TV Locations – Page 63 – IAMNOTASTALKER

June 22, 2009June 26, 2009

Don Draper’s House from Mad Men

Got an email last week from fellow stalker Karin who wanted me to locate the house belonging to Donald Draper (played by Jon Hamm) and his wife, Betty (played by January Jones), on the AMC television series Mad Men. It turns out that my good friend, and fellow stalker E.J., over at The Movieland Directory, had written down a bunch of addresses where Mad Men filming had taken place over the years off of the On Location Vacations website. Using those addresses, it wasn’t long before Karin and I had located the right house. 🙂 Thank you, E.J.!! So, while out doing some stalking with Mike, from MovieShotsLA, last Friday, I dropped by the Draper residence to snap some pics. 🙂

On Mad Men, the Draper family supposedly lives in the town of Ossining in Westchester County, New York. In reality, though, their home is located in the suburbs of Pasadena, just a stone’s throw away from the Father of the Bride house. It’s such a small movie world, isn’t it? 😉

I had a heck of a time making screen captures of the Draper home as it seems that, for some reason, the exterior of the house is rarely shown on the series. I guess the producers of Mad Men aren’t big on doing establishing shots! LOL You can see a paparazzi pic of Jon Hamm and January Jones filming at the house a few weeks ago here.

I am happy to report that Don Draper’s house looks exactly the same in person as it does on TV. Except, of course, for the color of the front door. On the series, the Draper’s front door is painted red, while the door of the real life home is blue.

If you look at the house on Google Maps Street View, the front door is also red, which leads me to believe that the Google photographs must have been taken while Mad Men filming was going on. So cool!

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Before Karin’s challenge, I had never watched even a single episode of Mad Men. My fiance has been a longtime fan of the series, though, so, last night I popped in the pilot episode from his Season One DVD’s for a quick peruse. It’s actually a very entertaining show about a wealthy group of Manhattanites living in the 60s, when everyone smoked everywhere, having a cocktail at the office was commonplace, and all husbands cheated on their wives. Doesn’t sound like a very reputable show, but it definitely makes for some interesting storylines. 🙂 A bit of a disclaimer – the house that was featured in the pilot episode of Mad Men is not the same residence that is being used now. The house from the pilot episode is pictured above and as you can see looks quite different from the Pasadena residence that is used in all of the other episodes.

UPDATE:

Just got an email from fellow stalker Kevin who happened upon some Mad Men filming at the Draper residence just a few weeks ago. Kevin was nice enough to send me some photos he managed to snap of the many antique cars parked on the road, some of the filming equipment, and best of all, the Draper house all dressed up with its red front door. Big THANK YOU to Kevin!!! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Don Draper’s house from Mad Men is located at 675 Arden Road in Pasadena.

June 18, 2009June 16, 2011

Il Cielo

Looking at wedding venues is so darn fun that, I swear, I think I would be happy just remaining engaged forever. It could be my full time job. What do you do? Oh, I’m engaged – full time! 🙂 LOL On Tuesday, my wedding venue expedition led my mom and me to a little restaurant in Beverly Hills named Il Cielo. And I have to say that the place was downright amazing!!! So much so that it’s at the very top of my very narrowed down list of possible locations. Because I am such a picky eater, for years I’ve been steadfast about serving a buffet at my wedding, as opposed to a set menu. Il Cielo doesn’t offer a buffet – they only do sit-down dinners – yet they are STILL at the top of my list! Now, that’s saying a lot! 🙂

Il Cielo, which means “the sky” in Italian, was opened up in 1986 inside of a tiny Beverly Hills bungalow by a man named Pasquale Vericella. In the 70s, that bungalow was the home to another Italian restaurant named En Brochette. A frequent visitor to En Brochette, Pasquale adored the intimate, homey feel of the restaurant and decided it was just the type of place he himself wanted to own someday. He was so adamant about opening his restaurant in that exact spot, in fact, that for years he begged En Brochette’s owners to sell the restaurant and the bungalow to him. They finally relented in 1986, and Pasquale opened up his own Tuscan-style restaurant, featuring his mother and grandmother’s traditional family recipes. I had the pleasure of meeting Pasquale yesterday and of course asked him all sorts of questions about which celebrities had dined at Il Cielo. He quickly brushed off my queries and said “When you get married here, the only celebrity we are concerned with is YOU!” 🙂 So cute!!!!

