Category: TV Locations

The Old Place from “Scorpion”

There are some spots in L.A. that I miss more than others. The Old Place pretty much tops that list. I first stalked the rustic eatery, tucked away on a forested road in the picturesque mountain town of Cornell, in 2011 and was immediately smitten. Because the restaurant is only open Thursday through Sunday and because I don’t get out to the Cornell area very often since moving to Palm Springs, I haven’t been able to frequent it as much as I’d like. So I was thrilled when it popped up in a recent episode of my latest TV obsession, Scorpion. Though I blogged about the Old Place after my initial visit six years ago, come to find out, I missed a lot of the restaurant’s onscreen appearances in the post. As such, I figured it was definitely time for a redeux. So here goes.

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The history of the Old Place was covered pretty extensively in my 2011 write-up, but I thought I’d include a brief recap here, too. The eatery was originally founded by Tom Runyon (Los Angeles’ Runyon Canyon is named after his family) and his wife, Barbara, in a former general store/post office that dates back to either 1884 or 1914, depending on which publication you happen to be reading.

The couple purchased the site, which at the time was abandoned, in 1969 and spent the next year transforming it into a rugged restaurant.

Tom did most of the work himself, salvaging unique items to use as décor. Booth backs were created out of doors from a San Francisco hotel, columns flanking the end of each booth came from the Old Santa Barbara Mission, and the bench that runs the length of the 30-foot antique bar was fashioned out of a wooden diving board. The result of his efforts is a majestic, intimate, and one-of-a-kind spot.

The minuscule restaurant consists of five booths, three tables and a scant forty seats – and for many years had only two employees, Tom and Barbara. Tom served as the chef, cooking up the only two items on the menu, steak and clams, while Barbara manned the bar and worked as the waitress. Despite the tiny confines and limited menu offerings, the Old Place thrived – and became a celebrity hotspot, serving up the likes of Ali MacGraw, Steve McQueen, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Sean Penn, Jack Lemmon, Dolly Parton, Emilio Estevez, and Ronald and Nancy Reagan. Elvis Presley even stopped by in February 1966 while in town filming Spinout. (You can see some photos of him out in front of the eatery here.) In recent years, Britney Spears has been known to pop in.

When Tom passed away in 2009, Tom and Barbara’s son, Morgan, took over the restaurant, along with Tim Skogstrom, who runs the Cornell Winery & Tasting Room next door. The duo expanded the menu and wine list and added a credit card machine, but left the rest of Tom’s creation virtually untouched. One step over the Old Place’s threshold and guests are immediately transported back in time.

The site’s low-slung ceiling, wood-paneled walls, dimly-lit sconces, and friendly servers all add to the warm, intimate atmosphere. It is hands-down one of my favorite spots in all of Los Angeles – as evidenced by its prominent placement on both My Must-Stalk List and My Guide to L.A. – Restaurants. I honestly cannot say enough good things about the restaurant.

Thanks to the eatery’s uniquely rural charm, location managers have flocked to it over the years.

Which should come as no surprise – the Old Place looks like it jumped straight out of a Western movie set.

Back in 1964, when the site still housed a general store/post office, Dr. Richard Kimble (David Janssen) stopped there to pick up his boss’ mail in the Season 2 episode of The Fugitive titled “Tug of War.”

Two years later, the property popped up once again on The Fugitive, this time as a sheriff’s station in Season 3’s “Stroke of Genius.”

In 1972, the Old Place was used as the exterior of Elmo’s restaurant in the Season 5 episode of The Mod Squad titled “The Thundermakers.” (Interiors were filmed elsewhere.)

Sy Rogers (Gary Sandy) worked at the Old Place in the Season 5 episode of Barnaby Jones titled “Renegade’s Child,” which aired in 1976.

In the 1977 action film Telefon, the Old Place masqueraded as The Dougout, the Halderville, Texas bar where Barbara (Lee Remick) and Major Grigori Borzov (Charles Bronson) fought spies.

Only the exterior of the site was utilized in the flick. Interior scenes were shot on a set constructed at MGM. Though the set very closely resembled the interior of the Old Place, it was built much larger than the actual restaurant.

In 1987, the Old Place portrayed Last Stop Sandwich, the roadside stop where Det. Sgt. Rick Hunter (Fred Dryer) spotted Nicki Rains (Lydia Cornell) grabbing a drink in the Season 3 episode of Hunter titled “Straight to the Heart.”

