody Loves Raymond (CBS), The Nice Talk
PAT: You meet a lot of interesting people, and you go so many exotic places.
RAY: You mean like ... Tampa?
PAT (amazed): You’ve been to Tampa?
RAY (proudly): Couple times, yeah.
2005
The Simpsons (FOX), Future Drama
PROFESSOR FRINK: For years, you see, astrology was the Tampa Bay Devil Rays of the sciences — not so good.
2006
Supernatural, Croatoan
SAM WINCHESTER: This is the dumbest thing you’ve ever done.
DEAN WINCHESTER: don’t know about that. Remember that waitress in Tampa?
2009
Eastbound & Down (HBO), Chapter 6
KENNY POWERS: Yeah, right. I mean, what’s Tampa gonna be without my assistant there to make reservations at all the hottest nightclubs in town?
STEVIE JANOWSKI: You know what I read online? That Tampa has the best t---y bars in the nation. ... Goodbye f-----g s—t school. See you morons later — ‘cause I’m going to Tampa.
30 Rock (NBC), Apollo, Apollo
JENNA MARONEY: It’s funny, I actually played Peter Pan on Broadway. Did you know there’s a Broadway Street in Tampa?
Reno 911 (Comedy Central), Viacom Grinch
DEPUTY TRAVIS JUNIOR: A resort like a resort, resort?
GLEN: It’s a resort in the greater Tampa metropolitan area. ... Guys, it is so beautiful. You’ve got to see this place. You are just a short tram ride away from the beach!
DEPUTY TRAVIS JUNIOR: How can we possibly afford this on a cop’s salary?
GLEN: All you’ve got to do is sell over $50 of Tupperware to three to five friends ... every week ... for the next six months.
DEPUTY TRAVIS JUNIOR: And all we have to do is sell $12,000 worth of Tupperware?
GLEN: Exactly!
DECLAN: I’m going to the Tampa area!
2010
30 Rock (NBC), Black Light Attack
LIZ LEMON: You can’t play prom queens and murdered runaways forever.
JENNA MARONEY: But those were my majors at the Royal Tampa Academy of Dramatic Tricks.
30 Rock (NBC), I Do Do
WESLEY: I was flying the 7 a.m. from Tampa to Louisville, and there was a weather delay, so naturally all the passengers got drunk.
30 Rock (NBC), College
JENNA MARONEY: This is why I hated my first two weeks at the Royal Tampa Academy of Dramatic Tricks. No one knew who was the sluttiest. But I showed them. I showed them all.
Eastbound & Down (HBO), Chapter 13
WOMAN: They got girls like me in Tampa?
KENNY POWERS: Yeah, I’m sure they got sluts in Tampa, but I didn’t go there. I went to Mexico on an epic, spiritual quest that ended in failure.
Mike and Molly (CBS), Pilot
MOLLY: What happened, did he die?
MIKE: No, he fell in love with a prostitute, divorced my mom and moved to Tampa.
2011
Childrens Hospital (Adult Swim), Stryker Bites the Dust
CHIEF: What do you think, Mitch From Miami?
MITCH: I’m from Tampa.
CHIEF: I’ve got to cut you off, Mitch.
Cougar Town (ABC), Free Fallin’
LAURIE: It’s like when you hook up with a dude, and then you wake up the next morning and he’s gone and there’s just a note on your pillow that says, “Last night was fun, call me next time you’re in Tampa.” And you’re like, “What? I’m in Tampa?”
2012
The Simpsons (FOX), To Cur With Love
KENT BROCKMAN: Hard to believe I once turned down a job in Tampa, Florida, because I believed in this city.
CARL CARLSON: That was 15 years ago. They wouldn’t take you now.
30 Rock (NBC), The Ballad of Kenneth Parcell
LIZ LEMON (pretending to be Jenna to trick the paparazzi): I’m from Tampa, Florida!
30 Rock (NBC),The Shower Principle
JENNA MARONEY: Elizabeth, I was trained in stage acting and game show pointing at the Royal Tampa Academy of Dramatic Tricks.