Il Cielo has been voted “the most romantic restaurant in Los Angeles” numerous times by numerous publications. It has also been named “one of the top five places to get married in the country” – yes, the COUNTRY – by The New York Times. Those are some pretty amazing accolades! The restaurant has hosted over 1,500 weddings in its 23 year history. According to the restaurants’ events manager, Fabio, Il Cielo’s philosophy is service first, food second, and ambiance third. And from what I witnessed yesterday, all three of those seem to be top notch, especially the service. When I asked where the bar gets placed during a wedding reception, Fabio looked at me with confusion on his face. Then, realization dawning, he explained, “Oh no, we do not do waiting in line here. Our servers walk around taking drink orders, so that your guests never have to get out of their chair!” OMG LOVE IT! Even better than that, after the reception ends, guests are served lattes, cappuccinos, and biscotti out on the sidewalk while waiting for the valet to retrieve their cars. SO LOVE THAT! I mean, this place is downright A-MA-ZING.

And, of course, there’s also the celeb factor! Google the words “Il Cielo” and “celebrities” and a list of a hundred well-known names will pop up, including Christian Bale, Nancy Reagan, my girl Jennifer Aniston, Ellen DeGeneres, Portia De Rossi, Robert Redford, Rod Stewart, Colin Farrell, Claudia Shiffer, Ali Larter, Brandon Routh, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Nikki and Cathy Hilton. Lesley Ann Warren was married at Il Cielo and (that little homewrecker) Brad Pitt took Gwyneth Paltrow there on their first date.

And, of course, Il Cielo is also a filming location. At the beginning of Legally Blonde, it’s the restaurant where Elle Woods’ boyfriend, Warner, does not propose. When Warner first announces he is taking Elle to Il Cielo, she says “Oooh, I love that restaurant. I heard Madonna went into labor there.” LOL LOL LOL

Il Cielo’s patio area stood in for the patio of Adam Sandler’s restaurant in the 2004 movie Spanglish. The exterior of Adam’s restaurant (pictured above) is actually the exterior of the Hal Valentine Hair Salon, which is located directly next door to Il Cielo.

On the Season Three episode of Entourage entitled “Strange Days”, Ari Gold re-proposes to his wife after 15 years of marriage with a ginormous diamond ring on Il Cielo’s back patio. The restaurant has actually popped up in Entourage no less than three times!

In the Season 3 episode of The Hills entitled “A Date With The Past”, former flame Ste-phen Colletti takes Lauren Conrad out for a “strictly platonic” dinner at Il Cielo. Smart move, Ste-phen, bringing a girl you just want to be friends with to the most romantic restaurant in all of L.A.! LOL Il Cielo was also featured in the Season Five opener of The Simple Life entitled “Welcome to Camp Shawnee” as the location where Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie finally bury the hatchet and become friends again over an Italian lunch.

I honestly can’t recommend stalking Il Cielo enough – either as a wedding venue or for a romantic dinner!!!! This place is truly one of a kind!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Il Cielo is located at 9018 Burton Way in Beverly Hills. You can visit their website here. Il Cielo is closed on Sundays.

May 29, 2009May 29, 2009

The Bronson Caves

This past weekend, on a recommendation from fellow stalker Steve, I dragged my dad and my fiance out to stalk the Bronson Caves in Griffith Park. Friends have been urging me to stalk the Bronson Caves, which are most commonly known as being the location of “the Batcave” from the 1966 television series Batman, for years now, but somehow I just never made it out there. Until this past Saturday, that is. 🙂

And I am so glad I finally did!! The term “caves” is actually something of a misnomer, though, as the passages look more like tunnels than they do caves. Surprisingly enough, the Bronson Caves were actually man-made. In 1903, a rock excavation company named Union Rock Company built a quarry on the site, which was then known as Brush Canyon. The company drilled three tunnels through the base of a small mountain and used the excavated rocks to pave Los Angeles city streets. When the company called it quits in 1920, the three tunnels remained and were coined the Bronson Caves. The rest, as they say, is Hollywood history.

The Caves have been featured in countless Hollywood productions over the years, most notably standing in for “the Batcave”, where Batman spent most of his time in the 1966 television series of the same name. You can watch the opening credits of Batman, which feature a very brief clip of the Batmobile leaving the Batcave, here.

The Caves also popped up in the alternative ending to the movie Army of Darkness. The ending, which was thought to be too depressing for movie audiences, can be found on special edition DVD’s of the 1992 flick. On a side note, one of my very favorite movie lines of all time was uttered in Army of Darkness. In the movie, one of the knights announces “I am Henry the Red, Duke of Shale, Lord of the Northland, and Leader of its Peoples”, to which Bruce Campbell replies “Well, hello Mr. Fancy Pants! I got news for you, Pal, you ain’t leading but two things right now – Jack and Sh*t. And Jack left town!” LOL LOL LOL

The Bronson Caves also showed up in the horror flick Cabin Fever as the location where Rider Strong finds one of the many dead bodies.