The exterior of the Old Place also popped up briefly as a Native American artifacts store in Hunter’s Season 5 episode titled “Return of the White Cloud,” which aired in 1989. (Interiors were filmed elsewhere.)

In 1990, the restaurant masked as the Bookhouse, aka the meeting place of Twin Peaks’ secret society, in the Season 1 episode of Twin Peaks titled “Episode 3” or “Rest in Pain.”

The Old Place is where Vann (Owen Wilson) met Casper (Sheryl Crowe) at the beginning of the 1999 thriller The Minus Man.

In the Season 7 episode of The X-Files titled “En Ami,” which aired in 2000, the Old Place played Cory’s Café, where Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) and CGB Spender (William B. Davis) stopped for gas while in Goochland, Virginia.

Earlier this year, the Old Place masqueraded as Montana’s Jefferson Grill in the Season 13 episode of Grey’s Anatomy titled “Who Is He (And What Is He to You)?”

And, as I mentioned in my intro, the Old Place also recently popped up on Scorpion. In the Season 3 episode titled “Faux Money Maux Problems,” the restaurant portrayed the Simi Valley Saloon, where Walter O’Brien (Elyes Gabel), Sylvester Dodd (Ari Stidham) and Cabe Gallo (Robert Patrick) sought refuge after escaping their Norteguayan kidnappers.

Both the interior and exterior of the property were featured 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 Old Place, from the “Faux Money Maux Problems” episode of Scorpion, is located at 29983 Mulholland Highway in Cornell (or Agoura Hills). The restaurant is only open Thursday through Sunday, so plan accordingly. You can visit The Old Place’s official website here.

July 12, 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 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
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
Old Tony’s on the Pier from "The O.C."

The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon has been in full effect lately when it comes to Old Tony’s on the Pier, a Redondo Beach restaurant I stalked way back in January 2012 with my good friend Mike (he provided many of the images in this post), but have yet to blog about. First, Alison Martino, founder of the fabulous Vintage Los Angeles Facebook page, posted some photos of the nautical-themed eatery on her Instagram in May. Then last week, a link to an L.A. magazine article titled “100 Places Where You Can Experience Retro Los Angeles,” which featured a blurb on Tony’s, landed in my inbox. So I figured the universe was trying to tell me it was high time I dedicate a post to the place.

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Old Tony’s on the Pier was originally founded in 1952 by a commercial fisherman/World War II veteran named Anthony Trutanich, who figured that running a restaurant had to be easier than angling for ocean life. Initially known simply as “Tony’s,” the eatery was established inside of a small shack-like space overlooking the Pacific on the Redondo Beach Pier. Though the restaurant business proved just as demanding as commercial fishing, Tony’s quickly became a success.

Even celebrities were clamoring to get a table.

Just a few of the luminaries who have dined on the premises include Ronald Reagan, Michael Rapaport, Bob Hope, Ann-Margret, Florence Henderson, Phyllis Diller, Frank Sinatra, Danny DeVito, Johnny Carson, Barbara Streisand, Dean Martin, Candice Bergen, Telly Savalas, and Jay Leno. Tony’s entrance is wallpapered with autographed headshots of the restaurant’s many famous fans.

Tony’s proved so popular that Trutanich expanded it twice. In 1961, he added a large patio to the site and then in 1963, he installed an octagonal-shaped second story that he designed himself. The crow’s-nest-like space houses a circular bar known as “op o’ Tony’s.”

In 1969, Trutanich opened a sister restaurant just across from his inaugural eatery and dubbed it “Tony’s Fish Market.” It was at that time that the original site was renamed “Old Tony’s” or “Tony’s on the Pier.”

Though a fire destroyed much of the Redondo Beach Pier in 1988, Old Tony’s remained intact. Trutanich became the driving force behind the structure’s rebuild, earning the nickname “Godfather of the Pier.” Sadly, Tony passed away in 2007 at the age of 84. His two sons, Tony Jr. and Michael, subsequently took over running the restaurants. While they closed Tony’s Fish Market in 2008, Old Tony’s remains intact and is still going strong today, 65 years after its inception.

Very little of Old Tony’s kitschy décor has been changed since it opened (though some renovations are planned for the near future, unfortunately), which is perhaps why it has proved popular with both patrons and location scouts.

In the Season 3 episode of The O.C. titled “The Pot Stirrer,” Julie Cooper (Melinda Clarke) and Dr. Neil Roberts (Michael Nouri) met for a very brief lunch date at the eatery. Both the exterior . . .

