Pittsburgh versus Baltimore. In the battle of the backdrops for TV shows and movies, it's a little like pitting Steelers linebacker James Harrison against his Ravens counterpart, Ray Lewis.

Television director Christopher Chulack ("ER") shot the pilot for CBS's short-lived 2007 series "Smith" in Pittsburgh and in the late '90s filmed a pilot movie starring Lou Diamond Phillips in Baltimore.

"This is just a personal thing for me, but Baltimore seemed not as energized of a city," Mr. Chulack said this week. "I don't know why that is, it's just a feeling you get. Maybe it's where we were shooting at. Pittsburgh was energized. I was surprised about that. It was more fast-paced than I thought, more polished.

"That's not to say I don't like Baltimore. It was just a different experience. It seemed depressed somehow. It might have been my state of mind, too."

By late Sunday, most of Pittsburgh or Baltimore will be depressed, depending on the outcome of the game at Heinz Field. Although both cities are known as football powerhouses, they are also familiar as locations for TV shows and movies.

They can be gritty, glamorous, real and versatile, playing themselves or cheating for other places. Each has signature scenes, whether it's Pittsburgh from Mount Washington or bursting through the Fort Pitt Tunnel or Baltimore's Inner Harbor or historic Fells Point.

In the battle of the TV backdrops, Baltimore begrudgingly wins, thanks to "Homicide: Life on the Streets" and "The Wire," although Pittsburgh hosted "The Kill Point" and, four times a year, "The Guardian."

Jack Gerbes, director of the Maryland Film Office based in Baltimore, was in Bosnia on a business trip when he heard some familiar theme music and looked at his TV to find Andre Braugher and Clark Johnson eating breakfast at Baltimore haunt Jimmy's, but with Serbian subtitles.

In a movie match-up, Pittsburgh wins the coin toss and game with such films as "Night of the Living Dead," "The Deer Hunter," "Flashdance," "The Silence of the Lambs," "Wonder Boys" and -- some time before the real end of the world -- "The Road."

"Silence" wasn't just Best Picture of 1991. It was the third movie to sweep picture, director, actor, actress, writing.

In Pittsburgh, it's a game of the six degrees of George Romero. Visit any set and you'll find someone who worked with the horrormeister or with one of his acolytes. Mr. Romero now lives in Canada but he helped to build the industry, its crew base and the city's reputation.

That opened the door for Gillian Armstrong to shoot "Mrs. Soffel" here, for Jonathan Demme to direct "Silence of the Lambs," for Danny DeVito to hunt for "Hoffa," for Curtis Hanson to wow us with "Wonder Boys," and for Kevin Smith to bring "Dogma" and "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" to Pittsburgh.

Baltimore's big guns: Filmmaker John Waters and, before he settled in Connecticut, Barry Levinson, a six-time Oscar nominee and Best Director winner for "Rain Man." Former print journalist David Simon made a name for himself by creating HBO's "The Wire."

As Mr. Gerbes says, "When it comes to Romero versus Waters, you can find zombies anywhere, but you can only find 'Pink Flamingos' in Baltimore." That movie was about a competition for the Filthiest People Alive and featured one of Mr. Waters' favorites, a 300-pound cross-dresser named Divine who did horribly unappetizing things on film long before Johnny Knoxville or reality TV contestants.

Mr. Waters was variously anointed the "King of Sleaze," "Pope of Trash," "Duke of Dirt" and "Ambassador of Anguish" before "Cry-Baby" and "Hairspray" made him mainstream.

Born and raised in Baltimore, Mr. Levinson used his hometown as the setting for "Diner," "Tin Men," "Avalon" and "Liberty Heights."

Although the possibility of an actors' strike has slowed production, Pittsburgh played host to at least 10 movies in 2008, including "My Bloody Valentine 3D," "She's Out of My League" and "The Road."

Dawn Keezer, director of the Pittsburgh Film Office, said Pittsburgh and Baltimore don't compete as much as they once did. "In the old days, back before the incentives became such a part of it -- when Canada was our common enemy -- it was always, they'd look at Maryland, they'd look at Pittsburgh," she said.

"But anymore … they'll choose Pittsburgh, not only because of our experienced crew but because of the tax incentive," of $75 million in the commonwealth compared to Maryland's $4 million.

Both cities, however, offer quick trips to the suburbs from downtown and, Mr. Gerbes says, "It can be a very specific Northeast urban and suburban look but then at the same time, we have doubled for Paris, we've doubled for New York, we've doubled for Kazakhstan, so when the producers, directors and designers from the West Coast come, what they love is the style, the architecture, the heritage."

In "Syriana," Baltimore subbed for Dallas, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Kazakhstan (an interior shot), St. Louis and Geneva. "When George Clooney wanted to win his Oscar, where did he shoot his movie? Maryland. Take that, Dawn Keezer," Mr. Gerbes said with a laugh.

Of course "Syriana" also traveled to far-flung locales such as Casablanca, Dubai and Switzerland.

On Sunday, Ms. Keezer will be at the Sundance Film Festival, where she plans to host a modest playoff party at J.B. Mulligans Club & Pub in Park City, Utah, owned by an ex-Pittsburgher.

"The last time, the Steelers sent me a box of stuff -- signs, banners … the best part of that story was, I was in the parking lot at the Salt Lake City airport, this guy was walking down the aisle with one of those huge Steeler jackets on, so I rolled down my window, 'Hey, we're having a party.'"

Turned out he and his wife were Pittsburghers living in Texas who arrived an hour early and helped Ms. Keezer decorate. They e-mailed her this week and said they weren't sure Ms. Keezer remembered them, but they were going to Sundance and wondered if she was planning another Steelers bash.

If the Steelers and Eagles both win Sunday, "Bones" star David Boreanaz will see his loyalties divided. He's from Philadelphia but as a kid served as a Steelers ball boy through a family friendship with the Rooneys.

"I hope it's a Pennsylvania Super Bowl, Pittsburgh and Philly," he said at a Fox party in Hollywood. "It would be the best of both worlds for me."