The USA Network's new drama Graceland tells the story of a group of agents from various government agencies -- the FBI, DEA, and Customs -- who go undercover in a California town to bring down the bad guys. But the spies using aliases aren't the only things on the screen that aren't what they seem.
Though the show is set in a Southern California beach town, Graceland was filmed here in South Florida. Actors Aaron Tveit, who you may recognize from Les Miserables, and Rescue Me's Daniel Sunjata were among the cast and crew that recreated the West Coast in Fort Lauderdale for filming.
So how effectively did the South Florida shores pass for So Cal beaches? We're breaking down Graceland's new promo, which debuted just last night.
0:03: "Now, from the creator of White Collar!" Um, what is this abstract art we're looking at here? An electric pole in a puddle, maybe? Not the most promising start.
0:05: "USA takes you behind the scenes of the new original series Graceland." Guess how many times Florida is mentioned in this behind-the-scenes look. (Hint: Zero times.)
0:07: Shaky, retro footage of palm trees; a rusted-out, vintage-looking California license plate. Nobody told us this was a period piece.
0:11: "What really compelled me is you've got this group of attractive, young --" We'll stop you right there, Jeff Eastin. We're sold.
0:16: That house looks like it could be in California, in that it is not the same Spanish Mediterranean McMansion that has infested all the gated communities of South Florida.
0:20: "You're one person inside the house." Helpful shot of a character inside the house.
0:22: "And outside the house, you can be any number of aliases you take on." Helpful shots of that same character wearing sunglasses, pointing guns, sitting on a couch while wearing a Backstreet Boys hairdo.
0:25: "The first order of business is to figure out who the new Mike is," one agent tells another. The new Mike has a scar and a ton of hair gel, apparently.
0:38: Well, it wouldn't be an action-drama without a little gunfire.
0:41: Graceland, coming this summer. Characters welcome. Palm trees too, apparently.
Follow Ciara LaVelle on Twitter @ciaralavelle.
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