Category: TV Locations

  • Jess’ House from “New Girl”

    Jess House - New Girl-2187

    A couple of weeks ago, my good friend/fellow stalker Lavonna asked me to track down the residence where Jess (Zooey Deschanel) lived prior to moving into the ultra-cool Binford Building on fave show New Girl.  Jess’ former house only appeared once on the series, in the Season 1 episode titled “Kryptonite”, and thankfully I had already tracked down another location from that episode a few weeks prior – John O’Groats Restaurant in Rancho Park, which I blogged about here.  I had an inkling that Jess’ former dwelling was most-likely located near O’Groats (since location managers tend to stick to sites in close proximity to each other while filming an episode), so I started searching aerial views of neighborhoods adjacent to the eatery and, sure enough, stumbled upon the home fairly quickly.  Yay!  So after dragging the Grim Cheaper out to John O’Groats for breakfast in mid-May, we headed right on over to stalk the place.

    [ad]

    In the “Kryptonite” episode of New Girl, Jess – with her eccentric new roommates, Nick (Jake M. Johnson), Schmidt (Max Greenfield) and Winston (Lamorne Morris), and her best friend, Cece (Hannah Simone), in tow – returns to her former residence to demand her television set and clothes back from her cheating ex-boyfriend, Spencer (Ian Wolterstorff).  An argument, of course, ensues over one of Jess’ t-shirts, resulting in the ever-hilarious Schmidt slapping Spencer across the face, using his pinky ring for extra force.  Gotta love it!  As you can see below, Jess’ former house looks much the same in person as it did onscreen.  For whatever reason, producers covered over the side porch area with a large fern and removed the hinges and kick plate from the front door, but other than that, the place appears just as it did in the episode.

    ScreenShot4859

    Jess House - New Girl-2182

    ScreenShot4861

    Jess House - New Girl-2181

    Even though, in real life, the 1923-era house only boasts a scant three bedrooms, three baths, and 2,200 square feet of living space, it sold this past March for just under $1 million!  Welcome to L.A., my fellow stalkers!  You can check out the property’s real estate listing here.

    Jess House - New Girl-2179

    Jess House - New Girl-2180

    Oddly enough, a different residence stood in for Jess and Spencer’s home in New Girl’s pilot episode.  While only the interior of a house was shown in that episode (in the scene in which Jess catches Spencer cheating) it is not the same property that  was used in “Kryptonite”, as you can see in the screen captures pictured below as compared to the photographs on the home’s real estate listing.  [What do y’all think of my photo collage below, by the way?  I am trying out some different photography editing websites, like PicMonkey (my favorite so far), and experimenting with different collages, fonts, shapes, etc. in order to step things up.  Do any of you have a photo editing site that you would recommend?]

    NewGirlHouseInterior

    I am ABSOLUTELY OBSESSED with the collage capabilities of Polyvore (a fashion website, on which I made the graphic below) and am looking for a similar site, but one with which I would be able to edit my own photographs instead of simply using site-provided pics – something similar to Photoshop, but easy to use.  The GC purchased Photoshop Elements, the dumbed-down version of Photoshop, for me and I could not even get past the set-up screen!  #Idon’tgetlayers!  Winking smile

    ScreenShot4867

    Be sure to “Like” IAMNOTASTALKER on Facebook here and “Friend” me on my personal page here.  You can also check out the IAMNOTASTALKER About Me page here.  And you can follow me on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.

    Jess House - New Girl-2183

    Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

    Stalk It: Jess’ house, from the Season 1 episode of New Girl titled “Kryptonite”, is located at 2045 Pelham Avenue in Century City.

  • The Pit from “Parks and Recreation”

    The Pit - Parks and Recreation-1040961

    As I mentioned in Monday’s post, this past weekend was an absolute whirlwind! It all started bright and early Friday morning when Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I embarked upon what turned out to be a nine-hour stalking adventure across the greater part of Los Angeles. One of the stops on our trip – and the most exciting for me – was the Sullivan Street Pit, aka the Pit, aka Lot 48, from my new favorite show, Parks and Recreation. Fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, had given me the address to the Pit, along with the addresses of about twenty other P&R locations, a few years back, and when I finally started watching the series last month, I became just a wee-bit obsessed with stalking it. So I added the locale to Friday’s To-Stalk list and dragged Mike right on over there after the two of us grabbed some lunch.

    [ad]

    The story of the Sullivan Street Pit is as follows: Once upon a time in Pawnee, Indiana, a real estate developer purchased a plot of land, into which he dug a huge hole before subsequently going bankrupt and abandoning the property, leaving behind a giant pit. At some point afterward, a musician named Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt) fell into the Pit, breaking both of his legs, causing his girlfriend, Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones), to complain about the abandoned site at a public forum. When overly ambitious Parks and Recreation Deputy Director Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) learns of the situation in the series’ pilot episode, she makes it her mission to turn the property into a beautiful public park, and the storylines of Seasons 1 and 2 focus entirely on that (misguided) venture. The Pawnee Pit, which, in actuality, was a giant hole dug by the Parks and Recreation crew at an undeveloped lot in Van Nuys, was featured regularly during the series’ first two seasons.

    ScreenShot4847

    ScreenShot4848

    ScreenShot4851

    ScreenShot4852

    In the Season 2 episode of Parks and Recreation titled “Kaboom”, the Pit gets filled in, thanks to the efforts of Leslie, Andy, and Ann, and that filled-in lot is then also featured in numerous subsequent episodes.

