Category: TV Locations

Smart Set Beauty Salon and Shopping Center from “The Brady Bunch”

While I originally intended to be filling this week with locales from my recent New York trip, I had a family emergency that landed me out of state since Monday. At this point, I’m not sure when I will be returning home, so posts might be on the light side in the coming days and weeks. Thankfully, though, my friend Michael, the fellow stalker who gifted us with the two fabulous Brady Bunch write-ups about The Golden Spoon Café and the Downtown Christmas Shopping District, has swooped in and saved the day by penning yet another guest post about yet another BB location. Thank you, Michael! So without further ado . . .

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In the final episode of The Brady Bunch, “The Hair-Brained Scheme,” Bobby, in the midst of a get-rich-quick venture, convinces Greg to tame his mane (in preparation for graduation) with some reasonably priced Neat & Natural Hair Tonic. Not unsurprisingly, the hair product turned plot-device quickly transforms Greg’s hair into something resembling a wig you might find in Harpo Marx’s hatbox. Eveready for a comedic crisis, Carol whisks Greg off to her beauty parlor (that specializes in groovy lady-mullets, no doubt) for a quick dye job. Lucky are we—the filming-location-loving audience—that their visit to the beauty shop is prefaced by two sequential establishing shots, providing us with a couple distinct looks at the location. First we are shown a wide shot of an outdoor shopping center, complete with a packed parking lot and a beauty shop nestled among a strip of storefronts.

After the commercial break we are treated to a close-up of the building as the camera pans up from the parking lot across much of the signage displayed along the facade.

The interior scenes with the actors were, as usual, filmed in a Paramount soundstage, but the clips of the exterior were filmed away from the studio. And with all the visible store names, I figured that it wouldn’t be difficult to pinpoint where the establishing shots were filmed. Famous last words.

First I concentrated on the wide shot. The larger storefront on the left had a row of shopping carts outside suggesting that perhaps a grocery store was nearby. Christmas trees with the words “Holiday Greetings” were tacked onto the light posts. And, although blurry, I could make out the name of the beauty parlor: Smart Set Beauty Salon. Unfortunately, my perfunctory web search for Smart Set was to no effect, and without a grocery store name it was time to look a little closer.

The next thing I noticed was the unique roofline on the building. It reminded me of the double-sloped mansard roof on the marina boathouse in my hometown, so I started thinking of water-side cities. And that maybe those decorations on the light posts weren’t Christmas trees at all; suddenly those trees were looking a lot more like sail boats. I then tried to make out the names of the other businesses. First was The Mariner Barber Shop (which worked with the marina-style roof), a barely legible ice cream shop, and the ridiculously named Posh Pourri. It was clear as (a sunshine) day that such a unique name was my best bet to zero in on the shopping center.

Researching Posh Pourri, I first came across an expired trademark that had been registered in Marina del Rey and an article about the actor Herb Rudley. Rudley, along with his wife and a business partner, opened Posh Pourri in Marina del Rey in late 1967. He mentions in the article that they also considered the name “Port Pourri,” but ended up going with his wife’s suggestion since they hoped to provide a “potpourri of elegance.” I may never forgive him for not choosing “Port Pourri”—I love a pun.

Unfortunately, neither the article nor trademark application listed an address for the gift shop. But, by looking at the history of Marina del Rey—a charming seaside community in the west side of Los Angeles—and the layouts of the malls in the area, I was pretty sure it was located in a shopping center that was originally known as Marina Waterside. Unfortunately, the center—now known simply as Waterside—has been remodeled twice since it opened in 1967, first in 1990 and again in 2005. To make matters worse, I couldn’t initially find any photos from its original look, and only a couple from the first renovation.

Present-day aerial photography then came to the rescue. Looking at a bird’s-eye view of Waterside showed that new facades on the front of the building had replaced the original roof style, however on the backside of the building the roof was left partially intact and it matched the style seen in the Brady clip.

Nearly positive I’d found the right spot, I still wanted more evidence linking Posh Pourri to Waterside, so off to my trusty library I went. A quick look in the US Shopping Center Directory from 1974 confirmed my suspicions. Not only was Posh Pourri listed, but so was Carol and Greg’s Smart Set Beauty Salon, Mariner Barber Shop, Brookdale Ice Cream, Suds ’N Duds Laundromat, Bon Marche Shirt Laundry, and Boy’s Market. Finally, proof that Carol was heading out of the Valley in order to maintain her far out ‘do.

In December, I found myself in Marina del Rey and had to see the shopping center in person. Although it’s been significantly remodeled, and is filled with new businesses, it’s still easy to picture how the current-day layout translates to the Brady clips.

I took a walk around the back of the complex and was happily surprised that a little bit of the old mansard roof was poking just far enough up for me to still see.

The mall was last remodeled in 2005 by developer Caruso Affiliated who is better known for creating The Grove shopping center in Los Angeles.

Although I’m always disappointed when renovations have significantly changed the look of a filming location, I’m afraid it was a necessity in this situation. The shopping complex’s 1990 remodel looked terribly dated and I can’t imagine that the facility would be thriving as successfully today (or even still exist) without some redevelopment over the past 49 years.

