Donna Martin – IAMNOTASTALKER

November 3, 2010November 2, 2010

The Gas Station from the “Palm Springs Weekend” Episode of “Beverly Hills, 90210”

One location that I have wanted to stalk for what seems like forever now is the gas station where Brenda Walsh (aka Shannen Doherty), Kelly Taylor (aka Jennie Garth), Donna Martin (aka Tori Spelling), Steve Sanders (aka Ian Ziering) and David Silver (aka Brian Austin Green) fueled up their cars in the Season 1 episode of fave show Beverly Hills, 90210 titled “Palm Springs Weekend” (aka “A Fling in Palm Springs”). Because “Palm Springs Weekend” was one of my all-time favorite episodes of the entire series, and was also coincidentally the very first episode of the show that I ever saw, it holds an extremely special place in my heart and I was absolutely dying to stalk all of the locations featured in it. And while I had found most of the other “Palm Springs Weekend” filming sites a while back, for whatever reason, try as I might, I just couldn’t seem to track that gas station down. So, I recently enlisted the help of fellow stalker Chas, from ItsFilmedThere, who contacted one of the show’s former crewmembers, who happened to remember that the gas station was located on Thousand Oaks Boulevard just a few blocks west of Hampshire Road in Thousand Oaks. As soon as Chas gave me that detailed information, I immediately dragged the Grim Cheaper out to the Valley to look for the place. Amazingly enough, though, even with the crew member’s detailed directions, I just could not seem to find it. So, after returning home I emailed fellow stalker Owen and asked if he might be able to lend a hand. Magically, Owen found the gas station almost immediately! As it turns out, the GC and I had relegated our search to too small of an area and had only stalked the short stretch of Thousand Oaks Boulevard located immediately to the west of Hampshire Road. Had we ventured just one more block west, though, we would have found the station right there on the corner of Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Live Oak Street. UGH! So, this past weekend, while on our way to Santa Barbara, I made the GC take a little detour off the 101 so that I could finally, finally stalk the “Palm Springs Weekend” gas station!

In the “Palm Springs Weekend” episode, which originally aired almost twenty years ago on February 21, 1991, Brenda and the gang stop by the gas station while on their way to Palm Springs, where they are all spending President’s Day weekend. Quite a lengthy scene takes place at the station, at one point during which Steve informs David that if he wants to hang out with him and pick up girls he needs to “at least attempt to be cool”, to which David says, “Oh, OK, so you think I should, like, hold off and give ‘em, like, a Johnny Depp-type attitude thing?” That line absolutely amazes me every time I hear it being that it still holds true to this day, almost two full decades later, as Johnny Depp is still considered the epitome of cool in Hollywood! Talk about a star having staying power!

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Today, the 90210 gas station, which at the time of the filming was operated by Shell Gas Company, is now an auto repair shop named Steve’s Automotive. I had the pleasure of speaking with Steve, the super-nice owner, while I was stalking the place and he was pretty excited to learn that his shop had once appeared on the iconic series. He also informed me that it had been used a few times in car commercials in more recent years.

Amazingly enough, even though the property has since changed ownership and is no longer a gas station, it still looks much the same today as it did nineteen years ago when filming took place. I was most excited to see that the bathroom area, where David met Tuesday (aka Shana Furlow), was still there and that it still looks EXACTLY the same as it did in the episode! So incredibly cool!!!!

And, of course, I just had to take a picture in the spot where Kelly had parked her car in the episode. 🙂

Big THANK YOU to both Chas from It’sFilmedThere and fellow stalker Owen for finding this location! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Steve’s Automotive, aka the gas station from the “Palm Springs Weekend” episode of Beverly Hills, 90210, is located at 2658 East Thousand Oaks Boulevard in Thousand Oaks. The bathroom where David met Tuesday, which is denoted with the pink arrow in the above aerial view, can be found just to the left of and around the corner from the front of the auto shop. The area where Kelly was parked is located under the carport, directly in front of the entrance to the office portion of Steve’s Automotive and is denoted with a blue “X” in the above aerial image.

November 7, 2008February 13, 2009

Donna Martin’s House

A few weeks ago, thanks to my new friend, the former 90210 location scout I met while stalking Ray Pruit’s house, I was able to stalk Donna Martin’s home from the quintessential 90’s series. This home was actually only used during the college years of the show; the house used during high school is another location altogether. Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I had been looking for Donna’s house for quite some time, and were both shocked to discover that it was located in the Encino area. It seems that every house we’ve found lately is located in Encino, so we’ve decided that, from now on, Encino will be our first stop when searching for movie locations. 🙂

Sadly not a whole lot of Donna’s house is visible from the street, due to the gate and large trees surrounding the property. But the green awning over the front porch is definitely recognizable from the show, as you can see in the above screen captures (provided, as usual, by Mike). 🙂 To me, Donna’s house doesn’t actually look like a Beverly Hills style mansion, so I am pretty surprised it was used on 90210. I am guessing that the main reason producers chose it is its proximity to the 90210 production studios.

I so LOVE the “One Way” sign in the driveway of the home. LOL Was there really that much traffic coming in and out of the driveway that a traffic sign needed to be installed? LOVE IT! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Donna’s house is located at 18515 Wells Drive in Tarzana.

