Year: 2017

Retro Dairy Mart from “Say Anything . . . “

“That’s L.A. – they worship everything and they value nothing.” So says Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) while lamenting the closure of a historic jazz club and its subsequent transition into a samba/tapas place in La La Land. Though I did not like the movie (as mentioned previously), I have to agree with Seb on this one. Los Angeles does often show a blatant disregard for its history, regularly razing notable buildings and sites with a nonchalant swoop of its proverbial hand. One yesteryear locale that somehow not only escaped the fate of the wrecking ball, but also popped up in La La Land is the Retro Dairy Mart in Burbank. The property’s onscreen stint in the 2016 musical has been well-documented online for quite a while now, but I was completely surprised when Greg Mariotti, from Cameron Crowe’s official website The Uncool, informed me of its appearance in Say Anything . . . while the two of us were working on our round-up of the 1989 flick’s Los Angeles locales. Since the drive-through market has been featured in two such iconic productions, I figured it was worthy of its own blog post.

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Retro Dairy Mart was originally established as an Alta Dena Dairy market in 1962.

The Alta Dena Dairy company began building the mini grocery stores in 1951, providing patrons with basic sundries like eggs, milk, sugar, and butter all from a convenient drive-up window. The cash-and-carry markets, as they were referred to, became quite popular and countless outposts were constructed across Los Angeles throughout the ‘50s and ‘60s. Though not nearly as prevalent today, there were still 82 of the shops dotting the Southern California landscape as of 2006.

The Burbank site remained in operation until 2014. When it hit the market, recent retiree Patricia Franco saw an opportunity to revitalize the space, while still embracing its retro roots. And revitalize it she did! Patricia completely revamped both the property’s interior and exterior. Over a period of five months, she added a front patio, implemented a red, white and black color scheme, planted foliage, installed new countertops and black-and-white checkered flooring, and expanded the inventory. She dubbed her new shop “Retro Dairy Mart.” It really is an adorable little spot and I am not at all surprised that it turned up in La La Land. The site looked quite a bit different 27 years prior to that, though, when Cameron Crowe pegged it as a location for Say Anything . . .

Masking as a Seattle-area gas station/convenience store, Alta Dena Dairy pops up towards the end of the movie, in the scene in which Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) asks some male friends – including a young Jeremy Piven – for advice on girls. After they share some not-so-choice pieces of wisdom with him, Lloyd can’t help but question, “If you guys know so much about women, how come you’re here at, like, a Gas N Sip on a Saturday night, completely alone, drinking beers, with no women anywhere?” Their response? “By choice, man!”

In the segment, Lloyd is pacing along the market’s east side (in the area pictured below, which is now covered by an overhang), while his friends sit across from him in front of the chain link fence that separates the mart’s parking lot from that of what is now the Burning Bonzai restaurant located next door.

Lloyd’s positioning in the scene is denoted with a pink “x” in the aerial view below, while that of his friends is denoted with blue circles.

Though the market no longer resembles its Say Anything . . . self, its slanted front roofline remains unchanged.

As do the pipes and electrical equipment visible behind Lloyd’s friends on the Burning Bonzai next door.

I cannot express how cool it was to stand there, in the footsteps of Cameron Crowe, John Cusack, Jeremy Piven, and Gregory Sporleder (Hello, Coach Romano from Never Been Kissed!), 28 years after the fact, and see those pipes and wires in the exact same positioning that they were in when filming took place.

Even the ledge Lloyd’s friends sat on appears untouched, aside from a paint job.

Though Retro Dairy Mart only popped up briefly in La La Land in the scene in which Seb grabs a morning coffee, a much wider view of it was shown than in Say Anything . . . Other than the fact that the front patio area was expanded for the shoot, the site looks much the same in person as it did onscreen.

Unfortunately, the brightly-colored Californian Oranges mural seen on the wall of the Burning Bonzai building was just set decoration that was painted over after filming wrapped.