    ScreenShot4853

    ScreenShot4854

    ScreenShot4855

    ScreenShot4856

    I cannot tell you how absolutely incredible it was to see the Parks and Recreation Pit in person! The site is, hands down, one of the coolest locations that I have ever stalked in all my years of stalking. In fact, I think I am going to have to add it to my Los Angeles Must-Stalk List. And yes, I do realize that the place is basically just an overgrown, vacant lot, but, for some inexplicable and intangible reason, it seems to have a certain hold on people, including me. I think it has to do with the fact that the site played such an important role on P&R. As Owen said, the Pit is almost a character in and of itself. Add that to the fact that the the Pit was once an actual hole in an actual neighborhood and not some manufactured set piece and you have one must-see locale. Mike had never actually watched an episode of Parks and Recreation before Friday, but after stalking the Pit he went right out and bought Season 1 on DVD. And when I mentioned the place to my girl Miss Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog (who could normally care less about locations), she said, “Now that’s one site I would really like to stalk.” See what I mean? The Pit just has a certain allure.

    The Pit - Parks and Recreation-1040958

    The Pit - Parks and Recreation-1040955

    As you can see below, the lot, which is absolutely HUGE in person (much larger than I had expected it to be), is currently completely overgrown and it does not appear as if Parks and Recreation has done any filming there in quite some time. Oh, how I would have loved to have seen the place back when it was still in pit form! You can see some fabulous aerial views of what the location looked like during the filming of Season 1 on fave website Virtual Globetrotting.

    The Pit - Parks and Recreation-1040940

    The Pit - Parks and Recreation-1040939

    According to the sign pictured below, the 1.16-acre lot is currently for sale for a whopping $4,999,999. The site has apparently already been permitted for the building of 26 townhomes, with expenses and fees paid, so I am guessing that the story told on P&R (that a developer purchased the land in order to build condos and then went bankrupt) is pretty much exactly what happened in real life, too. I am hoping against all hope that the property does not sell anytime soon. How fabulous would it be if it was indefinitely left its current state for all of us stalkers to enjoy?

    The Pit - Parks and Recreation-1040937

    And while Ann’s house is, of course, located directly behind the Pit, I am actually saving that location for a separate post.

    The Pit - Parks and Recreation-1040944

    On a side-note – I would like to send out a huge CONGRATULATIONS to the love of my life, Matt Lanter, who recently proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Angela Stacy. And while it really should have been me you proposed to, Matt, I guess I am just going to have to be the bigger person here! All kidding aside, here’s wishing you all the happiness in the world! Winking smile

    ScreenShot4846

    Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, for finding this location! Smile

    The Pit - Parks and Recreation-1040956

    Be sure to “Like” IAMNOTASTALKER on Facebook here and “Friend” me on my personal page here. You can also check out the IAMNOTASTALKER About Me page here. And you can follow me on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.

    Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

    Stalk It: The Sullivan Street Pit from Parks and Recreation is located at the southeast corner of Hazeltine Avenue and Collins Street in Van Nuys. Ann Perkins’ house is located directly behind the Pit at 5655 Murietta Avenue in Van Nuys.

  • Leslie Knope’s House from “Parks and Recreation”

    Leslie Knope's House-1431

    A few months ago, fellow stalker Brandon (the very same stalker who tracked down the Skyline Residence from Crazy, Stupid, Love., which I blogged about back in November) emailed me to ask for some help in locating the Craftsman-style abode where Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) lives on the television series Parks and Recreation.  And while I had never actually seen the show, fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, is a long-time fan and a few years back had sent me a list of several locales from it that he had managed to track down.  Thankfully, Leslie’s house just so happened to be on that list and after emailing the address to Brandon, I decided that I should check the place out for myself.  Well, let me tell you, once I laid eyes on it, I absolutely fell in love and decided that this stalker seriously needed to start watching some P&R, which I finally sat down to do last month.  And I have to say that I am really enjoying it!  I am only mid-way through Season 2 right now, but the series just seems to keep getting better and better with each episode and I love the fact that, thanks to Owen, I now have a whole slew of locations from it to stalk.  Whoo hoo!

    [ad]

    As far as I know, Leslie’s house has only appeared once on Parks and Recreation (as I said, I am currently only mid-way through the second season) – in the Season 2 episode that was aptly titled “Leslie’s House”.  In the episode, Leslie hosts a dinner party to impress her new boyfriend, Justin Anderson (aka Jen Aniston’s real life main squeeze, Justin Theroux), using the help of several Pawnee Recreation Center teachers, which, in typical P&R fashion, leads to her getting called in for a disciplinary hearing on an abuse of power charge.  As you can see below, the dwelling looks much the same in person as it did onscreen, minus the fake snow, of course.  I find it quite ironic that producers chose to use the property to stand in for Leslie’s supposed Pawnee, Indiana-area residence, though, being that the Craftsman style of architecture is so quintessentially Southern Californian.

    ScreenShot4833

    Leslie Knope's House-1433

    ScreenShot4836

    Leslie Knope's House-1440

    As you can see in these real life photographs of the home as compared to the screen captures below, the actual interior of the property (which is stunning!) was also used in the filming.

    ScreenShot4835

    ScreenShot4837

    ScreenShot4838

    ScreenShot4839

    In real life, Leslie’s house is quite spectacular!  The property, which was originally built in 1916, boasts 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2,374 square feet, and sits on a 0.30-acre plot of land.

    Leslie Knope's House-1435

    Leslie Knope's House-1443

    Leslie Knope's House-1436

    Leslie Knope's House-1437

    The Grim Cheaper absolutely fell in love with the huge tree pictured below that drapes over the property and could not stop taking photographs of it.  So picturesque!

    Leslie Knope's House-1450

    Leslie Knope's House-1434

    As you can see below, producers had the home’s address number digitally changed from 2358 to 35 for the filming in what I am guessing was an effort to deter us stalkers.  Thank goodness Owen is smarter than the average bear, though, and was able to find the place as I am not sure I would have been able to.

