Series with Southern accent

[Thrawn4]

Howdy.

Long story short, I would like to study the Southern accent and would appreciate any recommendations for entertaining series that heavily features the Southern accent.

Bonus points for anything futuristic. (or medieval, but there is no medieval Southern style franchise, right?)

Much obliged :smallcool:

[Razade]

King of the Hill. It's not a series but the movie Gettysburg. Both worthwhile.

[comicshorse]

I can recommend series set in the South but have no idea how true to life the accents are.

But you might try 'True Blood' and 'Justified'

[Kitten Champion]

Season one of True Detective. Set in Louisiana and in terms of accent authenticity both the leads are actually from Texas.

Firefly is heavily styled around Westerns and the American South, though I think the only actor from there is Alan Tudyk.

Last example I can think of off the top of my head that's definitely in the SF genre and has a strong bent towards the American South is HBO's Westworld.

[t209]

Well, Wheel of Time has Seanchan Empire.
They have asian-esque clothings and army, but almost everyone has Texas Drawl.

[The Glyphstone]

If you can track down old episodes of Dukes of Hazzard, thats about as 'Southern' as you'll find in a TV show ever made...

[Trafalgar]

As someone from the North who has lived in different parts of the south, I can tell you that there are several different southern accents.

[thompur]

As someone from the North who has lived in different parts of the south, I can tell you that there are several different southern accents.

Indeed. Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, all have different and distinct accents.

That being said, reruns of "The Beverly Hillbillies", "The Andy Griffith Show", "Green Acres", "Petticoat Junction", "NCIS:New Orleans" "Justified", and "True Blood" will all have characters with some kind of Regional dialect.

[Yora]

Season one of True Detective. Set in Louisiana and in terms of accent authenticity both the leads are actually from Texas.

I'm usually not very good with placing English accents, but that show was the first thing that came to my mind immediately.
It's magnificent. :smallbiggrin:

[Peelee]

As someone from the North who has lived in different parts of the south, I can tell you that there are several different southern accents.


Indeed. Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, all have different and distinct accents.

Including "no discernible regional accent". I just checked with my wife to make sure (she was a military child, and had lived all over the US and elsewhere) and she assured me people around not be able to tell my location from my speech. The longest I've ever spent outside of Alabama was six weeks in a foreign country. Now, you could ascribe this to me having a dad from Brooklyn and a mom from Tyrol, but I would simply rebut by presenting Henry Cho.

Also, to actually answer OP's question, you should check out Henry Cho's stand up. Funny guy. Great natural accent.

[Yora]

In Germany, we make a lot of jokes about the accent of the Saxons. But when I was at university near to Saxony, I had four Saxon friends, who all had very strong accent, but each of them a different one. And none of them talked like in the jokes.
And that's only for an area comparable in size and population to Maryland or New Hampshire.

[DavidSh]

...But when I was at university near to Saxony, I had four Saxon friends, who all had very strong accent, but each of them a different one. And none of them talked like in the jokes.
....
Is that Lower Saxony (the original) or Upper Saxony (the expansion, with Dresden and so forth).

[JeenLeen]

Hart of Dixie is enjoyable if you like the genre. (Not sure what to call it, but like a 'chick flick' drama-comedy series.)

Also agreed on mulitple types of southern. I have a slight southern accent (drawl) on some words, but I know even in some cities there's multiple accents. Take Charleston, SC. One guy I know from there has a fast-paced accent that I later learnt was Charleston-esque, but I thought he was from New York or some other northern state due to how he talked.

The 'hillbilly' accent, discernable and somewhat indiscernable varieties. I know someone (well-educated to boot) with a thick "hillbilly" kinda talk and accent, but one easy to understand. Someone else who normally talks "normal", but he showed me how he talks when he visits home to the boondock mountains of North Carolina and it's hard to understand (for me.)
On that note, Beverly Hillbillies.

[Palanan]

One of the main characters from Into the Badlands has a strong Southern accent, although it can seem a little overdone.

The period drama Mercy Street is set in Civil War-era Virginia and may have some accents that would suit.

As for Firefly, there are Southern-ish accents from minor characters in at least a couple episodes, but I don't recall any from the main cast. But Firefly is worth watching no matter what.