So there you have it. Smart Set Beauty Salon may be long gone, however a Dry Bar now sits near the old Posh Pourri location. So, should you ever end up suffering the effects of Neat and Natural Hair Tonic, they might not be able to do anything about your sherbet-colored hair, but a least they’ll be able to smooth it out for you.

Thanks once again to Lindsay for providing me a platform to prattle on about a 40-something year old Brady location. (Editor’s Note – Big THANK YOU to you, Michael, for another fabulously and meticulously researched post! )

Stalk It: Waterside Shopping Center, aka Marina Waterside Shopping Center aka Carol Brady’s Smart Set Salon is located at 4700 Admiralty Way in Marina del Rey.

April 22, 2016
Sara’s House from “Grandfathered”

I always find it amusing when the exterior of a home is changed between a television show’s pilot and its subsequent episodes (which happens often, as I have mentioned numerous times on this site), but the interior is kept the same. Such was the case with the ranch-style residence where Sara (Paget Brewster, who I just realized played Kathy on Friends!) lives on Grandfathered. While watching the pilot, I recognized the dwelling used as Sara’s immediately as I had stalked and blogged about it way back in 2009. (More on that in a minute.) By the time episode two aired, a different house was being used for exterior shots, but the interior remained largely unchanged. Such is Hollywood, I guess.

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In Grandfathered’s pilot, Sara is shown to live in a charming double-peaked-roof home which I recognized on sight as the same dwelling where Wendy (Courteney Cox) lived in the 2008 comedy Bedtime Stories. You can read a post I wrote about the house here.

In the episode, Jimmy (John Stamos) heads to the home to confront Sara about the fact that she never told him she had his baby 26 years prior. While there, he says “I’m standing here on a porch in East Bumpkinville.” Sara corrects him by stating, “Pasadena,” to which he replies, “Oh, this is Pasadena?” The house is actually located in South Pasadena, though, at 800 Adelaine Avenue.

In real life, the adorable property, which was built in 1925, boasts 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2,165 square feet of living space, and a 0.23-acre plot of land.

For one of the scenes in Bedtime Stories, some fake diagonal parking space lines were painted onto the street in front of the home.

Those lines were still visible, albeit faintly, when I stalked the place in 2009.

And they are apparently still visible today! I was absolutely floored to see them when Jimmy parked his car in front of the house in Grandfathered!

The actual interior of the home also appeared in Bedtime Stories.

And it was utilized in the Grandfathered pilot, as well. Then, once the series got picked up, that interior was re-created on a soundstage at CBS Studio Center in Studio City where the show is lensed.

Though some minor changes were made, for the most part the set looks very much like the actual house. Which is amusing because . . .

. . . by Grandfathered’s second episode, titled “Dad Face,” a different property, one located at 12660 Kling Street in Studio City, was being used for exterior shots. I am guessing the move was made due to the fact that the new residence is much closer to CBS Studio Center than the South Pasadena pad and therefore much easier for the cast and crew to travel to for shoots.

With its peaked roof and light green coloring, the Kling Street house does bear some resemblance to the Adelaine Avenue home.

In real life, the 1939 property boasts 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2,183 square feet, and a 0.20-acre plot of land.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Sara’s house from Grandfathered is located at 12660 Kling Street in Studio City. The home used in the pilot episode can be found at 800 Adelaine Avenue in South Pasadena.

April 8, 2016
Jimmy’s Restaurant from “Grandfathered”

The Grim Cheaper and I were inundated with new shows we love during the Fall 2015 television season. Virtually every single one we sampled became must-see TV for us, including Blind Spot, Limitless, The Grinder, Quantico, The Family (which technically didn’t start until early 2016), Oil (really bummed that one was cancelled), Wicked City (ditto on the cancellation), Rosewood, and Lucifer. Considering we already had a fairly long list of can’t-miss shows, our DVR is now on overload. Though we have yet to see every episode, we also have a soft spot for the FOX comedy Grandfathered. I was especially thrilled while watching the pilot to spot Hatfield’s from Chef pop up as the interior of Jimmy’s, the restaurant owned by Jimmy Martino (John Stamos) on the series. I immediately started searching for the eatery used in exterior shots of Jimmy’s and fairly quickly found it – Faith & Flower at 705 West 9th Street in downtown Los Angeles. Though I added the info to my Hatfield’s post to reflect the new information shortly after the pilot aired in September, I did not make it out to stalk Faith & Flower until recently.

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Faith & Flower is located on the ground level of the Watermarke Tower. The luxury 214-unit apartment building was originally built in 2009 and was set to be a condominium complex, but its developer, Meruelo Maddux, declared bankruptcy shortly before construction was completed and the site remained vacant for a time.

In April 2010, the 35-story, 254,000-square-foot property was purchased by Watermarke Properties for a whopping $110 million and transformed into an upscale apartment complex.

Watermarke is considered one of downtown’s most luxurious apartment buildings and boasts amenities that seemingly never end, including a 20-seat theatre, a private wine cellar and tasting room, a spin room, two gyms, a yoga studio, a game room, a dog run, a basement lounge complete with a pool table and flat screen TVs that most residents refer to as a “nightclub,” a 75-foot infinity pool, a hot tub, two conference rooms, gardens, a ping pong room, BBQs, and a 24-hour concierge. Thrown in 24-hour room service and I’d be set!