30 Rock (NBC), Unwindulax
JENNA MARONEY: If you cross me you will never set foot in Florida again, because that’s our capital.
FRANK ROSSITANO: But I’m judging Spike TV’s Miss Nude Divorcee in Tampa on Christmas Eve!
Cougar Town (ABC), My Life
LAURIE: There is this quaint little strip club in Tampa called The Stud Farm. It looks like a stable, all the snacks come in these little feed bags, and for a couple extra bucks you can ride the guys around like horses and they will nibble sugar cubes off of your bouncies.
Workaholics (Comedy Central), The Lord’s Force
REVEREND TROY: You’re off the force.
SAMPSON: What about the tour? What about Tampa?
REVEREND TROY: No, this is it, OK? Sodom, Gomorrah, sayonara. Now get your purses out of the van.
SAMPSON: I knew this was a bad idea. These guys made us do shots and now my life is ruined. Where am I going to go?
ADAM: Sorry. Sorry about Tampa.
The Mindy Project (FOX), Halloween
JOSH: I always wanted to live in Tampa, get one of those big, beige houses on the golf course, Jose Canseco on one side, canal full of gators on the other. Throw a hot dog at a gator and see if he eats it.
Saturday Night Live (NBC), Jeremy Renner
WOLF BLITZER: Joining us live from Tampa is our never-used Tampa correspondent, Victor Rendel.
VICTOR: Hey Wolf, longtime viewer, first-time reporter.
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WOLF BLITZER: Joining us now is the mayor of Tampa, also known as Derek “Fat Deuce” Derek.
DEREK: Hey homie, where you at?
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DEREK: Jill Kelley, oh she fun. She like the fun one. Tampa all fun. Tampa got everything. Cigars. Jill Kelley. Tattoos. Loose murders. And a gutted out Applebee’s you can fight in.
2013
Happy Endings (ABC), Unsabotagable
DAVE ROSE: You bought us a timeshare in Tampa.
ALEX KERKOVICH: The lady in the kiosk said it was the Sacramento of the east!
DAVE ROSE: But now we gotta go to Tampa every year! Tampa’s not a place that you go, Tampa’s a place that you end up.
Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central), Unpleasant Truths
DAVID: My wife ... she thinks we just hit a bump in our marriage but the thing is, um... for the last few years I’ve had a secret family in Tampa.
2014
The Mindy Project (FOX), Girl Crush
PETER PRENTICE: Sally is in town from Tampa for her education, not to party.
DANNY CASTELLANO: Well, that’s good. Education is good. What are you studying?
SALLY PRENTICE: Laser hair removal.
American Horror Story (FX), Blood Bath
ELSA: Yes, I wanted them to be gone. But I never hurt anyone. I wanted to be rid of them. Put them on a bus to Tampa. Although, for me, death would be preferable to Tampa.
The Simpsons (FOX), The Wreck of the Relationship
LISA SIMPSON (in a sports documentary about fantasy football): Mom did everything. She checked injury lists, scouting reports, she even studied the tapes.
NARRATOR: The tapes of the Real Housewives of Tampa Bay...
Carrie Diaries (CW), Date Expectations
LARISSA: Look at those Tampa airport stripper moves of hers. I think they’re mocking her.
Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central), Chick Who Can Hang
GUY NO. 1: I knew this girl Sam when I lived in Tampa. She was just naturally hot. Like rough hands, thick neck, forehead like a granite counter.
2015
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix), Kimmy Kisses a Boy
CHARLES: You don’t know anything about me.
KIMMY SCHMIDT: You’re from Tampa, you have two sisters, and your childhood dog was named Jellybean.
CHARLES: None of that is correct.
Last Man on Earth (FOX), The Elephant In the Room
CAROL: Then in Tampa, I scored, ah, just a ton of radishes. You wouldn’t think Florida for radishes, but they are absolutely chockablock. They say if you can’t find a radish in Tampa, just walk five feet.
Last Man on Earth (FOX), Moved to Tampa
Phil alters his “Alive in Tucson” billboards along the highway to read “Moved to Tampa” to misdirect other survivors who might show up at his survivors’ camp in post-apocalyptic Arizona and compete with him for the affections of the surviving women.