[Tvtyrant]

True Blood has a ton of different southern accents, but you have to watch true blood...

Any civil war movie or documentary. You can also watch news programs and the like, but those are going to have faux-northern accents because it's posh.

[snowblizz]

Watch Discovery channel's "Moonshiners". You meet a lot of interesting people and they are all real. And near as I can tell all from the South from various places.

Also, marvel in the weirdness of watching a show were they film people performing illegal acts for what, 9 10, seasons by now, yet it keeps going. (Yes I know they are legally covered, no one can prove they do anything other than boil water and pretend, but still).


Well, Wheel of Time has Seanchan Empire.
They have asian-esque clothings and army, but almost everyone has Texas Drawl.

Yeah, but you don't actually know that unless you read the author's notes where he says that's how he imagines it. I can tell you that "Texas" does not feature anywhere in reading the words off a page. I doubt even the audio books somehow shows an accent.

Also, that's not really a "Southern Accent" as I understand the question. It's a way of talking people completely unconnected to our reality has that is rendered through an autors imagination to arrive at "well a bit like Texans". It's not going to be very helpful in gettinga feel for how actual people talk, no matter how much the author draws form his real world experiences to populate a fictive world.

[Soepvork]

Poldark?

What? Lots of countries have a south :smallsmile:

[DavidSh]

Poldark?


Do the British actually see the Cornish as "southerners"? I mean, Cornwall technically includes the southernmost point of Britain, but I had always heard it characterized as "west" rather than "south".

[Willie the Duck]

Any civil war movie or documentary. You can also watch news programs and the like, but those are going to have faux-northern accents because it's posh.

If non-scripted-fiction is on the table, PBS has had a cooking shows with a Southern chef named Vivian Howard (A Chef's Life). I think she also has another in production, but can't find any info.

[Yora]

Is that Lower Saxony (the original) or Upper Saxony (the expansion, with Dresden and so forth).

The state (and previously kingdom) of Saxony. Not the ancient Saxons. (The Southern Lower Saxony accent is widely considered to be the default pronunciation for modern Standard German.)

[Red Fel]

Yeah, "southern accent" is one of those things that means a lot to people who actually have one. Calling a Texan accent "southern," for example, is like calling an Irishman Scottish - them's fightin' words. You have to understand that not only are there varieties in American southern accents, there are strong cultural distinctions in the American south itself - and Texas is not, typically, considered part of that region by the people who live there.

I will also echo that the accent you're most likely to hear as "southern" is, in fact, Texan. Texan is a very strong accent, very bold and very twangy, and in media, subtle accents tend to be avoided in favor of the bold. It's why most American audiences assume there are only two British accents - the one you hear almost everybody in Mary Poppins use, and the one you hear van Dyke mutilate - because neither is a particularly subtle accent, and thus they're an easy linguistic shorthand.

Firefly was given as an example. I think Captain Mal was trying to pull off Texan. He failed. Instead, I would suggest looking at OG Star Trek. DeForest Kelley was a good ol' Georgia boy, and his character was likewise a "country doctor." When Bones would become agitated, you'd hear that accent edge into his speech. That's something to listen for. You'll note it's a lot subtler than what you might expect.

You can find other "southern" accents in media. But note the distinctions. A Louisiana bayou accent will differ from a brassy Texan cowboy, or a lazy Georgia drawl. You'll even find varieties within a state, from the mountains to the coast.

[Brother Oni]

Do the British actually see the Cornish as "southerners"? I mean, Cornwall technically includes the southernmost point of Britain, but I had always heard it characterized as "west" rather than "south".

Cornwall is regarded as part of the Westcountry, along with Devon, Somerset and Wiltshire.

All generally have the farmer's drawl with the rolling Rs (think the hobbits from The Lord of the Rings films), although again with different emphasis - Cornwallians have harder Rs and generally sound like pirates, Devonshire is softer (example (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjTIFkWJctY)) and Somerset is more 'twangy' (example (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X595o3A7lWc)).

Wiltshire is about the last bastion of the rolling Rs - any further east and it's the 'Home Counties'.

It isn't helped by individual towns having their own accents - the Bristol or 'Brizzle' accent is different to the surrounding counties (and isn't helped by Wales being just across the river, which has its own language, let alone accent) while Bath tends to be just 'posh'.