    ScreenShot4833

    Leslie Knope's House-1433

    Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, for finding this location!  Smile And stay tuned for many more Parks and Recreation locales to come!

    Leslie Knope's House-1447

    Be sure to “Like” IAMNOTASTALKER on Facebook here and “Friend” me on my personal page here. You can also check out the IAMNOTASTALKER About Me page here. And you can follow me on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.

    Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

    Stalk It: Leslie’s house from Parks and Recreation is located at 2358 Highland Avenue in Altadena.

  • John O’Groats Restaurant from “New Girl”

    P1040803-001

    Another restaurant that appeared on fave show New Girl that I stalked recently was John O’Groats, a tiny breakfast and lunch café in the Rancho Park area of West Los Angeles.  As fate would have it, a few years back I attended a weekly acting class at the Pico Playhouse, which is located directly next door to John O’Groats, and, on occasion, my actor friends and I would venture on over to the diner to grab a bite to eat before class.   So when it popped up in the Season 1 episode of New Girl titled “Kryptonite”, I recognized the place and its darling interior immediately.  Because I had not been there in years, though, and had no photographs of it, I added John O’Groats to my ever-growing To-Stalk list and dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out there this past Sunday morning for breakfast.

    [ad]

    John O’Groats was originally opened on February 26th, 1982 in a tiny, 750-square-foot space on the corner of Manning Avenue and Pico Boulevard.  The eatery was the second culinary endeavor of Angelica and Robert Jacoby, who first founded Bit O’Scotland in Westwood seventeen years prior.  After deciding that they no longer wanted to work nights, as they missed eating dinner regularly with their two sons, the Jacobys closed their pioneer restaurant and opened a coffee shop that served only breakfast and lunch.  Their new café, which was named for a village in Scotland, enjoyed immediate success thanks to its homemade American-style comfort food, created with only the freshest and finest ingredients.  After two years, the couple moved John O’Groats to a larger location where it still remains to this day, almost three decades later.  Due to its immense popularity, the Jacoby’s have since expanded twice – first in 1995 and then again in 2000 – but, even so, it is still quite common to see large crowds standing outside waiting for a table.  Thanks to its fabulous food and proximity to 20th Century Fox Studios, the restaurant has also become a magnet for celebrities over the years.  Just a few of the stars who have been spotted there include Julia Roberts, Debra Messing, Jessica Alba, Cash Warren, Ed O’Neill, Billy Baldwin, Danica McKellar, Josh Brolin, and Diane Lane.

    P1040805-001

    John O’Groats has received countless culinary accolades in the press, including Zagat’s “Best Breakfast”, Esquire Magazine’s “Best Breakfast in America”, and USA Today’s “Best Power Breakfast in L.A.” – all of which are incredibly well-deserved!  I am not a big breakfast person, but John O’Groats serves up some spectacular grub!  The homemade biscuits, which the restaurant is famous for, are fabulous, as is the French-press coffee.  The café also serves both sausage patties and sausage links, which I appreciate as I do not like links, but LOVE me some patties and most eateries only serve one or the other.  Love it!

    P1040802-001

    P1040799-001

    In the Season 1 episode of New Girl titled “Kryptonite”, John O’Groats was the eatery where Nick (Jake M. Johnson), Schmidt (Max Greenfield) and Winston (Lamorne Morris) discussed who was the “Top Dog” in their apartment.  Our waitress informed us that the series had actually filmed on the premises twice, but I am guessing that the second taping wound up on the cutting room floor because I scanned through each of the show’s other 23 episodes and did not see it pop up anywhere.

    ScreenShot4790

    P1040800-001

    ScreenShot4792

    P1040801-001

    Oprah Winfrey also taped an interview at John O’Groats with actor Jonah Hill for her 2012 Oscar Special in February of this past year.

    ScreenShot4799

    ScreenShot4800

    You can watch a clip of the interview by clicking below.

    Oprah Winfrey Oscar Interview with Jonah Hill at John O’Groats

    And a BIG belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY goes out to Miss Pinky Lovejoy, of the Thinking Pink blog!  I love you more than Matt Lanter, Michael Buble and Kristin Cavallari put together, girl!  Winking smile

    Be sure to “Like” IAMNOTASTALKER on Facebook here and “Friend” me on my personal page here.  You can also check out the IAMNOTASTALKER About Me page here.  And you can follow me on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.

    P1040804-002

    Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

    Stalk It: John O’Groats restaurant, from the “Kryptonite” episode of New Girl, is located at 10516 West Pico Boulevard in the Rancho Park neighborhood of West Los Angeles.  You can visit the eatery’s official website here.

  • The Prince Restaurant from “New Girl”

    P1040328-001

    One location that has been at the top of my To-Stalk list for what seems like ages now is The Prince – a historic and oft-filmed-at 1920s-era eatery located in Koreatown.  And while I had never actually dined there, I had long been familiar with the place’s interior thanks to its many appearances onscreen.  So when the restaurant popped up in the pilot episode of New Girl, and in pretty much every episode thereafter, I immediately recognized it and told the Grim Cheaper that we had to get down there as soon as possible to stalk the place.  As it turns out, The Prince was well worth the wait because, as I mentioned a few weeks back in my Must-Stalk List, the eatery is, hands down, one of the coolest places that I have ever visited in all of Los Angeles!