September 12, 2008February 13, 2009

Ray Pruit’s House

Thanks to Geoff over at 90210Locations, I was able to stalk Ray Pruit’s house this past weekend while out in Van Nuys. The home was featured in numerous Season 5 episodes of the series as the abode of Donna’s abusive, pumpkin-patch-owning boyfriend, Ray. At that time, the house was painted a light beige color, but has since been repainted a darker blue. Other than the exterior color, though, the house looks exactly as it did back in the 90210 days. Big THANK YOU to Mike from MovieShotsLA for the above screen capture. 🙂

Ironically enough, while taking pictures in front of Ray’s house, a neighbor walked outside and I asked him if he lived in the neighborhood at the time 90210 filmed. He said that not only was he around during that time, but he was, in fact, the location manager of the show for Seasons 4 through 10!!! I absolutely could not believe my luck and ended up talking his ear off for about fifteen minutes. He really could not have been nicer and he even gave me his email address in case I ran up against any elusive 90210 filming spots that I might need help in locating. 🙂 YAY!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Ray Pruit’s house is located at 6628 Canteloupe Drive in Van Nuys. Not far away are both the former 90210 production studios, located at 15001 Calvert Street, and the liquor store from the “U4EA” episode, located at 6020 Kester Boulevard.

September 4, 2008February 13, 2009

P.S. I Love You

In honor of the big 90210 v. 2.0 premiere that took place on Tuesday night, I just had to do a little 90210 v. 1.0 stalking this past weekend. Since my boyfriend and I were out in Palm Springs for a little Labor Day vacay, I dragged him to the Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa which was featured in the series’ Season 5 finale. In the episode, entitled “P.S. I Love You”, Brandon, Valerie and the gang head out to Palm Springs for an Alpha/KEG get together. The group stayed at the Rancho Las Palmas, which at the time was known as Marriot’s Rancho Las Palmas Resort. Two years ago the hotel changed ownership and dropped the Marriott from its name. One of the most famous scenes in 90210 history took place at this hotel – the scene when Ray Pruit pushes Donna down a flight of stairs. It is those stairs that I set out to stalk this past weekend.

Unfortunately, since the hotel has changed hands since filming took place, none of the new staff could give me any information about where filming took place. In fact, most of the hotel staff looked at me like I was crazy when I told them that 90210 had filmed there. LOL But the concierge, who used to work at the nearby Desert Springs Marriott, did tell me that the TV show Las Vegas(sigh – Josh Duhamel!) filmed over at his former workplace several times. Looks like I have some more stalking of that hotel to do! 🙂

Anyway, I had a pretty clear picture in my head of the stairs Ray Pruit – “spelled with one ‘T’ cause that’s all his momma could afford” – pushed Donna down from watching the episode way back when. I was shocked to find out that there are actually 120 sets of those exact same stairs on the hotel property – four sets for each of the hotel’s 30 buildings. So, while I did take a picture on one of the sets of stairs, I am not sure it was the exact one that was used during filming. I am planning on borrowing Mike from MovieShotsLA‘s DVD of that episode to try to pin down the exact filming location. Big THANK YOU to Mike, too, for making these screen captures for me. 🙂

Since being taken over by the KSL Resorts hotel chain, Rancho Las Palmas has been extensively remodeled, however it is still pretty recognizable from the 90210days. Unfortunately, though, the pool areas have changed dramatically since filming, so once again I wasn’t able to pinpoint which of the hotel’s three pools was used for filming. But, according to the concierge, even if I had been able to pinpoint the correct pool, it would most likely be unrecognizable. All three pools have been completely gutted and remodeled since the KSL takeover. BUMMER! In the picture above I am standing in front of the hotel’s adults only Tranquility Pool, which, judging by the surroundings, I am pretty sure was the one featured in 90210.

Even though this particular stalking adventure was kind of a bust, I would still recommend stalking the hotel as it was still very cool to be there. Rancho Las Palmas is absolutely gorgeous, and I am actually hoping to stay there on my next trip out to the desert. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa is located at 41-000 Bob Hope Drive in Rancho Mirage, just outside of Palm Springs. You can visit their website here. During the summer rooms will run you about $250 per night. The famous stairs that Donna was pushed down are located throughout the hotel property. The Tranquility Pool is located just off the main lobby.

May 12, 2008February 13, 2009

Now Wear This!

For those who haven’t yet heard the good news – Jennie Garth has officially signed on to star in a recurring role on the new Beverly Hills, 90210 spin-off that is going to air on the CW. Although Brenda was always my fave 90210 character I still have to say YAY! Jennie will be reprising her role as Kelly Taylor, who is now a guidance counselor at West Beverly High.

I thought I’d do a little 90210 blogging in honor of today’s big news! During the 7th Season of 90210, Donna and Kelly opened up a clothing boutique called “Now Wear This!” A few years ago, as I was driving on Melrose Avenue, I spotted the location of the shop and almost got into a car accident I was so excited! When I first saw the location, the site was just a vacant storefront and pretty run down, but a few years ago it became home to a restaurant called El Guapo Mexican Cantina – which, according to reviews, is a very happening spot and a supposed celeb hang out. I have yet to eat, there, though, as anytime I have a hankering for Mexican food I head over to the BEST Mexican food in LA, Don Antonio’s. But it looks like I am going to have to check out El Guapo’s someday soon!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Donna’s dress shop is located at 7250 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. It is just down the street from both The Groundlings Theatre – famous improv school and alma mater to countless celebs – and People’s Revolution – Lauren Conrad’s new workplace.