At the end of the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Miles and Dana used the Caves as a hiding place from the pod people. You can watch that scene here. All in all, the Bronson Caves have been featured in well over one hundred productions including: The Lone Ranger, The Three Musketeers (1933), The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Sleeper, Night of the Bloodbeast, Robot Monster, The Cyclops, MacGuyver, It Conquered the Earth, The X-Files, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Short Cuts, and The Scorpion King.

As luck would have it, we even ran into some filming while stalking the Bronson Caves. Shooting on location was a very small, independent caveman/apocalypse film. And the crew was even nice enough to let us snap some pics of them. 🙂 Ironically enough, it was close to one hundred degrees outside that day and the poor caveman had to walk around in those ridiculous fur boots. LOL He must have been dying in those things!!!!

I HIGHLY recommend stalking the Bronson Caves. They are very cool to see in person, even for those of you who are not movie locations buffs. My dad, who, as I have mentioned before HATES stalking, really enjoyed seeing the Caves, as did my boyfriend.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Bronson Caves are located just off Canyon Drive inside of Griffith Park. To reach Canyon Drive, follow Hollywood Boulevard to Bronson Drive and head North. When you hit Canyon Drive, make a left. You will pass through some stone gates, a couple of parking lots, and a playground. Head to where Canyon Drive ends and park in the public lot. The Caves are a short quarter mile walk from the parking lot. To walk to the Caves, head up the first pathway – it has a red curb – to the right. You will pass through a fire gate. Head up the hill and the Caves will be around a short bend to the left. You can see some photographs of the trail that leads to the Caves here.

May 21, 2009March 24, 2011

Naomi Clark’s House

Back in March, I came across this post on fave website On Location Vacations which stated that 90210 was filming that day at a private residence located at 145 North Rossmore Avenue in Los Angeles. That residence turned out to be the mega-mansion that Naomi Clark and her sister moved into in the episode of the CW series that aired last week, entitled “Zero Tolerance”. And since the home was also featured quite prominently in last night’s episode as the location of Naomi’s after-prom party, of course I just had to run right out and stalk it. 🙂 Thanks, On Location Vacations!!!!!

As you can see in the aerial images pictured above, Naomi’s house is absolutely ginormous in person!!! The mansion, which was originally built in 1923, boasts 5 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms!!! and a whopping 6,147 square feet.

Thanks to its sheer size and the two large towers (complete with flagpole) that flank its entrance, the mansion actually looks more like a museum or a monument of some sort than a residence. It’s hard to believe that a real person actually lives there!

The home is so big, in fact, that it even has its own separate service entrance! 🙂 LOL

Both the interior and the exterior of the mansion were used quite extensively on last night’s episode of 90210, which was entitled “One Party Can Ruin Your Whole Summer”. Featured on the show were the front entrance;

the front yard area – where Annie had her meltdown;

the pool area – where Silver encouraged all the girls to go swimming in their prom dresses and where Naomi’s sister, Jen, hit on Liam;

and the covered walkway – where Ethan kissed Silver.

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I couldn’t help but cringe last night while watching Naomi’s house being trashed during her out of control prom party. If I owned that beautiful mansion I don’t think I could have handled watching that happen – even if it was all fake. LOL 🙂 According to Zillow, this same home was also used in an episode of CSI: Miami, but I am not sure which one. I will have to keep my eyes open for it. 🙂

I have to say that I am actually a bit surprised that that this particular house was used for filming, as it doesn’t seem to be situated in a very film-friendly location. Rossmore Avenue is a fairly busy thoroughfare, with pretty much constant traffic congestion. I had a hard time even just walking across Rossmore to take a picture from the other side of the street, so I can’t imagine how the crew was able to set up the many film trucks and equipment needed for the day without at least partially shutting down the street. Needless to say, though, the house is absolutely beautiful and absolutely huge and it is just the type of home I’d picture 90210’s resident princess purchasing for herself. You can see some great interior and close up pics of the house here. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Naomi Clark’s house is located at 145 North Rossmore Avenue in Los Angeles.

May 16, 2009May 16, 2009

Speidi on I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out Of Here!