. . . and the interior of the place were featured in the episode.

According to the super nice servers we spoke with while stalking the place (that’s them below!), Old Tony’s has also appeared in the television shows House M.D. and Riptide, though I am unsure of which episodes specifically.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Old Tony’s on the Pier, from “The Pot Stirrer” episode of The O.C., is located at 210 Fisherman’s Wharf in Redondo Beach. You can visit the eatery’s official website here.

June 7, 2017
Rose Towers from “CSI: Cyber”

Spanish-style courtyard apartment complexes are my jam (as evidenced here, here, here, here, here, here, and here). One that I became especially enamored of a little over a year ago was the pink-hued building where Tristan Jenkins (fave actor Matt Lanter) lived on the Season 2 episode of CSI: Cyber titled “Corrupted Memory.” While I don’t typically watch CSI: Cyber, when I learned that ML would be guest-starring I made sure to tune in – and was not disappointed. Not only did Matt do a fabulous job portraying an agoraphobe, but my jaw dropped during one of the opening shots when cameras swooped in to reveal the colorful terraced apartment complex his character called home. I immediately pulled out my laptop to try to figure out where filming had taken place, which my instinct told me was somewhere in West Hollywood. I came up completely empty-handed, though. I even tweeted Matt to ask about the locale, to no avail. It wasn’t until early this year that I was finally able to identify the place, via a rather circuitous route.

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A couple of months ago, the Grim Cheaper and I were watching an episode of Scorpion (our latest obsession) and I spotted what I thought was the exterior of the apartment building where Mia (Emma Stone) lived in La La Land. I did a quick Google search for “La La Land apartment building” and was shocked when photos of what I immediately recognized as Tristan’s complex from CSI: Cyber were kicked back! As it turns out, Tristan and Mia’s buildings are one and the same! (Though I was wrong on the whole Scorpion thing.) I was thrilled with the discovery and added the place’s address – 1728 East 3rd Street in Long Beach – to my To-Stalk List. Well, imagine my surprise when just a few days later, my friend Nat, who lives in San Francisco (you may remember her from Wednesday’s post), texted to let me know she was heading down to the LBC. While she was hoping we could meet up during her visit, I couldn’t make it out there. But I did ask if she’d be willing to stalk Tristan’s apartment on my behalf and she happily agreed. Thank you, Nat! (For those keeping track, this is the second locale that she has stalked for me over the past few months. I’ve taken to calling her my field correspondent and the GC has suggested I get her a press pass. )

In real life, Tristan’s apartment building from CSI: Cyber is known as Rose Towers. The complex was originally built in 1928 as El Cordova Apartments. Designed by George D. Riddle, the 20-unit Spanish Colonial Revival-style property boasts Moorish influences, wrought-iron balconies, lush landscaping, a terraced central courtyard with a tiled fountain, and arched entryways.

In 1955, El Cordova was transformed into an own-your-own apartment complex and then was transitioned once again in 1992, this time into condos.

In 2006, the homeowners association decided to re-stucco the building and, in doing so, discovered that there was also some water damage, wood rot, and minor structural issues that needed attention. The group banded together, performing much of the general contractor work themselves, to restore the property to its original glory. Their efforts, which took 4 months to complete at a cost of $150,000, earned them a preservation award from the Los Angeles Conservancy.

In “Corrupted Memory,” a woman is murdered at Rose Towers, which is said to be located at 1298 Horizon Court in Tampa, Florida, and the only witness is her agoraphobic neighbor Tristan, who is so traumatized by the event that his entire memory of it is blocked.

Quite a bit of the complex was shown in the episode.

I am fairly certain that the inside of two of the building’s actual condos were also utilized in the production. You can check out interior photos of a couple of the complex’s units here and here.

The exterior of Rose Towers was only shown once in La La Land, during the “Someone in the Crowd” musical number at the beginning of the movie. Very little of the structure was featured in the scene and none of the courtyard area, which is why I didn’t recognize it from CSI: Cyber.

While several websites report that Mia lived in Unit #16, her actual apartment exterior never appeared in the movie. Apparently, the portion of the “Someone in the Crowd” sequence shot at Rose Towers was originally supposed to be much longer -with Mia shown exiting her unit, dancing on the terrace, down the stairs, and past the fountain – but most of it wound up on the cutting room floor, leaving audiences with only a very brief view of the complex from the street.

You can watch a video put together by the Gazettes website about the filming of the “Someone in the Crowd” scene, in which host Jo Murray talks with homeowners about how the segment was shot and the cuts made, by clicking below.