[Peelee]

If we're getting into English accents, whereabouts are the various accents from Albion in the Fable games? I'm mostly thinking of the original Fable, more or less because that was the most memorable one for me.

I should play the sequels again.

[pisukufi]

very unexpected type of serials sorting for me :smallsmile:

[thompur]

Yeah, "southern accent" is one of those things that means a lot to people who actually have one. Calling a Texan accent "southern," for example, is like calling an Irishman Scottish - them's fightin' words. You have to understand that not only are there varieties in American southern accents, there are strong cultural distinctions in the American south itself - and Texas is not, typically, considered part of that region by the people who live there.

I will also echo that the accent you're most likely to hear as "southern" is, in fact, Texan. Texan is a very strong accent, very bold and very twangy, and in media, subtle accents tend to be avoided in favor of the bold. It's why most American audiences assume there are only two British accents - the one you hear almost everybody in Mary Poppins use, and the one you hear van Dyke mutilate - because neither is a particularly subtle accent, and thus they're an easy linguistic shorthand.

Firefly was given as an example. I think Captain Mal was trying to pull off Texan. He failed. Instead, I would suggest looking at OG Star Trek. DeForest Kelley was a good ol' Georgia boy, and his character was likewise a "country doctor." When Bones would become agitated, you'd hear that accent edge into his speech. That's something to listen for. You'll note it's a lot subtler than what you might expect.

You can find other "southern" accents in media. But note the distinctions. A Louisiana bayou accent will differ from a brassy Texan cowboy, or a lazy Georgia drawl. You'll even find varieties within a state, from the mountains to the coast.

What he said.:smallwink:

[Trafalgar]

If you don't mind watching an older show, I suggest the TV version of "In the Heat of the Night" which ran from 1988 to 1993.

[Kyberwulf]

Why watch TV shows? You should look up YouTube channels and clips. Like Troy from swamp people.

[ForzaFiori]

Yet another voice saying that there's alot of southern accents. Just within South Carolina (and the other southern Atlantic states have a similar breakdown), there are notable differences between the upcountry in the Appalachians and the coastal low country (the upcountry has the "hillbilly twang" you hear in movies like deliverance - actually filmed about an hour from my home - and the Lowcountry has the "drawl" associated with upper-crust, "plantation" southerners in things like Gone With The Wind), and there are subtle differences within each region. I may not be able to tell low country accents apart, but if you come from Upstate SC, there are times I can tell your home town from your voice. I'd be willing to bet money it's similar in other states as well (surely all of Texas doesn't have the same accent), but I'm not familiar enough with them to speak about them.

That being said, there are plenty of examples of most of these accents. Please keep in mind I'm talking purely about accents, and not the plot or messages of these movies. Dukes of Hazzard and Deliverance have good examples of "upstate" accents, Gone With The Wind and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil have a selection of Lowcountry accents, King of the Hill has a variety of accents represented as well - I've known southerners who talk like Boomhower and ones that talk like Hank. Swamp People, Duck Dynasty, and several other "reality" shows have been filmed along the gulf, which also has a large variety of accents. Documentaries also tend to be good at having the correct accent, so find one that is about something that happens in the south. I can't think of any shows that have good "interior" accents though - Tennessee, kentucky, Arkansas, northern Alabama and Mississippi - all the area above the gulf coast and west of the Appalachians. There's a HUGE variety of accents there, but I can't think of any shows or movies set in that area of the country at the moment.

There are also southerner sprinkled into shows all over the place, like the aforementioned Bones on Star Trek (from Georgia), Tucker on Enterprise (from Florida), General Hammond on Stargate (Texan), Jill's parents on Home Improvement (they were Texan I believe), and plenty more I can't think of right now because my brain isn't cooperating lol.

[Peelee]

Yet I can't think of any shows that have good "interior" accents though - Tennessee, kentucky, Arkansas, northern Alabama and Mississippi - all the area above the gulf coast and west of the Appalachians. There's a HUGE variety of accents there, but I can't think of any shows or movies set in that area of the country at the moment.