Van Beek, the jazz-club-turned-samba-tapas place that Seb laments throughout La La Land, sits directly across the street from the Retro Dairy Mart. As Sebastian explains to Mia (Emma Stone) in the movie, “I get coffee five miles out of the way just so I can be near a jazz club.” In reality, that building is the former Magnolia Theatre.

The Magnolia appears twice in La La Land – first in the scene in which Seb grabs coffee and then in a later segment in which Mia helps Seb destroy one of the bar’s signs.

Though there seem to be differing reports about its history online, from what I have gathered the Magnolia Theatre was designed by architect Clifford A. Balch in 1941. The one-screen, 797-seat venue was shuttered in 1979 when the owners lost their lease and was subsequently transformed into a recording studio named Evergreen Studios, established in part by Barbra Streisand. Though the property has since been sold and renamed numerous times, it continues to operate as a music studio. Just a few of the stars who have recorded on the premises include Frank Sinatra, Britney Spears, Whitney Houston, Barry Manilow, Justin Timberlake, Paul McCartney, Plácido Domingo, Mariah Carey, George Martin, and Stephen Sondheim.

La La Land is hardly the first production to utilize the Magnolia Theatre.

Paul Sheridan (Fred MacMurray) helps Lona McLane (Kim Novak) with some car trouble in the parking lot of the Magnolia after catching a flick at the theatre in the 1954 noir Pushover.

In the Season 3 episode of Columbo titled “Double Exposure,” which aired in 1973, Dr. Bart Keppel (Robert Culp) perfects his use of subliminal advertising at the Magnolia. The theatre looks a bit different in Columbo than it did in Pushover due to a renovation that took place in 1963.

Thanks to the Dear Old Hollywood website, I learned that the Magnolia Theatre is where Harry Moseby (Gene Hackman) discovers that his wife is having an affair in the 1975 thriller Night Moves.

The Season 1 episode of Electra Woman and Dyna Girl titled “Glitter Rock,” which aired in 1976, also took place at the Magnolia, which the narrator says is located in a “seedy, run-down section of the city.”

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Retro Dairy Mart, aka the Gas N Sip from Say Anything . . ., is located at 4420 West Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank. The Magnolia Theatre from La La Land is located across the street at 4403 West Magnolia Boulevard.

July 10, 2017
Off Limits Cocktail Lounge from “Rosewood”

I’m still in quite a bit of shock – not to mention completely heartbroken – over the recent cancellation of Rosewood. The cancellation was especially stinging being that there are a couple of locations from the former Fox series that I stalked, but have yet to blog about – namely Off Limits cocktail lounge, the supposed Miami-area dive-y bar that Dr. Beaumont ‘Rosie’ Rosewood, Jr. (Morris Chestnut) and partner Det. Annalise Villa (Jaina Lee Ortiz) regularly frequented. In reality, the watering hole (which, like Rosewood, was recently shut down) can be found in Orange County – Anaheim, to be exact – where the vast majority of the Florida-set series was lensed.

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I discovered this locale thanks to an April 2016 The Orange County Register article in which Rosewood co-executive producer Vahan Moosekian was quoted as saying, “We were scouting locations for a bar and house and we looked all over and we found them in Anaheim. The house (on Lemon Street) looked like it belonged in Florida and then we found the (Off Limits) bar just a few miles away.” Thank you, OC Register!

Sadly, by the time I stalked the place in mid-March of this year, it had been shuttered, so I only got to see the exterior. Yelp still has photos of the interior posted, though. You can check them out here.

As I learned from commenters on Off Limits’ Facebook page, the bar’s owner passed away earlier this year and the property was subsequently sold. Much to the dismay of the many longtime regulars, the site’s future is currently up in the air.

Thankfully, the watering hole’s signage has been left intact for the time being.

And what fabulous signage it is!

I’m kind of obsessed. I absolutely love retro roadside signs.

Off Limits cocktail lounge was originally established way back in August 1990. Prior to that, the space housed an upscale cook-your-own steak eatery/piano bar known as The Roberts Room.