Fresh Off the Boat (ABC), So Chineez
EDDIE HUANG (after learning he has to take Chinese language classes in Tampa): Amazing. They found a way to make Tampa worse.
Dr. Ken (ABC), The Seminar
KEN: That seminar was the worst four hours of my life, and that includes the time I flew back from Tampa next to Jeremy Piven.
Family Guy (FOX), Hot Pocket Dial
STEWIE: That turned ugly fast, just like my trip to Tampa Bay.
TANK TOP WEARING MAN (in flashback): Hey city boy, what’s with the arm pants?
One Big Happy (NBC), Flight Risk
LIZZY: I know that he’s prone to dry throat because I was there for his emergency adenoid surgery during spring break, and try finding a doctor who does anything but breast implants in Tampa.
Inside Amy Schumer (Comedy Central), Babies & Bustiers
AMY SCHUMER: Um, this is a hypothetical. You’re in Tampa. And your flight out of there gets canceled, you’re there for the night. You’re in a Legal Seafoods having a beer. Who walks in? J.P., Juan Pablo. Do you guys have sex that night?
SHARLEEN JOYNT: How desperate am I?
The Goldbergs, A Kick Ass Risky Business Party
MR. GLASCOTT: I’ve been in a long distance relationship for the past seven years.
MURRAY: Really?
MR. GLASCOTT: Ellen lives in Tampa. And I’m lucky, too, because Ellen has a male roommate to keep an eye on her when we’re apart.
MURRAY: She lives with a guy?
MR. GLASCOTT: Yeah, Todd. He’s a lifeguard, so he can totally give her CPR if she ever gets in any trouble. He’s a real stud. I mean, does he even own a shirt?
2016
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix), Kimmy Walks Into a Bar
DIERDRA: Okay fine, go back to wherever mistresses come from – I want to say, Tampa?
Last Man On Earth (FOX), Five Hoda Kotbs
TODD: Oh, come on, guys, I am telling you, Tampa would make a great place to live!
ERICA: I’m not moving all the way to Tampa! Vancouver’s only, like, 15 hours away.
TODD: Guys, we could already be in Tampa right now, sipping from the fresh waters of the Hillsborough River!
ERICA: God, if you love Tampa so much, why don’t you just marry it?
TODD: Well, I’ll tell you what. Tampa would make a wonderful wife with its low climate and loving coastal breezes.
Modern Family (ABC), Blindsided
HALEY DUNPHY: What’s with all the duckface? You look like you’re at a bachelorette party in Tampa.
Fresh Off the Boat (ABC), Week in Review
WOMAN: Great, staging is my specialty. I used to help the Tampa police department recreate crime scenes.
Saturday Night Live (NBC), Margot Robbie
NEWS ANCHOR: Panic in downtown Tampa as a 70-foot sinkhole opened up in a Westfield shopping center parking lot.
Superstore (NBC), Guns, Pills and Birds
TATE: Are you kidding? I love the morning-after pill. I have to keep a couple boxes at timeshare in Tampa.
GLENN: Tampa?
TATE: Oh, yeah. Women love it there. You know what I mean? Yeah, it’s a sick place. It’s only, like, 12 miles from the beach.
The Good Place (NBC), Jason Mendoza
JASON MENDOZA: I don’t want to be a DJ in Jacksonville forever. I want to DJ in Daytona, Tallahassee — Tampa even.
PILL BOY: That’s big goals, man.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (FOX), Mr. Santiago
ADRIAN PIMENTO: Whoo! Yeah! [barking] I just won 70 grand (betting on a dog show). So, Rosa, pack your bags, we’re going to Tampa.
The Characters, (Netflix), Tim Robinson
The Pointer Brothers perform their act (pointing at every member of the audience) at a convention set at Tampa Bay Grand Hotel; there is a promo for Tampa Bay Wrestling in which Robinson discusses wrestling a guy named Dump Truck.
Letterkenny (Hulu), Crack An Ag
DEVON (describing dance music genres): Here’s comes a rumble of Tampa Bay Booty Trance.
