How the Real Rushville Feels About Its Moment in the Big, Green 'Lanterns' Spotlight
Rushville locals weigh in on the HBO hit's depiction of their Nebraska city, have one mystery they want solved.
To look at the promo for this Sunday's episode of HBO's Lanterns, Rushville will be the site of some sort of cosmic cataclysm — and you can be sure that the residents of the actual Nebraska city will be watching.
"There's hail in Rushville, Nebraska."
Those five little words spoken in the Lanterns series premiere made not just Hal Jordan's ears perk up. The people of the real Rushville, population 1,100, were startled by them as well.
Matt Webb Mitovich
Airing Sunday nights at 9/8c and also streaming on HBO Max, Lanterns follows Hal Jordan (played by Friday Night Lights' Kyle Chandler), a legendary Green Lantern (aka "space cop"), and his trainee, John Stewart (Rebel Ridge's Aaron Pierre), as they investigate a mysterious event that transpired immediately after a Rushville high school football game. The duo was first alerted to the incident by the five-word code cited above, flagging the presence of aliens in the mild-mannered burg.
Catherine "Dr. Cate" Jones-Hazledine, Ph.D., a psychologist and longtime Rushville resident, remembers her 23-year-old daughter ("a total superhero geek") cuing up the Lanterns premiere the night of its release, and then promptly reporting on the most unexpected name drop.
"She is on the autism spectrum, and she had been eagerly anticipating this show for months," Jones-Hazledine shares. "Ten minutes in, she pauses it to come out and tell me, 'Mom, this is the craziest thing, but I'm watching this show and there's this line, 'There's hail in Rushville, Nebraska'!
"And I'm like, 'Well, that's weird.' That was the first I'd heard of it."
Jones-Hazledine's 24-year-old son registered a similar amazement upon watching Lanterns himself. "'It was like a fever dream!'" she recalls him saying. "'Like, I'm watching this show, and it's a pretty good show, and all of a sudden they're in Rushville.'"
Well... sorta.
Chandler, Pierre, Kelly MacDonald (Boardwalk Empire) and the other stars of Lanterns actually shot the Rushville scenes in Piro, California, due to that historic town's proximity to Los Angeles. The real Rushville, the seat of Sheridan County, can be glimpsed via flyover shots captured by drone cameras, and the DC Studios production makes a point to slip its few skyline fixtures into scenes and backgrounds when fitting.
"We've seen the water tower, the old [grain] elevator, and Stockmen's (an agricultural supply and livestock trucking business)," says Heidi Yusten Beguin, a freelance writer who's about to publish a historical novel set in Rushville circa 1908. "We're really enjoying all the references."
Matt Webb Mitovich
Bev Wellnitz, a coordinator for the Sheridan County Tourism Board, has been keeping tabs on Lanterns along with her husband. She enjoys spotting the replicated landmarks, and also has heard non-residents champion the series' chosen setting "because of an ancestor that lived here."
As Lanterns' Hal and John delve into the mystery enveloping Rushville, they repeatedly clash over jurisdiction with county sheriff Kerry Kane (played by MacDonald). The lawman's real-life counterparts have been left impressed, at least with the aesthetics.
"It was interesting seeing that the show copied our actual sheriff patches, uniforms and vehicle decals," says Chief Deputy Everett Langford of the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office.
"When most of the TV shows you see use exotic locations, it nice to see a taste of home on the screen," he adds.
Matt Webb Mitovich
And how is Lanterns playing among the doubly invested — those who live in the area and are experts on superheroes? Adam Stone, owner of the nearest comic book shop (Game Changer, located 30 miles west in Chadron), says the merging of reel and real life has been no less than a "major deal," noting, "We're about as out in the boonies as you can get!"
In the wake of Lanterns premiering, "There's a lot more interest" in Green Lantern comic book titles, Stone says, "so I'm putting them out more."
When Hal and John are not actively fighting space crime, they might kick back at a watering hole, feeding energy-based funny money into the jukebox, and using the powerful Green Lantern ring to, well, light ladies' cigarettes.
At Smitty's Place — a local bar not unlike the on-screen one owned by Jason Ritter's character, lawyer Billy Macon — Lanterns "has been quite the topic, mainly with the old timers," says owner Misty Belsky. Smitty's was even mulling weekly Lanterns viewing parties; alas, "we're currently closed on Sundays," Belsky laments.
Even space cops need some shut-eye, which Hal and John grab at a motel not dissimilar to the one owned by Jones-Hazledine and her husband, Mike Hazledine. (Sheriff Kane did tell us in Episode 4, "Everybody in Rushville multitasks.") "I actually said to my husband, 'If this was actually filmed in Rushville, that'd be our place,'" she recalls. "It definitely is that style of older roadside motel."
What else does Lanterns get right about Rushville? And where does it take dramatic liberties?
High school football is a big deal in Nebraska, though Kimball (the team Rushville had played in the premiere) is located too far away to be a legit rival. The football field/stands seen throughout the season bear a passing resemblance to a field found in Rushville City Park, and a community meeting à la the one Hal crashed in Episode 2 would indeed be held at the American Legion Club.
But catching a cab (or even a bus) from any nearby-ish airport to remote Rushville, as John did in Episode 2? Such a notion is a bit out-of-this-world, to hear locals tell it.
The biggest difference cited by most everyone I spoke to has to do with the size of Lanterns' Rushville, as compared to the actual town which occupies a scant 1.15 square miles. "We’re a lot smaller than what they picture!" bar owner Belsky reports with a chuckle.
Lanterns' primary mystery has revolved around the identity of a shapeshifting being, a Manhunter, who made camp in the rural city decades ago. But for those who call the real Rushville home, the big question is this:
What — meaning who — exactly is series co-creator Tom King's connection to the city?
Chris Mundy (Ozark), who co-created Lanterns with King and Damon Lindelof (Watchmen), hails from Omaha and has his own Husker bona fides. But it was King — a former CIA officer who has written for both DC Comics and Marvel — who said at a pre-season press event that a late grandmother hailed from Rushville, which informed the choice of setting.
Dip into a group chat populated by Rushville locals, though, and you'll find puzzlement over King's claim.
Keep in mind, this is a population that breaks four digits on a good day — one "Entering Rushville" road sign currently lists it at "999"— "everyone knows everyone" (as the saying goes), and many have lived here a long, long time.
Let me construct a solution to said mystery.
As relayed by his publicist, King's late paternal grandparents, Lloyd King and Virginia King née Swanson, were from "the Rushville area," with the latter specifically spending time in nearby Gordon. Virginia's parents were Joe Swanson (of Chadron) and Joy Sanders, and she spent much of her childhood on the farm of her grandfather, Ben Sanders, located east of Gordon. Lloyd's parents, Paul King and Merle King née Porter, both hailed from Rushville.
In fact, Lanterns actually is not the first time King honored his roots via a DC project. As comic book store owner Stone notes, "Heroes in Crisis," a 2018 run penned by King, opens with a character remarking, "Don't get many superheroes heroes here in Gordon, Nebraska."
What does Rushville "officially" think of its moment in this big, green spotlight? After all, Lanterns has played into some regional stereotypes (a murder suspect was deemed suspicious for not having a strong opinion about "President Barack Hussein Obama"), and the storyline posits that one rancher lords over a local (and very powerful) militia.
The office of Rushville Mayor Amanda Haller would only issue a statement, saying, "It is a big surprise for a small town like ours. We're keeping an open mind, and looking forward to watching it. And most of our people have been watching it."
