Where was ABC sitcom Bless This Mess filmed? Bless This Mess was co-created by New Girl's Elizabeth Meriwether and Lake Bell, who also plays the lead role of Rio Levine-Young. She's a therapist who moves with her former music journalist husband Mike (Dax Shepard) to Bucksnort, Nebraska after he inherits his great-aunt's rundown farm. Despite having little in the way of experience the couple try to make the farm work, while slowly getting used to their oddball neighbors.
Bless This Mess received warm reviews when it debuted its short, six-episode first season in 2019. Aside from Bell and Shepard, the cast of Bless This Mess proved to be one of its major strengths, with the ensemble also featuring Pam Grier, Ed Begley Jr and David Koechner. Word of mouth on the series saw its ratings go up during the second season, but despite hopes it would be renewed for a third series, Bless This Mess and other sitcoms like Single Parents - which was also co-created by Elizabeth Meriwether - was canceled by ABC shortly after season 2 aired.
A big part of Bless This Mess revolves around Rio and Mike, who both hail from New York, settling into a new life in Nebraska and running a farm. The show wasn't actually filmed there, however, with the bulk of shooting taking place in Santa Clarita, California. The series primary filmed at the Sable Ranch, which has also housed productions like The Devil's Rejects and Firefly in the past.
Production on Bless This Mess season 2 was later impacted by California wildfires, which also affected shows like S.W.A.T. Co-creator Elizabeth Meriwether revealed in an interview with Omaha News that some computer trickery was used to make the location look more convincingly like Nebraska, such as removing mountains from the backgrounds of certain shots. For the most part, it seems to have worked, though no doubt native Nebraskans can easily tell the difference.
Bless This Mess season 2 ended with Rio and Mike pregnant with their first child after Bucksnort was hit by a tornado. The third season no doubt would have dealt with the couple dealing with the stress of running a farm while dealing with their impending arrival, but despite building a fanbase, ABC decided to pull the plug. While canceled sitcoms have been rescued by other platforms in the past, there don't currently seem to be any plans to revive Bless This Mess.