I recently binged-watched the Netflix series “Sirens,” starring Juliane Moore and Kevin Bacon. Bacon is eye candy for the over-40 generation. 

However, there is one scene that had me laughing so hard I had to pause the episode on my iPad and take a moment to reflect. 

Moore’s character, Michaela Kell, is speaking to a young assistant whom she is mentoring to be a successful and beautiful woman like herself.  

The young protege Devon Dewitt, played by Meghan Fahey, says she is from New Jersey. Kell tells Dewitt never to say they’re from New Jersey. 

“You always say you’re from upstate New York,” says Kell. “I’m from Fresno, and I always say I’m from the Bay Area.”

Hollywood loves to make fun of Fresno in film and television. A truck driver character in the movie, “Thelma and Louise” makes crude gestures and shouts obscenities at them on the freeway a few times during the film. Before blowing up his truck, Thelma asks, “Where are you going?” and the truck driver says, “Fresno.”

Fresno was lampooned in a 1986 miniseries starring Carol Burnett and Dabney Coleman. The series parodied primetime soap operas of the time, such as “Falcon’s Crest,” “Dallas” and “Dynasty.” The plotline revolved around a once-wealthy family whose raisin-growing empire had fallen on hard times. 

Let’s face it, even other cities in the state of California snub Fresno. I remember billboards off  the Interstate 5 freeway near Sacramento that read, “Don’t resort to Fresno.” 

I mean, really, who does Sacramento think they are? If it weren’t for the capital being in Sacramento, it would be just like Fresno.

Granted, Fresno doesn’t have a coastline like San Francisco, but we don’t have to worry about our million-dollar home sliding off a hill either; I see that as a real estate plus. 

I have to admit, though, just like Kell in “Sirens,” I also told a small lie and claimed I wasn’t from Fresno. When I was a finalist on the first season of Last Comic Standing, they asked where I was from, and I said Pasadena, California. 

Why did I do this? I guess I bought into the myth that Fresno was the armpit of California. It was a place that when you drove under the underpass, the graffiti said things like, “Darryl Husky is weeny arm.”

When you tell people you’re from Fresno, they will respond with, “Oh, I’ve driven through there once.” I felt so dismissed when people in Los Angeles would say that to me. 

I feel like I have a “Fresno self-esteem issue,” and maybe I’m not the only one. 

I think some amazing people come from Fresno, such as singer and actress Audra McDonald, who has won six Tony Awards and, as of the 78th Tony Awards, holds a record-breaking 11 nominations. 

I remember following her with a spotlight on the stage from the light booth at Roger Rocka’s Good Company Players. I was there, man. 

We have the California Poet Laureate, Lee Herrick, right here in Fresno teaching at Fresno City College. I had the privilege of having him as a professor for my English critical thinking class. He taught me about the Jim Crow laws and introduced me to Audre Lorde’s quote, “Your silence will not protect you.”

Here is a list of the best things to love about Fresno, ranked from one to 10, with one being the best:

1. Me & Ed’s Pizza is my number one best thing to love about Fresno. There is nothing better in the entire world than having a pepperoni and olive medium pizza from Me & Ed’s on a hot summer night in Fresno.  
2. DiCicco’s Italian Restaurants – A well-known family-owned business in Fresno. Their Old Town Clovis location features the best stand-up comedy club showroom in the Central Valley. 
3. Shinzen Garden is Central California’s premier Japanese garden. It is not only a piece of serene heaven, but if you’re lucky, a peacock might show off its feathers for you. 
4. LitHop in the Tower District – LitHop may deserve to be number one. Fresno is known for its literary writers and was the home of William Saroyan. LitHop in the Tower District is the Sundance Festival of the Fresno literary world. 
5. Fresno State Bulldogs – Go Red Wave. Please don’t judge for loving Me & Ed’s pizza over the Fresno State Bulldogs. Nothing gets in between me and my Ed. 
6. Fresno Tower Theater – It is a landmark structure that symbolizes the Tower District, constructed in 1939 and originally opened as a cinema. After renovation, it became a performing arts center. 
7. Roger Rocka’s Good Company Players – Under the direction of Dan Pessano, GCP has entertained Fresno audiences since the late 70s and has fostered the Central Valley’s best and brightest talent. 
8. The Big Fresno Fair – I really go to the Fresno Fair for the corn dogs. There is no better corndog on the planet than the ones from the Fresno Fair. 
9. Storyland at Roeding Park – Storyland was my favorite place to go as a child. I loved having the golden key to enter and see where Goldilocks slept. 
10. Tipzy’s Tacos and Beer – They have award-winning nachos and the most fun Karaoke nights. Their taco salads are so delicious that if they forget to put the meat in it, you wouldn’t even notice.

One more thing, Fresno State has the best almonds, whether they are chocolate-covered, salted or roasted garlic, and that’s something to be proud of. 

Fresno isn’t just a place to stop and take a bathroom break on the way to San Francisco, because it’s halfway between there and LA. I like to think we are in the middle of the state because we are the heart of California, maintaining a strong pulse. 

Fresno is where the heart is, and there is no place like home.