Off Limits first popped up in Rosewood’s second episode, titled “Fireflies and Fidelity.” In the episode, Villa explains to Rosie that she “basically grew up” at the bar, spending many afternoons drinking Arnold Palmers while her dad hustled money out of gullible pool players. Despite her classification of the place as a “dump,” it holds special meaning for her. She says, “It’s my sanctuary. Some people go to church. I come here.”

The bar went on to become Rosie and Villa’s regular hangout, appearing almost weekly on the series.

It was utilized so often, in fact, that I am surprised a set re-creation of it wasn’t built at MBS Media Campus, the Manhattan Beach studio where the show was shot. That does not appear to have been the case, though. From what I can tell, the many scenes that took place at Off Limits were actually shot on location at the bar.

Though it was Off Limits’ interior that was mainly featured on Rosewood, the exterior – with its fabulous sign – did show up on occasion.

Off Limits was only utilized throughout Rosewood’s first season. Though it was never discussed on the series, Rosie and Villa just stopped hanging out there during Season 2.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Off Limits cocktail lounge from Rosewood was formerly located at 819 South Euclid Street in Anaheim. The site is currently closed.

July 7, 2017
The Fourth of July Parade Location from “The Wonder Years” Finale

Americans nationwide will be gathering together tomorrow to celebrate the birth of our country. So what better time than today to write about a location related to the holiday? Back in late 2015, I stalked the street where Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage) and his family and friends attended a July 4th parade in the final episode of The Wonder Years, Season 6’s “Independence Day.” Filming of the nostalgic – and, let’s face it, incredibly sad – scene, which was the second to last of the entire series, took place on Greenleaf Avenue in Uptown Whittier. Though I had planned on blogging about the picturesque street last year in honor of the Fourth, I somehow completely forgot to do so. Then, in a rather fortuitous turn, I randomly came across my images of the site while going through old photographs a couple of days ago. Talk about perfect timing!

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Uptown Whittier was originally established in 1887.

The charming business district, which is centered around tree-lined Greenleaf Avenue, boasts shops, boutiques, restaurants, bars, cafes, and a historic theatre.

The district also boasts quite a few historically significant spots, including the National Bank of Whittier Building at 13006 Philadelphia Street. Constructed in 1923 by architects John and David Parkinson, the Beaux Arts-style structure was the site of Richard Nixon’s first law office.

Greenleaf Avenue could not be more idyllic and perfectly encapsulates that Smalltown, U.S.A. feel, especially when viewed through a camera lens.

It is not very hard to see why location managers have flocked there over the years.

I first learned of Greenleaf Avenue’s appearance in The Wonder Years finale thanks to the Tourist Inspiration website, which I came across while researching locations during my binge of the series back in 2014. The website states, “The parade scene in the final episode of The Wonder Years was filmed at the corner of Greenleaf Avenue and Philadelphia Street. Kevin is standing under the awning of Rocky Cola Café. He crosses Philadelphia to meet Paul (Josh Saviano) as a parade goes by.” I immediately added the information to my To-Stalk List without doing any verification of it, which was an unfortunate mistake. As I discovered when I sat down to write this post, Tourist Inspiration’s data is as erroneous as that pesky rumor that Saviano grew up to become Marilyn Manson. Not only did Kevin not cross a street to reach Paul in “Independence Day,” but he also never stood in front of the Rocky Cola Café. In the parade scene, Kevin sidles up to Paul outside of what is now Pour Le Bain at 6721 Greenleaf Avenue. (Sadly, because of the erroneous info, I took photos of the wrong areas of Greenleaf while I was there, so you’ll have to make due with some Street View imagery in this post.)

Kevin and Paul – and Winnie Cooper (Danica McKellar), who is also in tow – then head over to where the Arnold family is waiting, on the sidewalk in front of the small park-like space situated in between what is now La Monarca Bakery, at 6727 Greenleaf, and Mimo’s Café, at 6735 Greenleaf.

That area is pictured below via Street View.

The group then proceeds to watch the parade while standing in front of what is now Legends Boardshop, at 6725 Greenleaf.