In July 2012, a massive 7,000-square-foot, 200-seat eatery named Towne Food & Drink opened on the bottom floor of the building. Prior to Towne setting up shop, Watermarke’s ground level looked quite a bit different, as you can see in the Google Street View image from May 2011 pictured below as compared to my photograph. Restaurateur Armen Shirvanian spent $4 million building the space out. Of the exterior patio area he said, “We poured that terrace. There was nothing there. We built what we think is a European-style terrace that’s really inviting.” Sadly, despite the no-expense-spared construction, Towne Food & Drink shut its doors in March 2013, after only a scant eight months in operation.

Faith & Flower opened in the space, which sits at the intersection of West 9th and South Flower streets, in March 2014. The eatery’s name is derived from the fact that Flower Street was originally known as “Faith Street”.

Faith & Flower was designed with Old Hollywood in mind and features large booths, Chesterfield sofas, translucent curtains, and mid-century modern chandeliers. One of Bob Hope’s former dressing room doors is even on display.

On Grandfathered, the exterior of Faith & Flower is used in establishing shots of Jimmy’s restaurant.

Some on location filming has also taken place at the restaurant. In the pilot episode, Jimmy runs out of Faith & Flower, makes a left onto Flower Street, and then heads north while rushing his sick granddaughter to the hospital.

Interestingly, there is another exterior that is occasionally (and rather haphazardly) used in establishing shots of Jimmy’s. In fact, sometimes both exteriors appear interchangeably in the same episode!

That exterior is located on the CBS Studio Center lot, where Grandfathered is lensed. It is the eastern side of Building 2.

Fellow stalker Richard was nice enough to share a photograph he took of Building 2 while on a visit to CBS Studio Center. As you can see, the area where Jimmy’s restaurant was built is a carport in real life. The structure actually once served as offices for Mark VII Limited, the production company belonging to actor Jack Webb. According to Richard, Webb transformed the top level into an apartment, complete with a kitchen, sound studio, and air conditioning. In fact, it was the first spot on the lot to have AC capabilities. Big THANK YOU to Richard for this!

As I mentioned earlier, Hatfield’s was used as the interior of Jimmy’s restaurant in the pilot.

Once the series got picked up, that interior was re-created (with some changes) on a soundstage at CBS Studio Center.

The Watermarke Tower is also where Jimmy lives on Grandfathered.

The interior of one of the building’s actual units was utilized in the pilot episode.

As was the case with Hatfield’s, that interior was then re-created on a soundstage once Grandfathered was picked up.

The Tower has appeared onscreen in several other productions. Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) lived in one the Watermarke’s units the 2013 movie Her.

That same year, Towne Food & Drink was featured in the Season 5 episode of Castle titled “The Squab and the Quail” as the spot where Arthur Felder (Robert Craighead) was poisoned.

The building has been used twice – for virtually the very same date – on The Bachelor. It first popped up in the Season 15 episode titled “Week 4: Radio Show Date” during Bachelor Brad Womack’s one-on-one with Michelle Money. The two flew via helicopter to the Watermarke and then proceeded to rappel down it to the pool area where they ate a romantic dinner. In the Season 18 episode titled “Week 2: Book Cover Photo Shoot,” Bachelor Sean Lowe and Sarah Herron flew via – you guessed it – helicopter to the Watermarke and then – yep! – proceeded to rappel down it to the pool area where they drank champagne. Unfortunately, The Bachelor is not available to stream anywhere so I could not make screen captures of the episodes for this post. The building also apparently appeared several times on America’s Next Top Model, but again, the episodes weren’t available for streaming.

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 exterior of Jimmy’s restaurant from Grandfathered is the exterior of Faith & Flower, which is located at 705 West 9th Street in downtown Los Angeles. You can visit the eatery’s official website here. The interior of Jimmy’s is a set based upon the interior of the former Hatfield’s restaurant, which was located at 6703 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood.

April 4, 2016
My Latest Mike the Fanboy Article – About Sur Restaurant

Be sure to check out my latest article for Mike the Fanboy, about my best advice for having a Vanderpump Rules experience. You can read it here.

April 1, 2016
Vivian’s Millennium Café

I have to say that while I have always been a pretty big fan of Leah Remini (hello, Saved by the Bell! Who’s the Boss?! Living Dolls!), I don’t particularly love her reality show, Leah Remini: It’s All Relative. I was fascinated to learn through watching it, though, that Leah’s husband, mother, and stepfather run an eatery in Studio City named Vivian’s Millennium Café. This stalker loves herself some filming locations of the restaurant variety, especially ones that have a celebrity tie-in! But, while I immediately added the place to my To-Stalk List upon first seeing it on It’s All Relative way back in 2014, for whatever reason I never made it over there. Then, when I spotted it pop up in an episode of fave show Battle Creek (which was maddeningly cancelled after just one season!), Vivian’s moved to the top of the list and I finally managed to stalk it late last year.

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Sadly, Vivian’s was jam-packed when we arrived (from what I’ve since read on Yelp, it always is), so we were not able to eat there.