    [ad]

    The Prince was originally opened as the Windsor Inn, an outdoor garden café located in the courtyard of the historic Windsor Apartments building, in 1927.  A little over two decades later, in 1949, a man named Ben Dimsdale took over the establishment, whereupon he moved the location indoors to the first floor of the building, shortened the name to “The Windsor” and instituted a French-inspired menu.  Thanks to its proximity to the legendary Ambassador hotel and its dimly-lit, gorgeous interior, it was not long before the place became one of Los Angeles’ finest eateries, serving everyone from American presidents to A-List actors.  In 1991, the restaurant changed hands once again, was renamed “The Prince” and the menu given a Korean flair, but thankfully the interior was left intact and, in fact, has not been touched to this day.  Love it, love it, love it!

    P1040330-001

    P1040332-001

    Walking through The Prince’s front doors is like stepping back in time to some fabulous bygone era.  Thanks to its dark, wood-paneled walls, plush red leather booths, and stained glass décor, it is easy to see why the place has become a favorite of location scouts over the years.  As you can see below, The Prince’s interior is nothing short of spectacular.

    P1040355-001

    P1040351

    I was absolutely gobsmacked to discover while doing research for this post that The Prince is not mentioned in ANY of my Los Angeles tour books or filming locations books!  One of the coolest restaurants that I have ever set foot in, not to mention one of Southern California’s most filmed-at locales, and NOT ONE of my guidebooks even makes mention of it!  HOW ON EARTH IS THAT POSSIBLE??  It is a good thing you have me, my fellow stalkers!  Winking smile

    P1040350

    P1040341-001

    The GC and I opted to sit at the bar during our stalk and had the pleasure of meeting one of the restaurant’s owners, who was so beyond nice it was almost unbelievable!  She chatted with us for the entire duration of our two-hour meal (I did NOT want to leave, hence our long stay Winking smile) and guided us through the eatery’s Korean-inspired menu.  After ordering drinks we were given a complimentary order of chips and salsa, both of which were homemade on the premises earlier that day, as is everything (and I do mean everything) The Prince serves.  After devouring the chips and salsa, which were excellent, we started our meal with an order of Pan-Fried Dumplings and my eyes just about popped out of my head when the dish arrived as the serving was absolutely HUGE!  There had to be at least 16 dumplings on that plate!  And, yes, they were delicious, as well!

    P1040354

    The owner ended up convincing us to try an order of the Deep-Fried Whole Chicken, The Prince’s signature dish.  After it arrived, she even taught us how to eat it Korean-style, with chopsticks(!), mixed with several sauces and slaw, and wrapped in a special thin bread that was almost like a gooey tortilla.  And I can honestly say that it was AMAZING – one of the best meals, and dining experiences, that I have ever had!  I cannot tell you how cool it was to partake in a foreign custom that I had been completely unfamiliar with.  I cannot say enough good things about The Prince – how can you go wrong with stellar food, out-of-this-world service and an ambiance that will knock your socks off?  The place is truly one of Los Angeles’ finest treasures and hands-down one of the coolest places that I have ever been to!  I absolutely cannot wait to go back and I cannot more highly recommend the restaurant to my fellow stalkers.  If you have only one night to dine in Los Angeles, go to The Prince.

    P1040358

    On New Girl, The Prince is the bar where Nick (Jake M. Johnson) works and where the gang – Jess (Zooey Deschanel), Schmidt (Max Greenfield), Winston (Lamorne Morris), and Cece (Hannah Simone)- regularly hangs out.

    ScreenShot4783

    ScreenShot4781

    The Windsor Apartments is also where Nick almost moved to at the end of the episode titled “See Ya”.

    ScreenShot4778

    ScreenShot4779

    The interior of the Prince was used as the interior of The Brown Derby, where J.J. Gittes (Jack Nicholson) met up with Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) to discuss her husband’s death, in 1974’s Chinatown.  As you can see below, the restaurant still looks exactly the same today as it did then.  Love it, love it, love it!

    ScreenShot4771

    ScreenShot4772

    The Prince appeared in the Season 1 episode of Mad Men tilted “Ladies Room” as the supposed Manhattan-area restaurant where Roger Sterling (John Slattery) and Don Draper (Jon Hamm) took their wives, Mona Sterling (Talia Balsam) and Betty Draper (January Jones), on a date.

    ScreenShot4765

    ScreenShot4767

    Later in the episode, Don and Betty return to The Prince alone for dinner.

    ScreenShot4768

    ScreenShot4769

    In 2005’s Thank You for Smoking, The Prince was used extensively as “Bert’s”, the supposed Washington, D.C.-area watering hole where Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart), Polly Bailey (Maria Bello) and Bobby Jay Bliss (David Koechner) met on a weekly basis to discuss their strategy for giving alcohol, tobacco and firearms a better public image.

    ScreenShot4773

    ScreenShot4774

    In the pilot episode of The Defenders, The Prince showed up twice as a supposed Las Vegas-area bar where Nick Morelli (James Belushi) and Pete Kaczmarek (Jerry O’Connell) grabbed drinks.

    ScreenShot4785

    ScreenShot4787

    In the 2006 movie Crank, The Prince was where Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) killed Alex Verona (Jay Xcala), after first chopping off his hand.

    ScreenShot4788

    ScreenShot4789

    According to The Prince’s website, the restaurant was also used in episodes of The Layover, Eagleheart, Prime Suspect, and Criminal Minds, but I was, unfortunately, unable to figure out which episodes exactly, and it will also be appearing in the yet-to-be-released movie The Incredible Burt Wonderstone.

    P1040342

    Be sure to “Like” IAMNOTASTALKER on Facebook here and “Friend” me on my personal page here.  You can also check out the IAMNOTASTALKER About Me page here.  And you can follow me on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.

    P1040331-001

    Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

    Stalk It: The Prince is located at 3198 1/2 West 7th Street, inside of the Windsor Apartments building, in Koreatown.  The restaurant opens at 4 p.m. nightly and I would recommend partaking of their valet parking as the area can get a bit sketchy after dark.  You can visit The Prince’s official website here.

