Member-only story
Five TV Shows You Might Not Know Were Filmed in New Mexico
Beyond Breaking Bad and its offshoot Better Call Saul, a surprising number of recent TV shows are now filmed in New Mexico. With its unmistakable high-desert landscape, New Mexico still manages to stand in for a surprising number of other western states, including Montana, Wyoming, and Nevada, to name a few.
Much of New Mexico lies above 5,000 feet of elevation, and we have more than 75 peaks that rise above 11,000-feet, including 13,161 foot Mount Wheeler, our state’s highest. In contrast, the southeast corner, which borders Texas, has elevations under 3,000 feet. That’s a lot of geographic variation.
New Mexico also has hundreds of small historic towns with authentic southwestern architecture, pueblo ruins, and mountain ski lodges. Then, there’s Albuquere’s sprawling metropolis of just under a million people (which includes the nearby city of Rio Rancho.) With generally pleasant sunny weather, an ethnically diverse population, and attractive economic incentives, New Mexico has gained increasing popularity as a film location for movies and TV series, with no end in sight.
New Mexico first came to my attention as a film location when I watched the iconic western series, Longmire, starring Robert Walker. Although set in Wyoming’s fictional Absaroka County, the show was filmed entirely in…