The back alley behind Rose Towers was also shown briefly in a later La La Land scene in which Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) picks Mia up for a date.

Only the exterior of the complex was utilized in La La Land. Sadly, Mia’s brightly-colored apartment interior was just a studio-built set.

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

Big THANK YOU to my friend Nat for stalking this location for me!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Rose Towers, aka the former El Cordova Apartments from the “Corrupted Memory” episode of CSI: Cyber, are located at 1728 East 3rd Street in Long Beach.

May 26, 2017
Descanso Beach Club from “NCIS”

My family has long had a love affair with Catalina, the idyllic island located about 22 miles southwest of Los Angeles. One of our favorite spots to grab lunch or an evening cocktail while there is Descanso Beach Club, a toes-in-the-sand restaurant situated along the shore of Descanso Bay. I have visited the site more times than I can count over the years, but had no idea it was a filming location. So I was thrilled when I spotted it while re-watching an early episode of NCIS recently. I sat down to do a post on Descanso the following morning and was shocked to discover that, despite my many visits there, I hardly had any photos of the place. So I had to hold off on writing about it. Flash forward to this past weekend. My good friend Nat, who lives in San Francisco, made an impromptu trip to Catalina while in SoCal and texted me to ask if I had any area recommendations. I told her about Descanso Beach Club and what a great lunch spot it is. I also expressed that I would love her forever if she headed over there to snap some photos for me, which she happily did. Thank you, Nat! (Most of the pictures featured in this post are Nat’s, but a couple are ones that I took during my last trip to the island in 2009.)

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Descanso Beach Club is situated on the former site of the famed Saint Catherine Hotel, or Hotel St. Catherine as it was also known, which was established in 1918 by the Banning Family, who owned Catalina at the time. After a November 1915 fire destroyed many of the island’s tourist areas and lodgings, the Bannings decided to build an upscale resort on the grounds of their former home (which was also wiped out by the blaze), an idyllic plot of land overlooking Descanso Bay. Designed by the Milwaukee Building Company, St. Catherine opened its doors on June 28th, 1918. When William Wrigley Jr. purchased Catalina Island from the Bannings the following year, he added on to the Spanish-style hotel, installing a second guest wing and a swimming pool, among other amenities. The luxurious lodging soon became the stomping ground of many of Hollywood’s elite including Charlie Chaplin, Richard Arlen, Lana Turner, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, Marlene Dietrich, Joe Schenck, Betty Grable, Norma Shearer, Humphrey Bogart, Irving Thalberg, and Johnny Weissmuller.

On December 23rd, 1941, just a little over two weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Catalina Island was closed to the public and became a training ground for the military. The Saint Catherine Hotel was transformed into living quarters for the soldiers. Though the property was converted back into a resort in the years following World War II’s end, it never regained its original luster and was razed in 1966. You can see what the St. Catherine looked like while it was still in operation here, here, here, and here. Following the demolition, the hotel’s once lush grounds were left vacant and largely abandoned for more than two decades. Though there were plans to build another luxury resort on the site, they never came to fruition. Instead, Descanso Beach Club was established there in 1992.

The word “club” is something of a misnomer. Though the site (including the beach area) is privately owned, it is accessible to the public and offers a wide array of seaside activities for tourists and locals alike. Guests can sit on Descanso’s large deck and order a meal, grab a drink at the open-air bar situated just steps from the ocean, or rent a chaise lounge or cabana and sip a libation on the sand. It is hands-down the best spot for cocktails and eats in Catalina. Fun fact – Descanso is the only place in Southern California where cocktails can legally be served on the beach.

Beginning in 2010, Descanso Beach Club was expanded and renovated to the tune of $6 million. A large special events hall was added to the property, as well as additional retail space, an espresso bar (yaaaas!), and an ice cream shop.

As I mentioned above, the last time I visited Catalina was in 2009, so I have yet to see the club in its current state, but Nat’s photos attest to the fact that it is just as beautiful as ever.

In the Season 1 episode of NCIS titled “The Immortals,” Descanso Beach Club masked as the Puerto Rico bar where Anthony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) grabbed a cocktail after busting a local Navy Exchange clerk for illegally selling officer’s swords.

Though I recognized the bar immediately while watching the episode, I had to do a double take as the scene that took place there was incredibly brief. It was hard to believe that cast and crew headed all the way out to Catalina just to shoot that one short segment. “The Immortals” did feature quite a few boat scenes, though, so I am thinking that the production team zeroed in on the calm, clear waters off the island’s coast to shoot those bits, making Descanso Beach Club a convenient spot to film the bar segment.