  • The View from Leonard and Sheldon’s Apartment on “The Big Bang Theory”

    P1040776-001

    As I mentioned in Wednesday’s post, while doing research on the rooftop where Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) and Bernadette Rostenkowski (Melissa Rauch) got married in the Season 5 episode of The Big Bang Theory titled “The Countdown Reflection”, I came across a TBBT forum that was an absolute treasure trove of location information.  I became so entranced by the many debates about where the photograph was taken of the view shown from Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon Cooper’s (Jim Parsons) apartment, in fact, that I completely lost track of time and failed to make dinner, so the Grim Cheaper and I ended up having to go out!  (That’s a good trick, actually – I’ll have to remember that one!  Winking smile)  I cannot tell you how often the GC and I would pause episodes of The Big Bang Theory over the years trying to figure out from where that photograph was taken.  We had both come to the conclusion long ago that the view was fake – a fictional composition of a skyline created by TBBT art department.  So imagine my surprise when I read on the forum that the view was actually real!  Not only that, but the photograph of it had been taken from a place that I am extremely familiar with.

    [ad]

    On the forum, a Pasadena resident named “JamesPMiller” posted a comment which detailed his extensive, and successful, hunt across the City of Roses trying to pinpoint the exact spot where the photograph of Leonard and Sheldon’s view was taken.  The lengths that he went to during this venture are nothing short of awe-inspiring.  He is a man after this stalker’s own heart, that’s for sure!  As it turns out, Leonard and Sheldon’s view can be seen from the roof (or Level 6) of the parking structure of the Community Bank building on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena.  Ironically enough, the GC has meetings at the Community Bank building on a regular basis and I frequently have to drop stuff off to him there.  So when I read of the location, I really had to mentally smack myself in the forehead as it is a place that I visit almost daily.  Doh!  Maybe all of that blonde hair dye is truly going to my head, as the GC has long suspected.  Winking smile Anyway, once I learned of the location, I ran right over there to take some pics.

    P1040775-001

    As you can see below, the view from the parking structure matches up perfectly to the backdrop that appears on the show.  It seems that the TBBT producers digitally removed the steeple of the Pasadena Presbyterian Church, which is visible in my photographs, but, other than that, the two views are identical.

    ScreenShot4755

    P1040788-001

    ScreenShot4753

    P1040789-001

    The photograph of Sheldon and Leonard’s view was taken from the parking place denoted by the pink “X” in the photograph below.

    P1040792-001

    The space is the seventh spot over from the southern-most end of the parking structure.

    ScreenShot4756

    As JamesPMiller also noted in TBBT forum, the view from the apartment where Penny (Kaley Cuoco) lives was also taken from the Community Bank building parking garage roof, just a few spaces south from where Leonard and Sheldon’s backdrop picture was taken.  So incredibly cool!

    ScreenShot4760

    P1040796-001

    Be sure to “Like” IAMNOTASTALKER on Facebook here and “Friend” me on my personal page here.  You can also check out the IAMNOTASTALKER About Me page here.  And you can follow me on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.

    P1040793-002

    Big THANK YOU to JamesPMiller for finding this location!  I cannot urge you enough to read the story of his search, which begins on Page 5 of The Big Bang Theory forum.

    Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

    Stalk It: The photograph of the view from Sheldon and Leonard’s apartment on The Big Bang Theory was taken from the roof (Level 6) of the Community Bank building parking garage, which is located at 790 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena.  Although the address is 790 East Colorado Boulevard, the entrance to the parking structure is located on South Hudson Avenue, in between East Green Street and East Colorado Boulevard.  The photograph of Sheldon and Leonard’s view was taken from the seventh parking spot over from the southern-most end of the roof, and the photograph of Penny’s view was taken from the fifth parking spot over from the southern-most end of the roof.

  • “The Big Bang Theory” Rooftop – Where Howard and Bernadette Got Married

    P1040774-001

    This past Monday evening, the Grim Cheaper and I sat down to catch up on a slew of television episodes that we had backlogged over the past week, one of which was The Big Bang Theory’s “The Countdown Reflection”.   In the episode, which has to be one of the cutest of the entire series, Howard Wolowitz (Simon Helberg) and longtime girlfriend, Bernadette Rostenkowski (Melissa Rauch), finally tie the knot on the rooftop of the building where Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) live.  Well, as you can imagine, as soon as I finished watching the wedding scene, I became just a wee-bit obsessed with tracking down that rooftop.  I was fairly certain that it was located somewhere in Pasadena as the Big Bang gang supposedly lives in the City of Roses and area locations appear regularly on the show.  Heck, even my building was filmed once for the background of a driving scene back in 2010, although I was never able to spot it in an episode.  And while Leonard and Sheldon’s address has been referred to a few times as 2311 North Los Robles Avenue, in actuality that location does not exist as Los Robles ends at the 2200 block.  So thinking I would need some help with this one, I immediately texted fellow stalker Owen, from the When Write is Wrong blog, to ask for his assistance.  And imagine my surprise when, at 7:30 yesterday morning, I received a text back from him with an address!  Yay!  When I asked how he had found the rooftop so fast, he replied, “Sheldon isn’t the only smart guy around.”  Winking smile

    [ad]

    As it turns out, one quick Google search had led Owen to the YouTube video posted below, which pinpointed the rooftop’s exact location.  So, as soon as I received Owen’s text, I headed right on over there to stalk the place, after first hitting up a Starbucks, of course.