I was shocked to discover upon entering how small the eatery is in real life. The interior reminded me a lot of Café Lalo in New York, at least size-wise. It was too small (and far too crowded) to snap any interior photographs, unfortunately, but you can see what the inside of the place looks like here. Considering its scant size, it is pretty surprising to me that they were able to fit cameras inside to film.

The eatery, which is situated inside of a former house, was originally established by a couple named Vivian and Walter in 1963. The site changed hands several times over the years before being purchased by Leah’s stepfather, George Marshall, mother, Vicki Marshall, and husband, Angelo Pagan, in November 1999. They renamed the site Vivian’s Millennium Café in honor of that date.

The restaurant has proved popular over the years and on the weekends wait times for a table are often upwards of two hours! So if you plan on dining there, be sure to carve out an appropriate chunk of time.

Vivian’s also boasts a tree-lined back patio that is absolutely adorable, but was, sadly, standing-room only when we were there.

The café shows up regularly on It’s All Relative and has been the subject of several storylines.

In the Season 1 episode titled “What’s the Point, Mom?”, Leah attempts to redecorate the place, but her stepfather wants no part of it.

And in “Lady Is a Tramp Stamp,” also from Season 1, Leah’s sister, Shannon Farrara, starts working at Vivian’s.

And now we’ve come to the weird part of this particular post. I vividly remember Vivian’s popping up in an episode of Battle Creek and even have a notation about it in my stalking notebook. But I scanned through each episode twice (thank you, Netflix!) prior to writing this column and did not see it anywhere. So I’m either officially going crazy, remembering the wrong TV show, or just continually missing the place while scanning through Battle Creek. If any of my fellow stalkers happen to know which episode was lensed at the restaurant (if one actually was), please let me know as it is driving me nuts!

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Vivian’s Millennium Café, from Leah Remini: It’s All Relative, is located at 10968 Ventura Boulevard in Studio City. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

March 30, 2016
Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel from “The Ugly Truth”

It has been said that Los Angeles has no regard for its history. Today’s post is a testament to that assertion. On March 1st of this year, the doors of the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel were closed in order for a massive remodel and renovation process to take place. Though the building is set to re-open in 2018 as a condo/hotel hybrid, it will sadly have a completely different look and feel than its predecessor. The property had long been on my To-Stalk List and was a place I had always wanted to book a stay at, but unfortunately that was never to be. I did get to finally see it in person, though, a couple of days before its closure, and the site was just as grand as I had imagined, which makes the redesign all the more tragic.

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The Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel first opened its doors to the public on June 1st, 1966. At the time, it was known as The Century Plaza Hotel. The curved, 19-story property was designed by Minoru Yamasaki, who also designed the World Trade Center in New York. (Fellow stalker Michael, of of The Golden Spoon Café and Downtown Christmas Shopping District from The Brady Bunch fame, recently stayed at the hotel and was nice enough to share many of the photos he took for use in this post, including the two below. Thank you, Michael! )

The 726-room luxury hotel was situated on top of what was once the 20th Century Fox Studios backlot, which was sold off in 1961 after the film company found itself in dire financial straits due to a series of flops. At the time of its inception, the property was run by Western International Hotels (in 1980, Western International became Westin Hotels & Resorts).

The property was a celebrity magnet from the get-go with such stars as Bob Hope, Walt Disney, Tom Hanks, Muhammad Ali, Jimmy Stewart, Jon Voight, James Garner, Clark Gable, Whoopi Goldberg, Lucille Ball, Robert Duvall, John Ritter, and Loretta Young all spending time there. In a great show of foresight, during the hotel’s construction, Western International representatives spoke with Secret Service personnel in order to ensure that the building would be assembled with the utmost security. As such, The Century Plaza played host to every single United States president from Lyndon Johnson on. Nancy and Ronald Reagan were such frequent guests that the press was apt to call the place the “Western White House.”

In 1984, a second building, this one a 297-room tower named The Tower at Century Plaza, was added to the property. Sadly, it no longer stands. In 1999, The Century Plaza and The Tower at Century Plaza were sold and the new owners chose to operate them as separate hotels, changing The Tower’s name to the St. Regis Los Angeles. Though The Century Plaza continued to run strong, the St. Regis was shuttered in January 2005 and sold once again. Although it was originally set to be renovated into a residential tower, it was ultimately demolished and The Century, Candy Spelling’s new digs, now stands in its place – which is rather ironic (and maddening) being that the St. Regis appeared in an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. Thanks to fellow stalker “Alexis Colby,” who commented on my post about Season 1’s epic “Spring Dance” episode, I learned that the St. Regis was the building featured in the establishing shot of the hotel where the West Beverly gang’s formal was held. All actual filming took place at Sheraton Universal City, though.

Ronald Reagan was The Tower at Century Plaza’s first guest in 1984. In honor of his long history with the hotel, the building’s 8,000-square-foot penthouse, which encompassed the entire 32nd floor, was renamed “The Ronald Reagan Suite” in 1999. An exhibit of photographs of the former president was displayed in a portion of the suite. When the building was demolished, the exhibit was moved to The Century Plaza, where it was recreated in a second floor anteroom. One of the employees was nice enough to show it to us while we were stalking the place.