Jim Gaffigan Show (TV Land), The Calling
JERRY SEINFELD: Remember Tampa, 1992?
JIM: I blacked most of Tampa out.
JERRY SEINFELD: Yeah, it’s Florida, most people do.
Undateable, The Backstreet Boys Walk Into a Bar
SHELLY: Now, after I told Danny that we couldn’t get your ring, he took upon himself to go to the strip club and get it back from Trent. But when he got there, Kevin and Trent were sooo nervous because there were some big-name stripper talent scouts in town from the big leagues. You know, Tampa.
2017
Crashing (HBO), Artie Lange
LEIF: Hey man, Jess and I are moving to Tampa.
PETE: Well, have fun in Tampa.
LEIF: You can’t have fun in Tampa, but my aunt passed, and so we get a condo and stuff.
Superstore (NBC), Part-Time Hires
KELLY (confused after she’s asked to “zone softlines”): Excuse me. Do you know what a softline is?
BROWSING CUSTOMER: I don’t live here. I’m from Tampa.
Powerless (NBC), Cold Season
JACKIE: Let me tell you a little story. Five years ago, Teddy entered a competition to redesign the Wayne Industries logo.
EMILY: Why are you using an ominous voice?
JACKIE: You’ll see....He threw himself into the competition, and convinced himself that he was going to win, and then when he didn’t, he lashed out at everyone and started punishing himself.
EMILY: Oh, come on.
JACKIE: He took to wearing cargo shorts, switched to an AOL email address, and used all of his vacation days — to go to Tampa.
EMILY: Tampa? That’s not even the nicest part of Central Florida. Anyways, it doesn’t matter because we’re going to win.
JACKIE: You better hope so, otherwise you’re about to break Teddy.
EMILY: [sighs]
JACKIE: [whispers ominously] Tampa.
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Emily has lied to Teddy about being a finalist in the competition.
JACKIE: There are no finals, you just made that up.
EMILY: I didn’t know what to do. I could see in his eyes he was already halfway to tampa. It’ll all be fine right ...
JACKIE: I’ve got a feeling this is all gonna end with a call from the Busch Gardens coroner’s office.
Big Mouth (Netflix), The Pornscape
HAIR NO. 1: Hey Nick, what it do? We are your curly new pals.
HAIR NO. 2: Are we in Tampa? Cause it’s hot and stinky, and I don’t wanna be here.
3 Mics (Netflix)
NEAL BRENNAN: I was on YouTube, alright. Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, duh duh duh dun, duh duh duh dun. Like the most famous song of all time. Ten thousand dislikes! On YouTube. I’m not kidding. That many people were like, “Your music stinks bro. And I know music – I’m from Tampa.”
2018
Superstore (NBC), Viral Video
AMY: Excuse me, ma’am. Do you have a moment to watch a short video?
BROWSING CUSTOMER: Oh, I’m sorry. I just moved here from Tampa.
Big Mouth (Netflix), Am I Normal?
CONNIE: You’ll be one of those weak women who goes for bad guys with stupid brains and garbage d---s.
JESS: Oh my god, I’m gonna end up living in Tampa, Florida.
CONNIE: And you’re gonna have dirty-ass kids with juice stains around their mouths.
2019
The Simpsons (FOX), The Clown Stays in the Picture
MARC MARON: Yeah, talk about pressure, though. Man, I remember once I was filming a special at the Laugh Basement in Tampa...
KRUSTY: This isn’t about you. You got your ad in for Dollar Doorknob Club.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (NBC), Four Movements
JAKE PERALTA: I’m trying to secure a cool venue for Gina’s going away party, Gina-rama.
HITCHCOCK: Oh, that invitation said “Geena-rama” not “Gyna-rama.” I thought it was weird they’d move Gyna-rama from Tampa. It’s really a warm weather event.
Euphoria (HBO), Pilot
ASHTRAY (telling Jules about a new psychedelic drug): ... S—t has been blowing up in Tampa... .
American Dad, Lost Boys
KLAUS: Reminds me of my boys down in Tampa.