    “The Big Bang Theory” Rooftop from “The Countdown Reflection” Episode
    In “The Countdown Reflection”, Bernadette decides she wants to marry Howard before he takes off on his venture into space, so the two go down to the local courthouse and attempt to have a quickie ceremony.  When those plans fall through, Raj Koothrappali (Kunal Nayyar) suggests that they hold their wedding on Leonard and Sheldon’s rooftop that upcoming Sunday, when the Google Earth satellite will be overhead.  All five of Howard and Bernadette’s closest friends – Raj, Leonard, Sheldon, Penny (Kaley Cuoco), and Amy Farrah Fowler (Mayim Bialik) – quickly ordain themselves as ministers and, in a tear-inducing moment, perform the ceremony together.
    ScreenShot4738
    ScreenShot4739
    After Howard and Bernadette seal their union with a kiss, the camera pulls away from the group and we see that Raj, who in the episode said, “If I wasn’t an astrophysicist, I would have been a party planner!”, has decorated the rooftop with a heart and arrow made out of silk.  SO DARN CUTE!  I literally got goose bumps when I saw it!

    ScreenShot4741

    As the camera pulls farther away, we are given an aerial view of Leonard and Sheldon’s building and the surrounding area.  And while The Big Bang rooftop and the structure located directly below it do not match up to what appeared onscreen (thanks to some CGI magic), the rest of the surrounding buildings do, as you can see below.  And while Owen suggested that I rent a plane to get some actual photographs of the rooftop, until I have the means to do so, Google aerial images will have to do.  Winking smile

    ScreenShot4731

    ScreenShot4735

    ScreenShot4732

    ScreenShot4734

    I did manage to snap some actual photographs of the front of the building, though.  Interestingly enough, while doing research for today’s post, I happened to come across a Big Bang Theory forum in which member “jcc551f9n” states that he or she is fairly certain that the interior of Leonard and Sheldon’s building was based on the Brookmore Apartments located at 189 North Marengo Avenue in Pasadena.  Jcc551f9n says, “I lived in the building for two years and the inside looks like the exact replica of The Big Bang Theory apartments.  Exposed brick, stairwell looping around the elevator, very similar front doors as the show.  And the Brookmore Apartments elevator was always broken.  Even the laundry room looks the same.  A number of Caltech and JPL physicists live there as well as more than one aspiring actress.”  Another commenter named “ottonomy” replied to jcc551f9n’s post stating that he or she also thought the Brookmore was the inspiration for the Big Bang apartment set.   He or she says, “Hmm… The Brookmore Apartments were one of the first places I considered, when trying to guess where the apartment might be.  You’re spot on about the stairs and elevator.  I remember delivering pizzas there in the eighties.  It was run down, and the halls were lined with addicts, prostitutes, and their dealers and pimps.  The renaissance of Old Pasadena had changed it by the late nineties, when I started working as a locksmith and made frequent appearances there to open locked doors for people who were better at rocket science than at keeping track of their keys.  It’s amazing how much the place has improved, though the elevator was indeed not working when last I was there.”  So interesting!  I stopped by the Brookmore yesterday to try to sneak a peak at the elevator area through the front door, but unfortunately it was not visible.  What I wouldn’t give to see the inside of that building, though!

    P1040768-001

    P1040773-001

    P1040769-001

    P1040772-001

    On a The Big Bang Theory side-note – I am just a wee-bit obsessed with series star Kaley Cuoco’s recent in-flight photo shoot for CBS Watch Magazine (which is like the best magazine, ever, by the way – if you do not already have a subscription, I highly recommend getting one).  The shoot, which took place during an actual flight, intrigued me for two reasons – one because I am absolutely petrified of flying and am astounded that the crew was able to pull off an entire photo shoot while aboard a 777 jet en route from New York to London.

    ScreenShot4737

    ScreenShot4736

    And two, because I absolutely fell in love with Kaley’s Louis Vuitton clutch, which I am fairly certain is vintage, being that I cannot find it anywhere on the LV website.  Love it, love it, love it!  Why this stalker’s eye is immediately drawn to anything in that classic, brown LV pattern, I will never know, but it is – like a magnet!  Oh, Grim Cheaper, are you listening?  My birthday is coming up! Winking smile

    ScreenShot4725

    Be sure to “Like” IAMNOTASTALKER on Facebook here and “Friend” me on my personal page here.  You can also check out the IAMNOTASTALKER About Me page here.  And you can follow me on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.

    P1040770-001

    Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, for finding this location!  Smile

    Stalk It: Leonard and Sheldon’s rooftop from The Big Bang Theory is located at 215 South Madison Avenue in Pasadena.

  • The “Perfect Strangers” Apartment Building

    perfect-strangers-1616

    A few weeks ago, while perusing fave book Marilyn Monroe Dyed Here: More Locations of America’s Pop Culture Landmarks by Chris Epting (which was gifted to me by fellow stalker Lavonna – thanks, Lavonna! Smile), I came across a blurb about the supposed Chicago, Illinois-area apartment building where Balki Bartokomous (Bronson Pinchot) and “Cousin Larry” Appleton (Mark Linn-Baker) lived in the 1986 television series Perfect Strangers.  As it turns out, the apartment building is not located in the Windy City at all, but right here in Downtown Los Angeles.  I immediately became intrigued with the place, not because it is in L.A., nor because I was a huge fan of the series as a child, but because in the blurb Epting had stated that while the top three floors of the property had since been torn down, the bottom level remained intact and still looked much as it did on the show, which absolutely flabbergasted me!  While a building being demolished in Los Angeles is, sadly, an all-too-common occurrence, only certain floors being demolished was something completely foreign to this stalker.  I did some further research on the subject, though, and discovered that it is apparently a semi-common practice in L.A. when repairing buildings that suffer from earthquake damage.  So incredibly odd!  Deciding I just had to see the place for myself, I immediately added it to my To-Stalk list and dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out there a few days later.