In August 2005, shortly after the St. Regis was sold, The Century Plaza was purchased by Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc., a renovation was begun, and the structure was renamed Hyatt Regency Century Plaza. It was then sold once again three years later to the Next Century Associates development company and plans were quickly set in motion to demolish the historic structure and build two 50-story condominium buildings in its place. Thanks to uproar from the community and efforts by preservationists and politicians (L.A. City Councilman Paul Koretz even went so far as to say the building would be demolished “over my dead body and even then I hoped my heirs would fight it”), those plans were thwarted and the hotel was instead set to be renovated, with two new 46-story towers constructed behind it. The property closed its doors on March 1st to begin the process.

We were there two days prior to that, on February 28th, and there was a definite feeling of nostalgia in the air. Many of the hotel employees had worked on the premises for decades. We spoke to quite a few during our brief visit. Some wiped their eyes as they talked to us. All were proud of The Century Plaza, wanting to show it off. I found myself on the verge of tears several times while speaking with them. You can read two great articles about a few of the long-time employees here and here.

The renovation is said to be a “sensitive rehabilitation” of the historic property. While I believe the exterior will be left untouched, the interior will largely be gutted. (Thank you to Michael for the second picture that appears below.)

The revamped structure will house 394 hotel rooms and 63 condominium units and is set to open in 2018.

Sadly, the hotel’s legendary Los Angeles Ballroom will be a casualty of the renovation.

The 25,000-square-foot room, which was remodeled to the tune of $1.3 million in 2012, was not only the site of both of Ronald Reagan’s presidential election victory parties, but is also where President Nixon hosted a celebratory welcome home dinner for the Apollo 11 astronauts on August 13th, 1969.

Not only is the ballroom one of the most massive I’ve ever seen (not to mention sparkly) . . .

. . . but the hall leading into it is pretty darn extraordinary in and of itself.

I mean, that ceiling!

The Century Plaza Hotel has been featured in so many productions over the years that it would be virtually impossible for me to chronicle them all here. So for brevity’s sake (or is it too late for that at this point? ), I will only list a few of my favorites.

The Century Plaza, playing itself, was where Mike (Gerard Butler) and Abby (Katherine Heigl) stayed while visiting L.A. in one of my all-time faves, the 2009 romcom The Ugly Truth.

While I originally thought that one of the property’s curved hallways was utilized in the filming of the movie, upon closer inspection, now I am not so sure. Though similar, there appear to be marked differences in the actual hallways from what appeared onscreen, most notably the ceiling, light fixtures, and recession of the doors. I am now thinking that the hallway may have been a set re-creation, though that seems like a considerable amount of trouble to go through for the filming of such a short scene. (Thank you to Michael for the photo below.)

I am also unsure if an actual (but heavily dressed) suite at The Century Plaza was used in the filming or if a set based upon one was built for the shoot.

Some recent photos of one of the hotel’s rooms are pictured below, once again courtesy of Michael.

The Hyatt Regency Century Plaza was also where Phil (Ty Burrell) and Claire Dunphy (Julie Bowen) – or should I say “Clive Bixby” and “Juliana”? – celebrated Valentine’s Day in the Season 1 episode of Modern Family titled “My Funky Valentine.” The couple started out their evening in the hotel’s X Bar.

That bar had already been shuttered by the time we stalked The Century Plaza, but I was able to get a few photos of it through the glass entrance doors.

After dinner, Claire (who is going “commando,” shall we say, underneath her trench coat) and Phil start to make their way up to their room, but trouble ensues when Claire’s coat get caught in the escalator.

While stuck, she proceeds to run into pretty much everyone she knows, including her father and step-mother, Jay (Ed O’Neill) and Gloria Delgado-Pritchett (Sofia Vergara), who all ask the same question – why not just take the jacket off? (Thank you to Michael for the escalator photographs that appear above and below.)

The Los Angeles Ballroom was also featured in the episode as the spot where Jay and Gloria caught a comedian’s act.

Despite the escalator issues from the year prior, Claire and Phil returned to The Century Plaza to celebrate the following Valentine’s Day in Season 2’s “Bixby’s Back.” Once again, they started out their evening in X Bar.

They then proceeded to head up, separately, to their room. One of the hotel’s actual hallways was featured in the scene.

Phil, though, accidentally grabbed the key card of the woman sitting next to him at X Bar, instead of the key card Claire left behind, and enters the wrong room, resulting in him almost being arrested. Another Valentine’s Day down the tubes! One of the hotel’s actual rooms was used in that scene.

The Hyatt Century Plaza popped up yet again on Modern Family, as the hotel where Alex Dunphy’s (Ariel Winter) academic decathlon was held in the Season 4 episode titled “Mistery Date.”

In the 1980 comedy 9 to 5, The Century Plaza was the hotel that Franklin M. Hart Jr. (Dabney Coleman) sent his wife Missy (Marian Mercer) to.

Alex Munday (Lucy Liu) rides a horse and lassos a bad guy in front of The Century Plaza at the beginning of Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.

And in the Season 6 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 titled “Nancy’s Choice,” Susan Keats (Emma Caulfield) wins a journalism award at The Century Plaza.