ROGER: You don’t have boys in Tampa.
KLAUS: Then why do I have a tattoo of an alligator in a bikini driving down I-4?
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ROGER: I’m gonna head over to the pier and work on my robot man routine. Everything will be normal by the time I get back.
KLAUS: Ahh, there’s so many sick piers in Tampa. My boy Vance basically lives there. He makes bank selling butterfly knives to tourists.
ROGER: Nobody believes you have friends in Tampa.
KLAUS: Oh, yeah? Then where did I get skin cancer, smart guy?
2020
Big Mouth (Netflix), Florida
ANDREW: Nick, welcome to Lakeland, Florida, the upper Bronx of the greater Tampa Bay Area.
Bob’s Burgers (FOX), A Fish Called Tina
JOCELYN: I’m gonna draw my grandma in your cloud ‘cause that’s where she is.
HARLEY: Oh, I’m so sorry.
JOCELYN: Why? She’s flying to Tampa right now.
2021
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (NBC), The Last Day, Pt. 2
JAKE awakens from a yearslong coma to discover his girlfriend is now with Teddy.
TEDDY (consoling him): ... we went on a trip. It’s not her fault. We were both seduced by the city of Tampa.
Saturday Night Live (NBC), Regina King
GAME SHOW ANNOUNCER: Here’s your host, the girl who got famous by pulling her buttcheeks apart on Snapchat, it’s Tampa Bay Janae.
TAMPA BAY JANAE: What’s up b---h, I’m famous. Y’all know me, @tbayjanae on Insta and Miss Tampa Janae on OnlyFans if you wanna pay to see me naked.
Succession (HBO), What It Takes
BIANCA: I looked it up and rabbits aren’t supposed to have bagels.
KENDALL ROY: Okay Bianca, those rules are for f—kheads who are gonna go to Tampa and leave a rabbit with a Big Gulp and a dozen cinnamon raisin.
Succession (HBO), Pretenders To the Throne
CONNOR ROY (describing a presidential candidate): ... captain of the Tampa Bay Cuckaneers.
Mr. Mayor (NBC), Palm Tree Reform
HOLLYWOOD LOCATION SCOUT (distraught upon learning there’s a problem with palm trees in Los Angeles): We’re gonna have to shoot the La La Land sequel in Tampa. Tampa!
Girls5eva (Peacock), AIRPIG
AIRPIG, the Association of Integrated Radio Programmers International Group, holds its conference in Tampa.
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SUMMER (upon learning she’s going to Tampa where she can visit Kev): Hey babe, um, guess who’s coming to Tampa?
KEV: Brooks and Dunn! I just got that alert too.
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MAN (answering phone at radio station): WTIT Tampa: Think our name is wild? Check out our advertising rates!
FULL STORY: What’s so funny about Tampa? We asked experts.
Back to the Outback (Netflix)
CHAZZIE: But you grew up in the outback.
CHAZ: No, Chazzie. I grew up above my auntie’s lingerie store ... [in American accent] ... in Tampa, Florida.
Insecure (HBO), Choices, Okay?!
KELLI: (imitating Nathan): Uh, ayo, Issa. I’m from Tampa. I love you, girl.
ISSA: Girl, what? He’s from Houston.
KELLI: You just started loving him. You don’t know.
2022
Righteous Gemstones (HBO), For He Is a Liar And the Father of Lies
KELVIN GEMSTONE (a pastor who has created a team of buff guys called the God Squad referring to one of the muscle men during a ceremonial punishment): Titus of Tampa Bay!
Joe vs. Carole (Peacock), Survival of the Fittest
CAROLE BASKIN: I have nothing to wear.
HOWARD BASKIN: What are you talking about, you’ve got everything to wear.
CAROLE BASKIN: Cat print works in Tampa. I’m testifying in Oklahoma in front of Oklahomans.
Joe vs. Carole (Peacock), Sanctuary
JOE EXOTIC: You said you wanted a guys’ weekend. Yeah, and I ain’t been on one of those in a long-ass time, and Tampa’s the strip club capital of the world.