As I mentioned above, Greenleaf Avenue has long been popular with location scouts. In 1987’s Masters of the Universe, He-Man (Dolph Lundgren) searches for a portal-opening cosmic key on Greenleaf.

After finding out they are going to have a baby in 1995’s Father of the Bride Part II, George (Steve Martin) and Nina Banks (Diane Keaton) drive down Greenleaf and watch various parent-child interactions.

Greenleaf is also the road Franck Eggelhoffer (Martin Short) speeds down on the way to the hospital at the end of the film.

Greenleaf is the site of Wendy Carroll’s (Ashley Williams) candy shop in Lifetime’s 2013 made-for-television movie Christmas in the City.

Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) and Sam Evans (Chord Overstreet) re-create Vanessa Carlton’s “A Thousand Miles” music video on Greenleaf in the Season 6 episode of Glee titled “The Hurt Locker: Part 1,” which aired in 2015.

The upcoming movie Spinning Man also did some filming on Greenleaf Avenue.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Fourth of July parade from the “Independence Day” episode of The Wonder Years was filmed on the 6700 block of Greenleaf Avenue in Whittier, in front of what is now Pour Le Bain (6721 Greenleaf), Legends Boardshop (6725 Greenleaf), and the small park-like space located in between La Monarca Bakery (6727 Greenleaf) and Mimo’s Café (6735 Greenleaf).

July 3, 2017
The Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway Tour

My knowledge of Elvis Presley is basically limited to the fact that he was a singer (duh!), his 1957 drafting into the army served as the inspiration for the play and movie Bye Bye Birdie, he called a spectacular Tennessee mansion named Graceland home (the manse is the setting of one of my favorite plays ever, Ellen Byron’s aptly titled Graceland), and he learned his famous hip-thrusting moves from a young Forrest Gump. (Ha, just kidding about that last one.) So yeah, virtually everything I know about The King was gleaned from some sort of movie or stage production. (Truth be told, most of my knowledge comes from movie, stage, or TV productions.) I’m always interested in learning more about anyone or anything Hollywood-related, though. So when my good friend Steffi (who surprised me with a visit recently for my 40th birthday) mentioned that she wanted to take a tour of the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway in Palm Springs, I jumped at the chance.

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I have stalked the exterior of the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway a couple of times over the years and covered its history pretty extensively in this July 2012 post. So as not to repeat myself, today’s write-up will focus mainly on the tour and only include a brief recap of the property’s background.

The Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway was originally built in 1960 for real estate developer Robert Alexander. Designed by the mid-century-modern master William Krisel, the layout of the sprawling pad consists of four perfect circles situated on three levels.

Elvis leased the residence, which Look magazine dubbed “The House of Tomorrow,” for a year beginning in September 1966 and used it as a vacation home. He quickly fell in love with Palm Springs during his visits to the dwelling – so much so that he decided to marry his longtime girlfriend, Priscilla Beaulieu, in the property’s backyard next to the swimming pool. As the story goes, gossip columnist Rona Barrett, who lived nearby, caught wind of the impending nuptials and announced it on her nightly TV show. A media firestorm quickly erupted and journalists descended upon the home. The frenzy caused Elvis and Priscilla to rethink their decision and in the early morning hours of May 1st, 1967, the two headed to Las Vegas, courtesy of Frank Sinatra’s private plane, and tied the knot in a suite at the Aladdin hotel. They returned to their Palm Springs pad later that afternoon, where Elvis carried Priscilla up the front steps, across the threshold and upstairs into the bedroom, forever cementing the home’s status as the “Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway.” Two days later, the newly betrothed couple headed back to Graceland, though they visited the Hideaway several times throughout the year it was leased. Elvis eventually purchased a house of his own nearby, which he owned until he passed away in 1977. (You can read about that residence, located at 845 West Chino Canyon Road in Little Tuscany, here.)

The Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway Tour begins at the threshold Elvis carried Priscilla over.

The tour is actually led by a longtime reader/fellow stalker named Michael (that’s him below), who I’ve been friends with on Facebook for years. Michael is a veritable expert on all things Elvis. There was literally no question about the singer that he couldn’t answer. Listening to his stories about Presley and anecdotes about the house was fascinating. I couldn’t have imagined anyone better to walk in the footsteps of The King with.