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

Big THANK YOU to Michael for letting me use so many of his fabulous photos in this post!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel, from The Ugly Truth, is located at 2025 Avenue of the Stars in Century City. The property is currently closed to the public and undergoing renovations.

March 23, 2016
The Millennium Biltmore Hotel’s Gold Room from “Beverly Hills, 90210”

Some locations hit you like a ton of bricks. Today’s locale was one of those spots. For ages, I had been trying to track down the supposed Las Vegas casino prominently featured in the Season 4 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 titled “And Did It . . . My Way.” I was fairly certain that production had not actually travelled to Sin City for the shoot, but I could not for the life of me figure out where filming had taken place. Then last year, while writing a post about San Francisco’s famed Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar, I learned about a ballroom at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel Los Angeles named the Gold Room. Now the Grim Cheaper and I have stayed at the Biltmore countless times over the years and I know the place like the back of my hand, yet somehow I had never seen or heard of that particular ballroom. I did not think much more about it until I began researching the historic hotel for a recent Discover Los Angeles post and came across this online brochure that lists some of the productions filmed at the Biltmore. I read through it and as soon as I saw the words Beverly Hills, 90210, everything suddenly aligned in my head! The Gold Room was the casino from “And Did It . . . My Way.” I popped in my DVD of the episode to confirm things and, sure enough, I was right! I was lucky enough to tour the ballroom recently as part of my research for the Discover L.A. article and, since getting there had been such a long time coming, figured I should pen a detailed post on the gorgeous space.

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The Gold Room is easily one of the most ornate ballrooms I have ever visited. The lavish space is two-tiered and separated by a curved stone balustrade, as you can see below.

The Gold Room originally served as a dining room for the Biltmore’s more elite guests and, at the time the hotel opened in 1923, was separated into two spaces. The lower level, where patrons entered the venue, was known as the Palm Room . . .

. . . while the top level, where patrons dined, was named the Supper Room.

Once the two spaces were merged, the ballroom was re-christened the “Gold Room.” And it has certainly earned that name. The gilded venue, which can accommodate 350 guests, boasts a striking gold frieze, nine mirrored windows adorned with gold leaf, and a stunning gold cast-plaster ceiling.

During the Prohibition years, the Gold Room served as a nightclub/speakeasy where guests, celebrities and “thirsty” Angelinos could partake. The mirrored window pictured below actually contains a hidden doorway that was utilized to bring liquor into the space, as well as to shuttle guests out when the need arose.

I had read about the hidden doorway while writing my Discover Los Angeles post and had even seen photographs of it, but the tiny opening is so discreet that, even though I knew what I was looking for, I could not find it until it was pointed out to me.

Also of note, dotted along the gold frieze that lines the ballroom’s ceiling are panels containing invisible windows that were utilized by the paparazzi to spy on celebrities partying down below during the space’s tenure as a nightclub. You can see a great photograph of one of those panels here.

Thanks to the Gold Room’s beauty and versatility, it is not very hard to see how it has ended up onscreen countless times over the years. In “And Did It . . . My Way,” it convincingly served as the Las Vegas casino that Brenda Walsh (Shannen Doherty) and Stuart Carson (David Gail) secretly headed to in order to elope after becoming disillusioned by their parents’ reaction to their recent engagement. No secret is safe in Beverly Hills, though, and the rest of the West Beverly gang, as well as Jim (James Eckhouse) and Cindy Walsh (Carol Potter), inevitably follow and finally manage to talk some sense into the couple, who call off the nuptials.

The spot where Brenda and Stuart danced after canceling the wedding is the Biltmore’s Bernard’s ballroom, which you can see photos of here and here.

Way back in 1973, the Gold Room popped up very briefly in the caper classic The Sting as the upscale Chicago restaurant where Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw) offered to finance Kid Twist (Harold Gould) and Johnny Hooker’s (Robert Redford) bookie scheme. Though recognizable, the room looked quite a bit different at that time.

The Gold Room is where Dr. Alex Hesse (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Dr. Larry Arbogast (Danny DeVito) attend a pharmaceutical convention in 1994’s Junior.

In the 2005 comedy Wedding Crashers, John Beckwith (Owen Wilson) attempts to crash Claire Cleary’s (Rachel McAdams) engagement party, which is taking place in the Gold Room.

That same year, the Gold Room popped up in Rumor Has It as the spot where Sarah Huttinger (Jennifer Aniston) first laid eyes on Beau Burroughs (Kevin Costner).

Also in 2005, the Gold Room once again masked as a casino, albeit one in Monte Carlo, in the Season 5 episode of Alias titled “Mockingbird.”

Dagny Taggart (Taylor Schilling) and Henry ‘Hank’ Rearden (Grant Bowler) attend a party there in the 2011 drama Atlas Shrugged: Part I.

And in the Season 5 episode of New Girl titled “Decision,” which aired in 2016, Cece Parekh (Hannah Simone) and Schmidt (Max Greenfield) tour the Gold Room, their dream wedding venue, which just so happens to have a last minute availability due to the fact that Shia LeBeouf cancelled his upcoming solitaire tournament.

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 Gold Room is situated off of the Galleria at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel Los Angeles, which is located at 506 South Grand Avenue in downtown L.A. You can visit the hotel’s official website here.