For those of you like me out there, for whom one day a week is just not enough to satisfy your Spencer and Heidi fix, I have good news!! Everyone’s favorite reality TV duo will be starring in the upcoming season of I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out Of Here, which premieres on June 1st. For those of you who have never watched the Get Me Out Of Here reality series, it is basically a celebrity version of Survivor. In the season opener, seven celebs (including Speidi) will be dropped off in a remote Costa Rican jungle without make-up artists, publicists, or even personal assistants to keep them company! The celeb contestants will be forced to sleep outdoors in hammocks and eat meals consisting of rice, water, and even bugs!! The stars will also participate in challenges to raise money for their particular charities. Each week, viewers will have a chance to vote off a different contestant, until one is eventually crowned King or Queen of the Jungle. This show sounds like it’s right up my alley and I absolutely cannot wait to watch it!!!! 🙂

What’s even more exciting is that one of the executives from I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out Of Here was kind enough to send me some location pics from the show so that I could share them with all of you!!!! So cool!!!!! 🙂 Pictured above are a swamp and a bridge that will be used in the filming. 🙂 Love it!!

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You can watch a super cute interview with Speidi about their upcoming jungle adventure here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The new season of I’m A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out Of Here premieres Monday, June 1st at 8 p.m. on NBC. You can visit the show’s official website here.

May 13, 2009May 13, 2009

My Day on the Set of Chelsea Lately!

As I mentioned in Monday’s post, this past weekend was a complete whirlwind for me!! But getting engaged wasn’t the only exciting thing that happened. No, the excitement of the weekend for me actually started on Friday when I got to spend a day on the set of my new favorite show, Chelsea Lately!!! A few weeks back while my friend Blaze and I were waiting in line to watch a live taping of Chelsea’s show, one of her Production Assistants came outside to tell us about a new bit that was being added to the show that they needed volunteers for. The new segment involves Chelsea pretending to be a detective who solves weird and obscure mysteries. The P.A. wanted to know if any of us in the audience had any mysteries in our life that needed solving. Now, mind you, Blaze had spent that entire morning while in line complaining about the fact that his agent never sends him out on acting auditions. So, I immediately raised my hand and yelled out, “My friend here has a mystery that needs solving! He needs to know why he never has any auditions!” 🙂 The P.A. really liked Blaze’s “mystery” and took down his information and said she might be calling to book him for a segment. Sure enough, last week he got a call saying they would be filming his mystery on Friday if he was available!!!! And, being the nice guy that he is, Blaze asked the P.A. if I could tag along. She said that while I couldn’t watch the actual taping, I could hang out in Chelsea’s green room all day. So, of course, I did! And, let me tell you, I could not have been more excited!!!! I literally didn’t sleep a wink the night beforehand!!!!! LOL

Blaze and I arrived at the Digital Media Center, where Chelsea Lately is taped, at around 10:30 a.m. on Friday morning and were led immediately to the green room. For those of you not familiar with industry lingo, a “green room” is a sort of waiting room for performers. It’s a place where actors or musicians can hang out and relax before going on stage. Chelsea’s green room is not actually green, but silver, and I could not have been more FLOORED to be seeing it in person!!! I couldn’t help but think about all of Chelsea’s famous guests who had sat in that room at one time or another. The fact that I was now sitting there was mind-boggling to me! I mean, who in the heck am I to be in the green room of the Chelsea Lately show????

Since I knew beforehand that I would not be able to watch the actual taping of Blaze’s segment, the two of us decided to really live it up while waiting in the green room! And, of course, I just had to take pictures of absolutely EVERYTHING! 🙂

Sitting in the make up chair;

modeling with the celeb photographs on the wall;

a super cute pic of Chelsea and Chuy;

the green room door with Michelle Trachtenberg’s name on it (she was the celebrity guest the previous evening);

and just hanging out. 🙂

But my favorite part of the green room had to be Chelsea’s “guest book” – a little book which all of the celebrity guests sign before going on air to be interviewed.

I cannot tell you how much fun I had going through that book and reading all of the messages that celebs had written to Chelsea. Included in the book were messages from Jamie Kennedy, Roselyn Sanchez, Dr. Drew, Jenny McCarthy, Perez Hilton, Khloe Kardashian, Kris Kardashian, Taryn Manning, former Spice Girl Mel B, Vivica A. Fox, and, my personal fave, The Hills’ Lo Bosworth (pictured above).

At one point during the day, frequent round table guest and Chelsea Lately “Staff Homosexual” Guy Branum walked by the green room and I just about died of excitement!!!! I was too scared to talk to him, so Blaze ran outside and asked him to pose for a picture with me. YAY! Guy was super nice in person and actually ventured into the green room quite a few times during the day. 🙂

But the biggest highlight of the day for me was when Chuy, Chelsea’s assistant, visited the green room to introduce himself to everyone. Chuy was dressed up in a little policeman outfit for the segment they were taping and looked absolutely adorable!! Not only did he give me a hug, but he also kissed me on the cheek and I could not have been more excited! He seemed like such an incredibly sweet man! All in all, I had an ABSOLUTE blast spending the day at the Chelsea Lately show!! Ironically enough, though, Chelsea ended up running out of time and wasn’t able to tape Blaze’s segment. But you know what that means, don’t you??? Yes sir, we get to go back another day to do it all over again! YAY! My fingers are crossed that this time I’ll get to meet Chelsea!!!!!! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Chelsea Lately is filmed at the Digital Media Center, which is located at 12312 West Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles. You can get tickets to watch a live taping here. You can catch the Chelsea Lately show weeknights at 11 p.m. on E!