Setting foot inside the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway is like stepping back in time to 1967. The pad is virtually frozen in time from the days when The King called the place home.

Just beyond the threshold is a large sunken living room . . .

. . . where circle motifs can be found in abundance.

Not only is the room rounded . . .

. . . but the space boasts an amazing circular fireplace and hood . . .

. . . as well as a circular ottoman and a 64-foot curved banquette couch –

– the very same couch that was installed at the house during Elvis and Priscilla’s tenure.

Yep, that’s a photo of them sitting on said couch pictured below.

Amazingly, guests are not only allowed, but encouraged to sit on the couch to pose for photos.

From there, visitors are led into the circular kitchen . . .

. . . which features a rounded stove –

– a close-up of which you can see below;

a massive fridge and two ovens;

and an indoor BBQ (for those hot Palm Springs days when it is much too warm to do any outdoor grilling).

There it is open.

Visitors also get to check out the guest bathroom . . .

. . . which boasts a dressing-room-style mirror;

and a shower.

Obligatory Elvis bathroom selfie!

After passing through the jungle-themed sitting area . . .

. . . visitors are led up the very stairs that Elvis carried Priscilla up the night of their wedding . . .

. . . and into the master bedroom, which is fabulous.

Because of the home’s circular shape, regular photos just don’t do it justice.

It is much better showcased via panorama pics.

None of the furniture or furnishings in the residence are off-limits to guests. As was the case with the couch, visitors are invited to pose on Elvis and Priscilla’s bed, which Steffi and I gladly did!

We also got to catch a glimpse of the master bath . . .

. . . which boasts a massive sunken tub . . .

. . . as well as a built-in magazine rack and a bidet.

I honestly cannot recommend the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway Tour more! It’s the perfect experience for fans of The King, those who want to catch a glimpse of the interior of a celebrity home, and architecture buffs alike.

Sadly, the property is currently for sale, so I am not sure how long tours will be offered.

For those in the market for a new pad, the 4-bedroom, 5-bath, 4,695-square-foot property, which features a pool, a tennis court, gardens, a fruit orchard, and three parcels of land, can be yours for a cool $7 million.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway is located at 1350 Ladera Circle in the Vista Las Palmas neighborhood of Palm Springs. Tours are offered daily at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. and cost $35 for adults and $15 for children under 12. You can find out more information about the tour, as well as purchase tickets, here.

June 30, 2017
The Gilmore Mansion from “Gilmore Girls”

While I realize this may be considered blasphemy in some circles, I have never really watched Gilmore Girls. On paper, the show definitely looks like something that would appeal to me, but for whatever reason, I failed to tune in when it originally started airing in 2000. At the behest of fellow stalker/Gilmore Girls aficionado Chas, from the It’s Filmed There website, I finally viewed six or so episodes early last year, but the series just didn’t hook me. Don’t get me wrong – GG is not bad or unentertaining by any means. I just can’t seem to get into it – which I think is largely due to the fact that the show boasts 7 seasons, 153 episodes, and a 4-part reboot. That’s a lot of binge-watching to get through. It’s kind of overwhelming to even think about. Despite my viewing neglect, I do know quite a bit about the series’ locations, thanks both to Chas and the fact that I’ve gone on the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood, where GG was mainly lensed, countless times. One locale I did not know about – heck, not even Chas knew about it – was the home used for establishing shots of the Gilmore mansion, aka the stately pad where Richard (Edward Herrmann) and Emily Gilmore (Kelly Bishop) lived.

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It is pretty common knowledge among Gilmore Girls fans – and regular Warner Bros. tourgoers such as myself – that the exterior of the Gilmore mansion was a façade built inside of a soundstage on the studio lot. So imagine Chas’ surprise when he received an email from Thomas Pucher, of the Falcon Crest website, a couple of months back informing him that said façade was modeled after the exterior of an actual house – a handsome 1924 French Provincial Revival-style manse located in Pasadena. Not only that, but actual footage of the dwelling was used in establishing shots of the Gilmore residence during Season 1.