    [ad]

    In real life, the Perfect Strangers building was known as the Santa Rita Hotel and it consisted of four stories, as you can see below.  Thankfully, despite the fact that the top three floors are now missing, the bottom level does still have some semi-recognizable elements from what appeared onscreen.  The shape and layout of the fictional Ritz Discount store, where the cousins worked on the show, remains largely as it was during the filming, as do the protruding lip and grey line that run the length of the building.

    ScreenShot4717

    perfect-strangers-1618

    ScreenShot4719

    perfect-strangers-1617

    Standing there, looking at the structure, I was absolutely perplexed that it used to stand at four stories tall.  I still cannot fathom how in the heck the top levels were knocked down without damaging the bottom floor in the process.  But that is why I am a stalker and not an architect.  Winking smile Amazingly enough, even though it appeared to be quite beautiful, I could not find any information whatsoever online about the building, its history, or its partial demolition.  If I had to guess, though, I would say that the edifice was damaged during the Northridge Earthquake in 1994 and was demolished at some point shortly thereafter.  But, again, that is just a guess.  You can check out a 1939’s-era photograph of the Santa Rita Hotel on the USC Libraries website here.  And you can check out a great write-up on the location by a Perfect Strangers aficionado named John Corbett here.

    perfect-strangers-1621

    perfect-strangers-1620

    Thanks to another of John’s write-ups, I learned that the Santa Rita Hotel was only used as Larry and Balki’s apartment building during Seasons 1 and 2.  For Seasons 3 through 6 a different, but similar-looking structure, located at 326-34 West Dickens Avenue/2100-10 North Clark Street in Lincoln Park, Chicago, was used.  A screen capture of that building is pictured below.

    ScreenShot4723

    As John also pointed out in his post, oddly enough, in the nighttime establishing shots of the building a sign reading “Caldwell Hotel” is visible.  I am fairly certain, though, that that sign was just a prop, as was the case with the “Ritz Discount” sign.

    ScreenShot4722

    Because Perfect Strangers was a sit-com that was shot in front of a live studio audience, only the exterior of the Santa Rita Hotel was used in the filming.  The interior of Larry and Balki’s apartment was just a set that existed inside of a soundstage at Lorimar (now Sony) Studios.

    ScreenShot4720

    ScreenShot4721

    Be sure to “Like” IAMNOTASTALKER on Facebook here and “Friend” me on my personal page here.  You can also check out the IAMNOTASTALKER About Me page here.  And you can follow me on Twitter at @IAMNOTASTALKER.

    perfect-strangers-1619

    Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

    Stalk It: The Perfect Strangers apartment building is located at 1100 South Main Street in Downtown Los Angeles.

  • The Former Site of the “Doogie Howser, M.D.” House

    P1040448-001

    This past (dismal and dreary) Sunday afternoon, after stalking the Jack & Jill house, which I blogged about on Tuesday, I dragged the Grim Cheaper a few blocks south to stalk a location that I had been wanting to see in person for years – the Howser residence, where teenage prodigy Dr. Doogie Howser (Neil Patrick Harris) and his parents, Katherine Howser (Belinda Montgomery) and Dr. David Howser (James Sikking), lived in the 1989 television series Doogie Howser, M.D. As Stephen Sondheim said, “a funny thing happened on the way to the forum”, though, because when we arrived at the site, the property did not look at all familiar to me.

    P1040447-001

    The address of the Doogie Howser, M.D. house – 796 Amalfi Drive in Pacific Palisades – has long been listed in pretty much every filming locations book ever printed, as well as on every filming locations website that can be found online.  I first discovered it, though, thanks to The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book by William A. Gordon.  As you can see above, the property that stands at 796 Amalfi is a very large, very beautiful, wood-shingled, Hamptons-style residence, but the property that I remembered Doogie living in was a much more traditional, Colonial-style dwelling.  I figured that my memory, which is usually like that of an elephant, must have been deceiving me, though, so I decided to snap some photographs of the place regardless.  It was not until I got home and scanned through my Doogie Howser DVDs that I realized my recollection had, in fact, been correct.  Thank God!  I knew I was too young to be completely losing my faculties!  Winking smile

    [ad]

    ScreenShot4571

    ScreenShot4572

    ScreenShot4573

    ScreenShot4613

    Screen shots of the actual Howser residence are pictured above.  As you can see, the home is very traditional and Colonial in style, much as I had remembered, and looks nothing at all like the property that I had just stalked.

    P1040454-001

    Upon doing further research, I discovered that the dwelling located at 796 Amalfi Drive was not constructed until 2006, a good 13 years after Doogie Howser, M.D. had gone off the air.  Because author William A. Gordon obtained most of the information in his book from ultra-accurate “shoot sheets”, though, I was 99.9% certain that the address he had published was correct.  For those not familiar with the term “shoot sheet”, up until September 11, 2001, anyone could walk into the EIDC Film Office in Hollywood and obtain a list of every production being shot in the area on any particular day, along with the exact address of where filming was taking place.  Those lists were called shoot sheets.  Oh, what I wouldn’t give to have been living in Los Angeles at that time!  I so would have been at that film office every single day to pick up a sheet so that I could follow around the cast of Beverly Hills, 90210 wherever they might be filming. Winking smile As Gary states on Seeing Stars, “In short, it looks like 9/11 has produced another victim: the well-meaning tourist who used to enjoy watching movies being made on location in Hollywood, who will now have to do without the shoot sheets that were once his guide.”  UGH!  You can check out what a shoot sheet looked like on the Seeing Stars website here.  Isn’t it just about the coolest thing ever?  Sigh!