May 7, 2009May 6, 2009

The “Biggest Loser” Ranch

This past weekend, I dragged my boyfriend out to Calabasas to stalk the King Gillette Ranch, otherwise known as The Biggest Loser Ranch. I found this location thanks to the couple we met while stalking the Adamson House a few weeks back. Our new friends, who just recently got engaged, have been traipsing all over the Los Angeles area touring wedding locales. Many of those locales also happen to be filming locations! I swear, if my boyfriend ever gets off his butt and proposes, a whole new stalking world is going to open up for me. 🙂 Anyway, our friends recently toured King Gillette Ranch and immediately called me up to let me know that it is where The Biggest Loser is filmed. And even though I’ve never watched the show, I just had to run right out and stalk it! 🙂 THANKS Nancy and Eric! 🙂

Actually, I did see one brief segment of The Biggest Loser on Talk Soup a few months back when Joel McHale showed the above clip of trainer Bob Harper absolutely FREAKING OUT at a contestant. LOVE IT! LOL LOL LOL I think I need to hire that guy to be my trainer!!! 🙂

King Gillette Ranch was originally built by King Camp Gillette (yes, that’s an actual name), the founder of the Gillette Safety Razor Company. King purchased the 588 acre property in 1926 and commissioned famed architect Wallace Neff – who designed Brad and Jen’s famous former home– to built a 26,000 square foot Mediterranean style mansion on the site. When Gillette died in 1932, his widow sold the extensive property to movie director Clarence Brown. Clarence threw so many elaborate Hollywood parties in the mansion that he ended up building his own private airstrip so that his famous guests could land directly on the property ! LOL In 1952, the Ranch was sold to Bob Hope and his wife, Dolores, who donated the entire 588 acres to the Claretian Order of the Catholic Church. They used the property as a seminary for the next 25 years, until eventually selling it to New Age leader Elizabeth Clare Prophet. Elizabeth planned to use the property as the headquarters for her religious movement, the Church Universal and Triumphant, but faced much government opposition and ended up selling it to Soku University of America in 1986. The Ranch was finally collaboratively purchased by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, California State Parks, Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, and National Park Service, who opened the property to the public on June 30, 2007. It is currently a nature and wildlife reserve featuring numerous hiking trails, a former Chumash Indian settlement, walking paths, a man-made lake, and picnic grounds.

And, of course, it’s also a filming location! For the past two years, beginning with Season 4, King Gillette Ranch has been used as the location where contestants vie to become The Biggest Loser. While we were stalking the place, we had the good fortune of running into one of the Biggest Loser crew members who was busy setting up for Season 8, which begins filming in a few weeks. He was INCREDIBLY nice and pointed out all of the areas featured on the show, including the gym, which, as you can see in the above photograph (which was taken through a closed window! LOL ) was empty at the time;

the pool –

which was flanked by fake flowers!!! LOL;

the production offices;

the “dormitories” where the contestants sleep – which is actually just a section of the main house;

the patio area;

and the Administration Building –

which is used for the filming of the elimination ceremonies. Again, the above photographs were taken through a closed window, so they aren’t the greatest.

Evidence of the filming of The Biggest Loser could be found all over the Ranch, which I, of course, LOVED seeing! There was a leftover tape marker that was stuck on the ground outside of the elimination room;

wire cords were strung up on all of the buildings;

and those yellow signs that I so love were posted at the entrance gates. 🙂

King Gillette Ranch is a truly beautiful place. It is the perfect spot to spend an afternoon outdoors, go for a long hike, take a bike ride, or just sit back and nature watch.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: King Gillette Ranch is located at 26800 Mulholland Highway in Calabasas. The park is open daily to the public from 8 a.m. to sunset. Dogs are not allowed. Parking costs $5 per day. The Ranch is also available as a wedding or event location.