In real life, the massive 5-bedroom, 7-bath, 8,124-square-foot property, which sits on a 0.74-acre lot, is known as the William R. Staats House.

It was designed by the Marston, Van Pelt & Maybury architecture firm for real estate developer William Staats, who worked with Henry Huntington in developing Pasadena.

The William R. Staats House was not the only mansion utilized as the Gilmore home on Gilmore Girls. In fact, the tale of Richard and Emily’s residence is a bit of a long one. The GG pilot was lensed largely in Toronto, Canada and its environs, with a few re-shoots done on the Warner Bros. Studio backlot. In the pilot, a dwelling at 61 Binscarth Road masked as the Gilmore mansion.

The interior of the Binscarth Road pad was also utilized in the pilot.

Once Gilmore Girls got picked up, production moved to Los Angeles. Virtually all series filming took place at Warner Bros. GG is not a show that left the lot very often. One of the few non-studio locales utilized was the William R. Staats House. The exterior of the residence was first featured in the Season 1 episode titled “Kill Me Now.”

The exterior also appeared in “Star-Crossed Lovers and Other Strangers.”

While I knew that the studio-built façade was also utilized during Season 1, because I don’t watch the show, I was unsure of which bits were shot at the real house and which were shot on set. Enter my friend/guest poster extraordinaire Michael (you can read his many IAMNOTASTALKER articles here). Michael is a big fan of GG, so I passed the information about the Staats House along to him. He wound up reviewing several Season 1 episodes and came to the conclusion that the Pasadena pad only appeared in establishing shots a couple of times on the series and that all of the scenes that took place in front of the Gilmore mansion involving actors were lensed at the set re-creation. It was easy for him to distinguish between the real home and the façade based on three factors – the façade bricks are much whiter and flatter than those of the real house, the studio re-creation bushes are much taller than those of the real home, and, most telling of all, the set mansion does not have a threshold, while the real house does.

As Michael further explained, “In the first season they keep pretty close to the door. I assume they hadn’t built much of the exterior at that point. Then in the second season, the front driveway set is expanded, ivy is added to the facade, and a second light is added next to the door, all deviating from the Pasadena location.”

Though some commenters on this recent Reddit post about the Gilmore mansion speculate that the actual interior of the Staats House was utilized during Season 1, that is incorrect. Once the series was picked up, a set replica of the interior of the Toronto residence used in the pilot was constructed. Said set was featured from the second episode, titled “The Lorelais’ First Day at Chilton” (pictured below), through the end of the series – though it was altered a bit over the years. As creator Amy Sherman-Palladino explained during Entertainment Weekly’s PopFest in October 2016, “We always had this issue with the Gilmore house where we didn’t have a lot of money that first season, so it was a little tiny, and it kinda looked like Ed [Herrmann] was in a doll house. He was a very tall man, and the next year we had a little bit more money, so we could make a room a little bigger every year.”

The enlarged Gilmore mansion interior from Season 2 is pictured below.

As Thomas informed Chas, the Staats House also popped up in two Season 5 episodes of Falcon Crest as the Monte Carlo chateau where Peter Stavros (Cesar Romero) was held prisoner. It first appeared in “Gambit Exposed.”

The interior of the property was also shown in the episode and, as you can see, it does not look anything like the Gilmore mansion.

The Staats House then appeared in the subsequent Falcon Crest episode, titled “Finders and Losers.”

Thanks to Chas, I also learned that the Staats House masked as the home of Richard Montana (Balthazar Getty) in the Season 6 episode of Charmed titled “Love’s a Witch.”

The episode affords us a fabulous look at the interior of the residence.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Big THANK YOU to Thomas Pucher, from the Falcon Crest website, for finding this location and to Chas, from It’s Filmed There, for telling me about it.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Richard and Emily Gilmore’s mansion from Gilmore Girls is located at 293 South Grand Avenue in Pasadena.