The Season 15 episode of The Bachelor titled “Week 4: Radio Show Date” also did some filming at Descanso. In the episode, Bachelor Brad Womack took contestant Chantal O’Brien on a one-on-one date to Catalina Island. After an ocean-floor walk, the two finished off their visit with a romantic night cap at the club.

Aside from the actual beach, very little of the club was shown in the episode outside of a small view of the bar area that was visible when Brad and Chantal first arrived.

The Real Housewives of Orange County’s Vicki Gunvalson and Brooks Ayers shot a scene at Descanso in September 2011, but I scanned through all of the Catalina-based episodes from around that time period and it appears that the segment wound up on the cutting room floor. And back in the Hotel St. Catherine days, the 1927 film A Hero for a Night and 1935’s Murder on a Honeymoon were shot on the premises. Unfortunately, I could not find a copy of either movie with which to make screen captures for this post.

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

Huge THANK YOU to my friend Nat for stalking this location on my behalf!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Descanso Beach Club, from “The Immortals” episode of NCIS, is located at 1 St. Catherine Way in Avalon on Catalina Island. You can visit the club’s official website here.

May 24, 2017
East Miami Police Department from “Rosewood”

I was saddened to learn of the cancellation of Rosewood last week. Yes, I said in recent posts (here and here) that the show had jumped the shark, but I was holding out hope that it would return strong for a third season. Unfortunately, as Fox announced last Tuesday, that is not to be. Even worse, because the series was given the ax after the Season 2 finale had already aired, there will not be closure to any of the main storylines, namely the will-they-or-won’t-they relationship of the two leads, Dr. Beaumont “Rosie” Rosewood, Jr. (Morris Chestnut) and Detective Annalise Villa (Jaina Lee Ortiz). My fingers are crossed that the procedural will be rescued à la Timeless (which I am SO thrilled about it), but I’m not holding my breath. In the meantime, I thought I’d blog about one of the main locations used on the now defunct series – the Huntington Beach Civic Center, which stands, ahem, stood in for the East Miami Police Department where Rosie and Villa work, ahem, worked.

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The Huntington Beach Civic Center was constructed between 1972 and 1974 to replace the city’s former civic center, which was built in the early 1920s.

The 187,000-square-foot modernist complex, which sits on a 14.28-acre plot of land, was designed by both Meyer & Allen Associates and the Honnold, Reibsamen & Rex architecture firm.

The Meyer & Allen website states that the site was “designed for service to citizens, rather than a monument to government” with “a flexible, open-end plan that can adjust to and grow with the requirements of an expanding local government.”

The center, constructed mainly out of concrete, is comprised of 5 main areas – a 5-story Administration Building, which houses City Hall, a 1-story Development Building, a 1,000-seat amphitheatre, a Police/Public Safety Building, and Council Chambers.

It is the Administration Building that is used on Rosewood.

For those who are not familiar with the series, Rosewood is set in Miami, Florida. While almost all filming took place in Los Angeles, the pilot was actually shot on location in The Magic City. In the episode, Miami City Hall, located at 3500 Pan American Drive, masked as East Miami PD.

Beginning with episode 2, titled “Fireflies and Fidelity,” filming moved to the L.A. area (namely Orange County) and the Huntington Beach Civic Center made its first appearance as East Miami PD.

Both the west side of the Administration Building (pictured above) and the east side (below) are utilized on the series.

I was most excited to see the east side, which is where Rosie got his car back in Season 2’s “Mummies & Meltdowns.”

The spot where the gang waited for him, posed in front of his beloved canary yellow 1968 Pontiac GTO convertible, can be found at the bottom of the steps leading to the Civic Center’s east parking lot.

In person, the center looks much the same as it does onscreen, minus a few East Miami Police signs.

While I was posing for my obligatory photo in front of the location, a couple walked by and said, “Yep, you’ve found it! East Miami PD!” The friendly duo then told us that Rosewood had also done some filming at the Huntington Beach Central Library and Cultural Center just up the street, so the Grim Cheaper and I headed right on over there. I so love receiving unexpected filming tips from locals! (If you missed my post on the library, you can read it here.)

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 Huntington Beach Civic Center, aka East Miami Police Department from Rosewood, is located at 2000 Main Street in Huntington Beach.

May 19, 2017