May 5, 2009May 7, 2009

sidebar at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel

Since I am now 100% on Team Speidi, this weekend I just had to drag my boyfriend out to sidebar, the Beverly Hills lounge where the reality TV duo hosted one of their two wedding receptions. Sidebar, which is spelled with a lowercase “s”, is located inside of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel – aka the Pretty Woman hotel – where many of the wedding festivities took place. Truth be told, I actually wanted to book a room at the Beverly Wilshire the weekend of the Speidi nuptials, but my boyfriend (aka the Grim Cheaper) was having none of that. LOL

Sidebar lounge is located directly adjacent to the Wolfgang Puck restaurant CUT, which has long been a favorite of the newlyweds and was where they held their rehearsal dinner on Friday, April 24th. In fact, the duo are such huge fans of the restaurant, that back in September of 2008 they were honored by Wolfgang himself, who placed two large photographs of the couple taken by renowned celebrity photographer Martin Scholler at the entrance to his restaurant. CUT actually has several celebrity photographs by Martin lining its walls, including those of Britney Spears, Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, and Jack Nicholson. But the photographs of Speidi are by far the largest, and most prominently placed, in the entire restaurant. Love it! When the photographs were first unveiled, Spencer said, “It feels better than winning an Academy Award.” LOL LOL LOL I have to say that if my favorite restaurant, POP Champagne Bar, placed a 5′ by 3′ photograph of me on their wall, I’d be pretty floored, too. 🙂 Spencer and Heidi are by no means the restaurant’s only celebrity fans, though. Mark Wahlberg, Courteney Cox, Isla Fisher, Chris O’Donnell, and Avril Lavigne have also all been spotted at the eatery.

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I have to say that I absolutely LOVED sidebar!!!! The staff was SUPER friendly, the champagne was A-MA-ZING, and the food was unbelievable!!!!! I just about died over their Kobe beef sliders and I don’t even like red meat! LOL Sidebar is very reasonably priced, too, especially for Beverly Hills, which made my boyfriend extremely happy. ; ) With your cocktail order comes a serving of some amazing marinated olives, homemade BBQ potato chips, wasabi peas, and cinnamon/nutmeg almonds – all for free! I can’t recommend stalking sidebar enough! I am fairly certain it will be a regular stalking spot for me now. 🙂

If you visit sidebar, be sure to check out the Pretty Woman display in the Beverly Wilshire’s lobby. I make it a point to stop by there everytime I visit the hotel. No matter how many times I see that display window, it never seems to get old. 🙂 On display are several stills from the movie and an early draft of the script, which was originally entitled “Three Thousand” – a reference to the amount Richard Gere pays to have Julia Roberts spend the week with him. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Both CUT and sidebar are located inside of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, which can be found at 9500 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. Although sidebar is reasonably priced for cocktails, CUT is a higher end restaurant, so, be prepared to pay. 🙂 The Pretty Woman display is located near the women’s restroom, just off the hotel lobby.

May 4, 2009October 6, 2022

Church of the Angels

A few weeks ago, my good friend and fellow stalker Kerry, who was a HUGE fan of the show Knots Landing during her high school years, set about to locate the church where the characters Joshua and Cathy got married in the Sixth Season episode of the series entitled “For Better, For Worse”. And it wasn’t long before she found it. That church turned out to be none other than Church of the Angels, a place that is no stranger to the silver screen. So, last weekend I dragged my boyfriend right out to stalk it.

Church of the Angels, which was built in 1889, has the distinction of being Pasadena’s oldest church. The church was built by the widow of one of the first settlers of the Pasadena area, Mrs. Frances E. Campbell Johnston, in memory of her husband, Alexander Robert Campbell Johnston. In 1883, the Campbell-Johnstons, who were natives of Great Britain, purchased 2,000 acres of what is now known as Pasadena and named it San Rafael Ranch. Alexander passed away only five years later in 1888 and his wife decided to build a church in his honor on their land. The church was designed by English architect Arthur Edmund Street and was based on Holmbury St. Mary’s Church in Surrey. The cornerstone of the church was laid in place on April 20, 1889 by Frances herself and construction was completed a short six months later on September 29, 1889. Originally named Mission of the Church of the Angels, the Episcopalian church is now simply called Church of the Angels.

When Frances passed away in November of 1893, her sons had a large sundial placed at the front of the church in her memory.

Church of the Angels is an absolutely idyllic place. It honestly looks like it came right out of the pages of a fairy tale. As we walked up to it I felt like I was in the middle of Disney’s Fantasyland – the sun was shining, the sky was bright blue, and (no joke) birds were chirping everywhere. I half expected Snow White to stick her head out of a window and start singing “Someday My Prince Will Come”. LOL It’s really no wonder why the church has been featured in hundreds of productions over the years. It’s a simply magical place.

Practically everywhere you look there is some small, but exquisite detail that adds to the church’s charm. The tiny wooden doors, the sandstone walls, the arched walkways, the three acres of beautifully maintained landscaping. It’s like no other church I’ve ever seen.