March 21, 2016
Two Bunch Palms from “The Bachelor”

This past weekend, I was finally able to visit a place that has been on my To-Stalk list for eons! I first learned about Two Bunch Palms in Desert Hot Springs, which was featured in a Season 1 episode of The Bachelor, about a decade ago, but, because the exclusive wellness resort was only accessible to hotel guests and spa-goers at the time, was never able to see it in person. Though the Grim Cheaper and I were tempted to book a stay there many times over the years, neither of us is especially holistic by nature and were afraid the place wouldn’t exactly be our cup of tea, so we resisted. Then, this Sunday afternoon, we happened to find ourselves in Desert Hot Springs. I had read that the hotel had changed hands in 2012 and, figuring the new owners might have changed its accessibility policy, we decided to stop by. I was absolutely floored when the guard at the front informed us that Two Bunch Palm’s onsite restaurant, Essense, was now indeed open to the public. So we headed right on past the gate and were dazzled by what we encountered. The resort is nothing short of idyllic.

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Two Bunch Palms is so named thanks to a United States Camel Corps team who was surveying the area in 1907 and came across two palm groves (one of which is pictured below). The group originally dubbed the site “Two Bunches of Palms,” but by the time the survey was published had simplified it to “Two Bunch Palms.”

Rumors abound that gangster Al Capone happened upon the isolated site in the ‘20s and, figuring the remote, hilltop location would offer the ultimate in privacy as well as make it easy for his goons to spot approaching cars, set up shop there. Legend states that he constructed several bungalows and a casino, connected by underground tunnels and surrounded by a large wall, on the pristine grounds. Though the tales are largely unsubstantiated, one of Two Bunch Palm’s villas is dubbed the Al Capone Suite and it apparently contains a desk marked with the initials “A.C.,” a mirror marred by a bullet hole, and a lookout tower that has since been turned into a tanning deck. His supposed former casino now houses Essense restaurant.

In 1940, the property was turned into a hotel known as The Desert Spa. It became Two Bunch Palms in 1969 after being purchased by a new owner and then was sold once again in 1978, at which time the site underwent an extensive renovation. From there, it did not take long for the resort to become the stomping ground of the Hollywood elite, with such stars as Mel Gibson, Barbra Streisand, Jeff Bridges, Kelsey Grammer, Daryl Hannah, Robin Williams, Goldie Hawn, Meryl Streep, Bruce Springsteen, Julia Roberts, Madonna, Neil Diamond, Lisa Rinna, Justin Chambers, and Bette Midler all spending time there.

Despite consistently being ranked among the best spas in the world and winning countless accolades and awards, in 2010 Two Bunch Palms was placed under receivership when its then owner defaulted on a $38.8-million loan, causing the resort’s future to be uncertain. It was eventually rescued in 2012 by a group of Los Angeles-based movie producers, who immediately got started on a much-needed renovation to the site.

Today, Two Bunch Palms boasts 70 rooms and bungalows, a grotto with two mineral pools, a lap pool, a gym, large expanses of lawn, walking trails, a pond with koi, ducks and turtles, a 3,000-square-foot yoga dome, a 3.5-acre solar field (which generates 100% of the power needed to run the resort), and an award-winning spa that offers countless treatments and wellness programs.

Though the quiet exclusivity of the property and its lush 77-acre grounds, which are dotted with tamarisk trees and fan palms, are definite draws, Two Bunch Palm’s main attraction is its mineral baths. Situated on top of a 600-year-old mineral spring, the restorative waters that flow throughout the property are chock-full of lithium and other healing elements, yet low on sulfur so no dreaded odor permeates the air.

Essense, the hotel’s farm-to-table restaurant, is also pretty darn fabulous.

Not only was the eatery’s decor sleek, modern and inviting, but the food was nothing short of spectacular and the prices surprisingly reasonable.

The Grim Cheaper and I wholeheartedly fell in love with Two Bunch Palms on sight and are already planning on spending our upcoming anniversary there.

The adults-only hotel is serene, idyllic and tranquil. Loud voices and use of cell phones in common areas is frowned upon, which creates an environment of peace and relaxation. It truly is a place to get away from it all.

Being there almost feels like being in Hawaii, despite the fact that there is no ocean nearby.

Thanks to its countless picturesque vistas, it is not very hard to see how the place ended up being featured on The Bachelor.

Two Bunch Palms appeared in the reality series’ second episode, which aired in 2002. In the episode, Bachelor Alex Michel took five women, including future Bachelorette Trista Rehn, on a group date to the resort.

While there, the group headed to the Clay Cabana for mud baths.

Two Bunch Palms was also featured as the idyllic desert spa where Hollywood executive Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins) took his new paramour, June Gudmundsdottir (Greta Scacchi), in the 1992 dramedy The Player.

In the movie, while dining outside near the grotto, June asks Griffin, “Do places like this really exist?” To which he responds, “Only in the movies.” It is a fitting bit of conversation, as the resort truly does feel like a fantasy land.

Like Alex Michel and his Bachelor contestants, Griffin and June also partook of the mud baths while at Two Bunch Palms.

