Colorado Springs in popular culture

Colorado Springs has been the subject or setting for many books, movies and television shows, and is especially a frequent backdrop for political thrillers and military-themed stories because of its many military installations and vital importance to the United States' continental defense.

Interactive Media

• In the second Allied mission of Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2, the player is required to recapture the United States Air Force Academy from Soviet forces.

Movies

• The 1983 suspense film WarGames was partially set at NORAD.
• Several scenes of Perry Mason: The Case of the Sinister Spirit (1987) were filmed at the Broadmoor Hotel. Several courtroom scenes in the Perry Mason movie series were filmed in the courtroom exhibit at the Pioneer's Museum (formerly the El Paso County Courthouse).
• The Incident (1990) was filmed in the courtroom exhibit at the Pioneer's Museum (formerly the El Paso County Courthouse).
• Strangeland (1998) was filmed in Colorado Springs.
• The movie Miracle depicts Herb Brooks interviewing for the head coaching job for USA Hockey in Colorado Springs.
• In the movie The Sum Of All Fears the Russian president asks a military adviser how many people live in Colorado Springs, as he weighs the ramifications of the use of nuclear weapons against the city.
• By including Colorado Springs as the home of inventor Nikola Tesla, played by David Bowie, the film The Prestige dates itself to the years 1899 or 1900. The Cliff House at Pikes Peak in nearby Manitou Springs is the basis for the hotel used in the film.
• The 2006 movie "Fast Food Nation" depicts Colorado Springs as the fictional town of Cody. The movie features shots of Colorado Springs, including the McDonald's restaurant on Academy Boulevard at San Miguel Street.
• The 1997 film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery was partially set at NORAD. A closing scene features an exterior shot of the Broadmoor Hotel.

Television

• Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, an Emmy Award-winning dramatic television series starring Jane Seymour, was set in this city. The character was based on a woman from nearby Cripple Creek and the majority of the events and settings were fictional. Filming was done at the Paramount Ranch near Agoura Hills, California.

• The TV series Stargate SG-1 has several episodes which take place in Colorado Springs; SGC is based out of nearby Cheyenne Mountain, and most of the team members reside in Colorado Springs. The new Julie Penrose Fountain and two Egyptian style obelisks (in background) located in the America the Beautiful park in Colorado Springs resemble elements of the show.
• The titular characters' home in the Adult Swim cartoon The Venture Bros. is located in Colorado Springs.

Print Media

• Clive Cussler sets a chapter of his thriller "Cyclops" in Colorado Springs.
• Robert A. Heinlein lived in Colorado Springs during part of his career, and built a custom home that was featured in Popular Mechanics.

In his novel The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, Colorado Springs is destroyed by an attack on NORAD.

• Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz lived briefly in Colorado Springs in 1951, on North Franklin Street. Linus and Lucy Van Pelt, characters in the comic, were neighbors. In 2001 a wall in the home, painted by Schulz with some of the Peanuts characters, was donated to the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California.
• L. Ron Hubbard's novel Battlefield Earth takes place near Colorado Springs with part of the human resistance using the US Air Force Academy north of Colorado Springs as their base.

Other

• Colorado Springs has been a featured Santa Cam location, since the start of Santa Cam use with the 1998 NORAD Tracks Santa tracking season.