    ScreenShot4611

    ScreenShot4610

    From what I had gathered online, I surmised that the Howser residence did at one time did stand at 796 Amalfi Drive, but that it was torn down sometime since the series ended and a new dwelling built in its place.  Because I do not like to blog about a location unless I am 100% certain that the information I am giving out is correct, though, I wanted to see a photograph of the former 796 Amalfi Drive house before writing this post.  Unfortunately, I just could not seem to locate one anywhere.  Thankfully, fellow stalker Billy stepped in and gave me the idea to track down historic aerial views of the property, which I did using the Historic Aerials website.  As you can see in the above (albeit blurry) images, which were taken in 1980 and 2003, respectively, the domicile which used to stand on the site does very closely resemble the Doogie Howser house.  The residence’s general shape, the circular driveway, the two-tiered roofline, and the white fence surrounding the property all match up to what appeared onscreen.  Voila!

    P1040451-001

    P1040452-001

    So, even though the Doogie Howser, M.D. house is no longer standing, because there is so much misinformation about the property online and because the dwelling that was built in its place is pretty darn spectacular, I figured the location was still blog-worthy.

    P1040453-001

    According to The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book, the Doogie Howser house was not-so-coincidentally located in the same neighborhood as that of legendary television producer/writer Steven Bochco, who created the series.  Thanks to my buddy E.J.’s The Movieland Directory website, I found that address, as well.  Steven Bochco’s former home is located at 694 Amalfi Drive, one short block away from the Howser residence.  Unfortunately though, I did not stalk the property while I was in the area.

    ScreenShot4612

    Ironically enough, in the Season 3 episode of Doogie Howser, M.D. titled “Lonesome Doog”, Doogie’s home address is shown as 1782 Amalfi Drive in Pacific Palisades.  In reality, Amalfi Drive does not have any addresses in the 1700 range as the street dead-ends at the 1600 block.

    P1040455-002

    Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

    Stalk It: The Doogie Howser, M.D. house was formerly located at 796 Amalfi Drive in Pacific PalisadesDoogie Howser-creator Steven Bochco’s former home is located one block south at 694 Amalfi Drive.  And the Jack and Jill house is located just a few blocks up the street at 1343 Amalfi Drive.

  • Chateau LeMoine from “Southland”

    P1040154-001

    A few months ago, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, posted some photographs on his site of Chateau LeMoine, an uh-ma-zing castle-like property that was featured in the Season 3 episode of Southland (his favorite television series, second only, of course, to Beverly Hills, 90210) titled “Cop or Not”.  And while I have never watched Southland, I became majorly obsessed with the fabulously unique home.  So, a couple of weeks back, while on our way to stalk Franc’s wedding coordinator office from Father of the Bride, which I blogged about in mid-April, I asked Mike to make a pit stop at the Chateau so that I could finally see it in person.  And, let me tell you, the place did not disappoint!

    ScreenShot4597

    Mike found this location thanks to a sign that read “LeMoine” that was visible in the background of “Cop or Not”.

    ScreenShot4608

    He had also spotted an address number of “846” on the curb in front of the residence in the episode.  A quick Google search of the terms “LeMoine”, “846”, “House”, and “Los Angeles” led him right to the Chateau LeMoine.  Yay!

    P1040158-001

    P1040159-001

    P1040149-001

    P1040150-001

    Chateau LeMoine was originally constructed in 1925 by French architect Earl LeMoine at a cost of $9,000.  According to an article in the Larchmont Chronicle, LeMoine’s wife had fallen in love with the land, which contains a natural brook and waterfall, a few years prior and Earl had surprised her by building “a chateau resembling those in their native south of France” as a birthday present.  After the death of Earl’s wife, the property went through a succession of different owners and eventually wound up in a state of disrepair.  Until 2009, that is, when an architect named Dean Caldarelli and a real estate agent named Dmitri Chami purchased the dwelling and began an extensive renovation process, during which they widened doorways, fenced off the perimeter of the property, added interior archways, and built a large pool/”Baroque-influenced water feature” and garden area in the front yard.

    ScreenShot4609

    An aerial view of the property pre-remodel is pictured above.

    P1040148-001

    P1040151-001

    P1040155-001

    As you can see above, the property’s detailing is nothing short of spectacular.  Sure, the place is a bit kitschy and over-the-top, but, then again, so is Los Angeles.  Winking smile Chateau LeMoine, which boasts five bedrooms, six baths, 4,510 square feet, 0.33 acres of land, a turret, a moat, four exterior courtyards (all with seating areas), a two-story wood-beamed living room with twenty-foot ceilings, and a one-bedroom, one-bath guest house, is currently for sale for a cool $2.475 million.  You can check out the real estate listing here.

    [ad]

    ScreenShot4606

    ScreenShot4603

    ScreenShot4602

    ScreenShot4601

    In the “Cop or Not” episode of Southland, the Chateau LeMoine belonged to actor Billy Stearn (John Charles Meyer) and was where he was arrested for the murder of his estranged wife, Bethany.

    ScreenShot4599

    ScreenShot4600

    The real life interior of the home, which you can see photographs of here, also appeared briefly in the episode.

    P1040146-001

    A Ben McKenzie fan named Annie happened to catch the filming that took place at Chateau LeMoine and posted a great write-up of it, along with some fabulous photographs, on the Ben Support Live Journal website, which you can check out here.

    P1040147-002

    Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for finding this location!  Smile

    Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

    Stalk It: Chateau LeMoine, from the “Cop or Not” episode of Southland, is located at 846 South Longwood Avenue in the Brookside area of Los Angeles, just south of Hancock Park.