Due to the unseemly heat, Two Bunch Palms formerly shut its doors each year during the entire month of August. It was then that The Player filmed on the premises, which I cannot even imagine being that August temperatures typically run upwards of 115 degrees! How the cast and crew didn’t melt is beyond me!

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Two Bunch Palms is located at 67425 Two Bunch Palms Trail in Desert Hot Springs. You can visit the resort’s official website here. The onsite restaurant, Essence is open to the public, but keep in mind that the hotel is an adults-only property so only guests 18 years and older will be admitted.

March 18, 2016
New “L.A.” Mag Post – A Filming Locations Guide to “Flaked”

Be sure to check out my latest Los Angeles magazine post about the filming locations of the new Netflix series Flaked. You can read it here.

March 14, 2016
The “Life Goes On” House

Some locations I spend ages upon ages trying to track down only to discover that, when finally found, they had been listed on another website all along. D’oh! Such was the case with today’s locale. I’ve mentioned before that Life Goes On is one of my all-time favorite television shows. It is pretty common knowledge amongst stalkers that the Cape Code-style home belonging to the Thatcher family – Drew (Bill Smitrovich), Libby (Patti LuPone), Corky (Chris Burke), Becca (Kellie Martin) and Paige (who was played by both Monique Lanier and Tracey Needham) – on the series is a façade located at Warner Bros. Ranch in Burbank. What is less common knowledge is that the Ranch residence was actually modeled upon a real life house that appeared in Life Goes On’s pilot episode. I spent countless hours over numerous years attempting to track down that house, but could never manage to do so, mainly due to the fact that the clips of the show available on YouTube were of extremely poor quality. Then, last month while writing my post on Warner Bros. Ranch for Mike the Fanboy, I decided to see if the series was available on DVD and, to my surprise, Season 1 was! Figuring the quality of the episodes would be leagues better than their YouTube counterparts, I promptly ordered it.

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As soon as the DVDs arrived, I popped the one featuring the pilot into my computer and was floored to see a street sign reading “12100 W Banff Ln” visible near the house during the opening credits. I did a quick Google search for “12100 West Banff Lane, Los Angeles” and pretty much immediately found the Thatcher home at 305 North Bowling Green Way in Brentwood. I started doing research on the place right away, as I always do upon finding a locale, and was shocked to come across this page on my buddy E.J.’s The Movieland Directory website, which listed the home’s address and mentioned its appearance on Life Goes On. #facepalm All those hours spent looking for the place could have been avoided had I just stumbled upon that listing years ago. Fail!

In real life, the Thatcher home, which was originally built in 1941, boasts 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2,000 square feet of living space, a pool, a detached garage, and a 0.16-acre plot of land.

Amazingly, the residence still looks pretty much exactly the same today as it did when the pilot first aired on September 21st, 1989, almost thirty years ago!

Not only was the exterior of the home featured in the opening credits of the pilot, but in the opening credits of every single episode throughout the series’ four-season run. You can watch (a very poor quality clip of) those credits below. Try not to sing along! “Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on, brah, la la how the life goes on!”

A scene from the pilot in which Corky, Becca and Drew painted the home’s white picket fence was also lensed in the Brentwood residence’s front yard.

The real life interior of the home was used extensively throughout the pilot. Then, once the series was picked up, that interior was re-created on a soundstage at Warner Bros. Studio in Burbank, where the show was lensed. Several changes were made to the set re-creation, though. Most notably, the kitchen was widened significantly, as you can see below.

The family’s eating area was also moved from a dining nook located just off the kitchen to the actual kitchen.

In a rather unprecedented move, the exterior of the Brentwood home was also re-created, not at Warner Bros. Studio, but at its sister facility, Warner Bros. Ranch. To accomplish the feat, producers modified the façade of one of the lot’s existing houses, known as the Partridge House. As the name implies, the structure was featured as the Partridge residence on the 1970 television series The Partridge Family. After filming of that show wrapped, the façade was altered for its use on the 1983 series Scarecrow and Mrs. King and then again for its role on Life Goes On.

Comparison images of the Brentwood residence and its set re-creation are pictured below. As you can see, the roofline of the real house is much taller than that of the re-creation, which makes the Brentwood home appear to be much larger than its set counterpart.

I have been lucky enough to visit the set re-creation on several occasions over the years and each time was honestly like a dream come true. So you can imagine how exciting it was for me to finally be able to stalk the real house, as well.

And let me just say here that I think it would be about the coolest thing ever to have my house re-created on a studio backlot! I mean, can you even imagine?!?

The Warner Bros. Ranch house did not make an appearance on Life Goes On until the fourth episode, which was titled, “Break a Leg, Mom.” Only the garage area was featured, though.

The structure went on to appear regularly throughout the series, though typically only tight, close-up shots of it were shown.

On a side-note – Calling all Glee fans! GLEE: The Official Show Auction Part II, hosted by Invaluable and Profiles in History, will be taking place today at 11 a.m. PST. You can find out more information about the auction and bid on the over 600 items up for sale 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 Thatcher family home from the pilot episode of Life Goes On is located at 305 North Bowling Green Way in Brentwood. The façade used in later episodes of the series is the Partridge House at Warner Bros. Ranch, which is located at 411 North Hollywood Way in Burbank.

March 11, 2016