June 28, 2017
The Los Angeles Filming Locations of “Glow”

Be sure to check out my latest article for Los Angeles magazine detailing the filming locations of Glow, the new Netflix comedy series about a 1980s female wrestling organization. I have to admit that when my editor first pitched me the story, I was skeptical. The show did not sound like my cup of tea. But one episode in and I was hooked! Not only is Glow hilarious, but it centers around a group of out-of-work actors in L.A. – and we all know how much I love anything having to do with show business, not to mention the ’80s. I highly recommend Glow to all of my fellow stalkers who have a Netflix subscription.

June 26, 2017
Daisie Villa’s Houseboat from “Rosewood”

While I love the ocean, the thought of living on a houseboat has never appealed to me – that is until I caught a glimpse of the idyllic floating home belonging to Daisie Villa (Lisa Vidal) on the recently cancelled Fox procedural Rosewood. I became obsessed with the charming structure upon first seeing it in the Season 1 episode titled “Bloodhunt and Beats,” which aired in November 2015, and immediately attempted to track it down. I was unsuccessful in the hunt, though, and started to suspect that the picturesque liveaboard might be a façade built by producers solely for filming. Cut to May of this year. While doing some research on the Huntington Beach Civic Center, which masked as the East Miami Police Department on the series, I came across information about the houseboat’s location on Seeing Stars and just about passed out from excitement. The only problem was that when I took a look at aerial and street view imagery of the spot mentioned, there was no houseboat to be found. So I called in my friend/fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, who quickly figured things out for me.

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According to Seeing Stars, Daisie’s houseboat is located at Island Yacht Anchorage #1 at 1500 Anchorage Road in Wilmington. But as Owen discovered, the floating home can actually be found at Island Yacht Anchorage #2, which is at 700 Shore Road, on the opposite side of the promontory from Island Yacht Anchorage #1. Its exact location is denoted in the aerial view below.

A zoomed-in view of the houseboat’s location is pictured below.

Once Owen pinpointed the right locale, I rushed right out to stalk the place.

I was thrilled to discover that the houseboat is fully visible from the Island Yacht Anchorage #2 parking lot.

In person, the liveaboard did not disappoint.

As I mentioned above, the Rosewood houseboat first appeared in Season 1’s “Bloodhunt and Beats.” In the episode, recent Miami transplant Detective Annalise Villa (Jaina Lee Ortiz) temporarily moves in with her mom, Daisie, after the hotel where she has been staying closes due to a termite problem.

As you can see below, the pad is just as adorable in reality as it appeared to be onscreen.

Yeah, I think I could live here.

I could not find any information whatsoever about the property online. Because of its massive curb appeal, though, I would not be surprised if it has appeared in other productions.

Rosewood only utilized the houseboat during Season 1. In the episode titled “Thorax, Thrombosis & Threesomes,” Daisie leaves the structure for unnamed reasons and moves in with Annalise, who had found a home of her own in the interim.

Typically, only the north side of the property (pictured above) was shown on the series. That area is not visible from the Island Yacht Anchorage #2 parking lot, sadly. But in the episode titled “Paralytics & Priorities,” Villa has a discussion with Dr. Beaumont Rosewood, Jr. (Morris Chestnut) on the porch of the home’s west side, which is visible.

From the way the episodes were shot, I am fairly certain that the real life interior of the houseboat was also utilized on the series.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Big THANK YOU to my friend/fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, for finding this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Daisie Villa’s houseboat from Rosewood is located at Island Yacht Anchorage #2, which can be found at 700 Shore Road in Wilmington. The property can be a bit tricky to pinpoint via GPS. For those wanting to make the trip themselves, take Anchorage Road south to Shore Road and make a right. Shore Road curves around to the right and dead ends into the parking lot for Island Yacht Anchorage #2. Daisie’s houseboat is situated at the north tip of the parking lot.