The interior of the church is just as beautiful as the exterior. The first thing you notice upon entering is the amazing stained glass window located behind the altar. The window, which illustrates the resurrection of Jesus, was built in London and, according to the Church of the Angels website, is said to be “one of the finest examples of stained glass in America”. Frances Campbell-Johnston actually commisioned the church to be built facing the West, so that the sun would better radiate through the amazing window.

The church’s walls are made of red pressed brick and the peaked ceiling is made entirely out of redwood, giving the interior the feeling of a medieval castle. The church is actually much smaller than it appears – it can accomodate only 130 patrons – thus creating a very warm, intimate atmosphere.

Along the sides of the church, there are several tiny, little doors built into the brick walls. The doors lead to stairways, offices, and restrooms. As is stated in the Church of the Angels’ informational brochure, the stairways are “steep and narrow. People in 1889 were smaller than we are today.” How cute is that??? 🙂

Church of the Angels has one of the biggest pipe organs I have ever seen!! It was built in 1889 at the Roosevelt Organ Works in New York City and is still in use today.

Amazingly enough, Church of the Angels still looks exactly the same today as it did when Knots Landing was filmed there back in 1985. You can watch Cathy and Josh’s wedding scene here.

Besides Knots Landing, the church was also featured in the Season 5 episode of Desperate Housewives entitled “The Story of Lucy and Jesse”, as the location of Carlos’ boss, Bradley’s, funeral.

It was also where Ashton Kutcher married Brittany Murphy in Just Married.

And it was the location of the many funerals in the 1988 movie Heathers. Yes, that’s Shannen Doherty in the above screen capture. 🙂

It was also recently featured in the Season 7 episode of The Office titled “Christening”, as the location where Jim and Pam Halpert (aka John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer) had their baby baptized.

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Church of the Angels was also featured in the Season 9 episode of The X-Files entitled “Hellbound”, the Season 4 episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer entitled “Who Are You”, several episodes of JAG, The West Wing, Lawnmower Man, Mick Jagger’s “God Gave Me Everything I Want” music video, and an episode of TLC’s A Wedding Story.

I HIGHLY recommend stalking Church of the Angels. It is literally one of the most beautiful and unique places I have ever seen! My boyfriend even enjoyed stalking it! I have to say it is one of the very few places he didn’t mind being dragged to. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Church of the Angels is located at 1100 Avenue 64 in Pasadena. You can visit their website here.

April 30, 2009December 14, 2009

The Chelsea Lately Show!

My celeb obsession as of late is the E! Channel talk show Chelsea Lately and its comedienne host Chelsea Handler. I only discovered the late night show about a month ago and I’d say it took me, oh, maybe one episode to become absolutely, one hundred percent addicted! I honestly do not understand how I was not watching this show from the very beginning!!! As Liz Smith recently stated in the New York Post, “Where have I been all of Chelsea Handler’s life?” She is HILARIOUS! I have never laughed out loud in my entire life the way I do while watching her show. In fact, one of my good friend’s husbands has banned her from reading Chelsea’s books in bed at night, because she cracks up so much that she shakes the bed and keeps him up. LOL LOL LOL I’ve even made it a goal to be a guest on the round table portion of Chelsea’s show before the end of the year. Hey, if Perez Hilton can do it, I sure can! Trust me, I’m a lot funnier than he is! Anyway, when I heard that audience tickets for Chelsea Lately were available online, I just had to sign up for some so I could stalk it! I enlisted my good friend, Blaze, to come along with me to the taping, as he is also a huge fan of the show. I mean, honestly, who isn’t?

So, bright and early Tuesday morning, Blaze and I headed out to West L.A. for the show. The taping was scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. and we were informed to arrive at the studio early to ensure getting a seat. So, having the type-A personality that I have, I made sure Blaze and I arrived at the studio with plenty of time to spare. In fact, when we parked our car in the audience parking lot at approximately 10:30 a.m., I was afraid we were in the wrong place as there was no other car in sight (empty parking lot pictured above)! LOL As we walked into the studio lobby (three hours early), the guard on duty looked at us with confusion on his face. “You do know that you’re extremely early?” he asked us. “Usually people don’t start lining up until around 12:30 p.m.” LOL LOL LOL True to his word, Blaze and I were the only people in line until just around that time.