Any movie with Elvis will hit at least one northern Mississippi accent. :smallwink:

[dps]

I wouldn't really recommend any scripted show to study Southern accents. A lot of the accents aren't genuine, and even when an actor speaks with a native Southern accent, the show may exaggerate it for comedic value.

[Peelee]

I wouldn't really recommend any scripted show to study Southern accents. A lot of the accents aren't genuine, and even when an actor speaks with a native Southern accent, the show may exaggerate it for comedic value.

I say I say, Foghorn Leghorn takes issue with that!

[Scarlet Knight]

As long as you don't care which southern accent, just watch college football. The color men almost always have some southern accent.

[The Glyphstone]

Unrelated, but I had to stop and Google what a 'color man' was in context of football. Very glad I did.:smallconfused:

[Peelee]

Unrelated, but I had to stop and Google what a 'color man' was in context of football. Very glad I did.:smallconfused:

Same, I was super confused at first.

[Rynjin]

I feel like the less...ambiguous term he was looking for is "commentator".

[brionl]

"Green Acres", "Petticoat Junction"

Green Acres & Petticoat Junction are not set in "The South", they're more of a general rural setting, somewhere in the Midwest. IIRC, Chicago was the nearest big city.

A TV show with some good southern accents is Designing Women. Dixie Carter, Annie Potts & Delta Burke are all genuine southerners.

I grew up in California, but I spent a lot of summers with my father's parents who were from Louisiana. I lived in Connecticut for several years, and listened to Prairie Home Companion a lot. So people are always making wildly inaccurate guesses about where I'm from.

One more thing: For an authentic Loo-siyana accent try Justin Wilson, the Cajun Cook.

[Clertar]

Watch Discovery channel's "Moonshiners". You meet a lot of interesting people and they are all real. And near as I can tell all from the South from various places.

Also, marvel in the weirdness of watching a show were they film people performing illegal acts for what, 9 10, seasons by now, yet it keeps going. (Yes I know they are legally covered, no one can prove they do anything other than boil water and pretend, but still).


Why is what they film illegal?

[snowblizz]

Why is what they film illegal?
Because they are breaking the law?

I'm not privy to the specific rules and regulations of the various states with regards to the production, distribution and sale of alcohol.

But the show makes a big point of it. Every. Single. Episode.

I guess the various law enforcement agencies depicted in the show are all running around for the sheer heck of it.

[Rodin]

You can find other "southern" accents in media. But note the distinctions. A Louisiana bayou accent will differ from a brassy Texan cowboy, or a lazy Georgia drawl. You'll even find varieties within a state, from the mountains to the coast.

Indeed. I grew up in Louisiana, and there were BIG differences between the standard Louisiana accent, a New Orleans accent, and a full Cajun accent. My first roommate in college was from Cajun country, and I had a hard time understanding him at first because he peppered his speech with Creole...and according to him, most of the people down there were worse. He had worked night shifts at the McDonald's drive through, and the proper response to a drunk Cajun coming through was to pick something at random off the menu and assume they wouldn't notice.

[Peelee]

Because they are breaking the law?

I'm not privy to the specific rules and regulations of the various states with regards to the production, distribution and sale of alcohol.

But the show makes a big point of it. Every. Single. Episode.

I guess the various law enforcement agencies depicted in the show are all running around for the sheer heck of it.

Hot take: they're not breaking the law. They claim they're breaking the law, but I don't believe them for a moment.

Editing is a massively powerful tool.

[Algeh]

Another good place to go to hear more authentic accents might be to find some podcasts. I can't suggest any specifically that use southern accents, but podcasts of the "2-5 people talking about a thing they like" format tend to be run by enthusiastic amateurs who would presumably be using their authentic accents and general ways of speaking rather than something coached or trained. Maybe someone else here could suggest something specific.

[Eldan]

Another good place to go to hear more authentic accents might be to find some podcasts. I can't suggest any specifically that use southern accents, but podcasts of the "2-5 people talking about a thing they like" format tend to be run by enthusiastic amateurs who would presumably be using their authentic accents and general ways of speaking rather than something coached or trained. Maybe someone else here could suggest something specific.

Old Gods of Appalachia, which is a pretty interesting horror story podcast. I haven't heard more than two or three episodes yet, though.