June 23, 2017
The Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel from “The Office”

I typically have the memory of an elephant, but up until the Grim Cheaper and I recently started re-watching The Office over again from the beginning, I had honestly forgotten what a great show it is. I had also forgotten that several locations from it remain unknown and/or undocumented. One that I recognized immediately during our re-watch was the supposed Philadelphia hotel where Michael Scott (Steve Carell), Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), and Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) stayed in Season 3’s “The Convention.”

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Filming of the episode actually took place a good 2,700 miles west of the City of Brotherly Love. In reality, Michael, Dwight, and Jim checked into the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel, a spot I originally visited in November 2011 when I met up with my friends/fellow bloggers Ashley, from The Drewseum, and Katie, from Matthew Lillard Online and Rumble Fish Online, for the very first time.

Because that meet-up took place a good year or so after my initial viewing of “The Convention,” I did not recognize the hotel. But as soon as I saw it onscreen for the second time, realization immediately hit and I ran right out to re-stalk the place shortly thereafter.

Situated on 12 acres directly across the street from the Bob Hope Airport, the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel boasts 488 rooms, 2 outdoor pools with cabanas and fire pits, a Jacuzzi, a fitness center, 45,000 square feet of meeting space, a coffee bar, and a business center.

The property also features two onsite restaurants, the Daily Grill and an outdoor lounge named E.D.B. – Eat, Drink, Be.

In “The Convention,” which aired in 2006, Michael, Dwight and Jim head to Philly to attend the Annual Northeastern Midmarket Office Supply Convention – or as Michael refers to it “a booze-fueled sex romp where anything goes.” The Marriott Burbank Airport was used extensively throughout the episode. Sadly, because the property has been remodeled twice since filming took place (first in 2008 and then again in 2015), it looks quite a bit different today than it did on The Office. It is still recognizable, though. Areas that were featured in the episode include the lobby;

the East Tower elevator bay;

the Convention Center (which you can see some photos of in my 2012 post about the Hollywood Show);

a couple of rooms;

a hallway;

the Daily Grill restaurant – which masked as the Scranton, Pennsylvania eatery where Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) went on a double date with Kelly Kapoor (Mindy Kaling), Ryan Howard (B.J. Novak), and Kelly’s neighbor, Alan (Robert Bagnell);

and the exterior hallway leading from the lobby to the East Tower . . .

. . . which, while enclosed at the time of the filming, was opened up during the 2015 remodel.

The Marriott Burbank also portrays the Antelope Valley hotel Jen Harding (Christina Applegate) and Judy Hale (Linda Cardellini) pop into for a “shower pit stop” in the Season 2 episode of Dead to Me titled “Between You and Me.”

Their room, the presidential suite, was just a set, though, I believe.

Jen and Judy also party at the hotel’s Daily Grill, which poses as Whispers and Winks bar, in the episode.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel, from “The Convention” episode of The Office, is located at 2500 North Hollywood Way in Burbank. You can visit the hotel’s official website here.

June 21, 2017
My Latest Mike the Fanboy Article – About the “Pretty Little Liars”: Made Here Exhibit

I am finally back from my surprise whirlwind vacation! As it turns out, my best friends flew in from Switzerland for 9 days to spend my 40th with me, along with my parents and the Grim Cheaper. Though we were originally supposed to spend our time on Coronado Island in San Diego, thanks to a VRBO debacle, we had a last minute change in plans and wound up renting a fabulous house in Palm Springs. It was honestly the most magical birthday ever.

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As fate would have it, the morning after our friends left, Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood held a press event for the lot’s new Pretty Little Liars: Made Here exhibit. My good friend Mike the Fanboy was asked to attend the event and he kindly passed the opportunity on to me. Since I was in L.A. anyway (our friends left out of LAX), the timing was perfect. You can read my article about the exhibit on Mike’s site here.

June 19, 2017
Surprise Vacation!

The Grim Cheaper has whisked me away for a surprise trip for my birthday (I literally have no clue where we are going or what we are doing), so I will not be blogging for the next couple of days. I should be back to posting on Friday, June 16th, so I will see you here then. In the meantime, you can follow along with our adventures on Facebook and Instagram – I am sure there will be much stalking involved with whatever we are doing.

June 9, 2017