At just about 1:30 p.m., the security guard led us through a metal detector and then into the studio. Unfortunately, no cameras of any kind are allowed in the studio, so I had to settle for taking some pictures outside while waiting in line. 🙂

The studio is SUPER TINY, but otherwise looks pretty much exactly as it does on TV. There was only room for what looked to be about 75 audience members, so the whole thing was a pretty intimate affair. Every audience member had a great view of the stage, no matter where they were sitting. Because we were the first people in line, Blaze and I were seated in the second row. The first row is reserved for VIPs. Even though all of the seats in the studio are pretty much great, I was FLOORED to be sitting so close to the front. The show pretty much got started immediately after the audience was seated, which I was shocked about. It’s a VERY fast taping without a lot of waiting around, which is very different from how live tapings are usually done. I’ve sat in the audience of quite a few sitcoms in my day and the filming of those can take up to eight hours!!!!! The taping of Chelsea’s show took all of about 25 minutes. I’m not joking! Love it!

Chelsea’s round table for the evening consisted of comedians Sarah Colonna, T.J. Miller, and Josh Wolf and they were all brought out first .

Then, Chelsea’s assistant, Chuy, whom I LOVE, was introduced. Of course, Chuy is ADORABLE in person!!

Then, my girl, Chelsea walked out. In person, Chelsea is tall, but very thin, which I was actually surprised about as she is constantly joking about her weight. I thought maybe there was something we weren’t seeing on TV, but she’s actually quite thin in real life. And super cute! After Chelsea was introduced, she performed her opening monologue which she nailed in just one take! As an actress, I was really impressed with this, as I know sometimes it can take up to 30 takes to get a shot right.

After the monologue, Chelsea walked over to the round table and began filming the portion of the show where she and her comedian guests make fun of celebrities and pop culture. Which, in my opinion, is the best part! 🙂 The taping of Chelsea Lately is pretty much done in real time, as if it was being broadcast live. It was so weird to see. There were no “Cuts!” or re-shoots – Chelsea and her guests were pretty much just left alone to do their thing. And they were HILARIOUS! There was actually a comedian/emcee on duty, whose job was to tell us what was going on during the taping and also to tell us when to laugh. Before taping began, he said about a hundred times, “You really have to support Chelsea and her guests and laugh even if you do not think something is funny.” Does he not realize what show he is working for? It’s ALWAYS funny! Literally every time anyone made a joke, the emcee would mime laughing so that we would know what to do. LOL I really wanted to tell him, “Look, this is Chelsea Lately – trust me, we’re gonna laugh! You don’t need to do ANYTHING!” And that’s pretty much exactly what happened. Everyone in the audience was cracking up the entire time, but it sure wasn’t because of the emcee. 🙂 Note to the Chelsea Handler staff – if you ever need to cut costs, the emcee job is pretty much irrelevant. LOL

During the commercial break before the celebrity guest was introduced, Chelsea came out into the audience to sign books for anyone who brought one. Which I, of course, did! 🙂 Chelsea signed my book and was very nice, but sadly it was over too fast. I didn’t even get to tell her how much I love her show. 🙁 Blaze said to me “That’s the fasted I’ve ever seen anyone sign an autograph in my life!” LOL

Chelsea’s celebrity guest during our taping was My Name Is Earl’s Nadine Velazquez and, sadly, I wasn’t really impressed with her at all. I got the impression that she really thought a lot of herself and, to be honest, she was a boring interviewee. : ( Such a bummer!! Chelsea was hilarious, as always, but I wish we had gotten to see a better guest.

After what was about a six minute interview with Nadine, Chelsea performed her closing monologue (again, only one take!) and that was it. The show was over. As always, at the end of the taping, Chuy came out into the audience to shake everyone’s hand, including mine. 🙂 Chuy really seemed like a sweet, sweet man. I absolutely loved him! One girl in the audience asked if she could have a hug instead of a handshake and he happily obliged. It was really cute. 🙂

I HIGHLY recommend stalking the Chelsea Lately show if you are in the L.A. area!!!! Not only is it a great show to watch live, but the taping moves extremely fast, so it doesn’t take up your whole day, as the taping of other shows do. I would recommend booking tickets at least six weeks in advance, as it took me about ten attempts before I was actually able to book them.

You can barely see the back of my head in the above screen capture. LOL 🙂

UPDATE – This blog post was written over six months ago and I have heard that Chelsea Lately’s audience has grown significantly during that time. So, to be on the safe side, if you are attending a taping, I would show up at least three hours prior to showtime to ensure yourself a seat.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Chelsea Lately is filmed at the Digital Media Center, which is located at 12312 West Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles. You can get tickets to a Chelsea Lately taping here. I’d recommend showing up about 1 and 1/2 hours prior to the taping to ensure yourself a seat. If you don’t live in the area you can still catch Chelsea weeknights at 11 p.m. on E!