Ed Westwick – IAMNOTASTALKER

September 1, 2017May 19, 2020

The Francis F. Palmer House from “Gossip Girl”

A Gossip Girl tour of New York wouldn’t be complete without a visit to Constance Billard School for Girls/St. Jude’s School for Boys, the elite preparatory academy attended by Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively), Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester), Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick), and the rest of “Manhattan’s elite” teenage set on the CW series. The only problem is that four different locations (yes, four!) actually portrayed the learning institution. I visited (and blogged about) the most recognizable of the bunch, the Museum of the City of New York, while in NYC back in 2009. And while I desperately wanted to stalk the second-most recognizable spot, the Francis F. Palmer House, aka the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (try saying that one five times fast!), I wasn’t able to get around to it on that trip. So there was no way I was missing it during my latest Big Apple vacation last April.

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The Francis F. Palmer House was originally constructed from 1916 to 1918 on a corner plot of land located at East 93rd Street and Park Avenue that was once the site of an 1847 residence built by Winfield Scott, a war hero who served as Commanding General of the United States Army from 1841 to 1861.

Commissioned by wealthy banker Francis Palmer, the Georgian Federal-style estate was designed by the Delano & Aldrich architecture firm, who employed brick and Tuscan marble in the construction. At the time of its inception, the five-story pad boasted a Mansard roof, a Juliet balcony, a library, a myriad of fireplaces, and a large formal garden courtyard situated on its west side.

When Palmer passed away in 1926, his widow sold the residence to George F. Baker, Jr., the son of a well-to-do banker. Baker snatched up three surrounding properties, as well, razed them and hired Delano & Aldrich to build a garage with servants’ quarters and a large secondary wing complete with a ballroom in their place. The new structures were all situated around the garden courtyard, making it the focal point of the dwelling.

In 1959, Baker’s widow sold the sprawling mansion to the Synod of Bishops (aka the administration of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia), who transformed it into their headquarters. While the property underwent a few modifications to make it functional as a workplace, not much was altered, thankfully, and the changes that were made honored the original design. As part of the transformation, the Synod opened up the large brick wall surrounding the central courtyard (allowing it to be visible from the street) and added a gorgeous wrought iron gate. A towering Imperial staircase was also installed at the rear of the courtyard in order to grant easier access to the second floor. Today, the site is comprised of an administration building and two churches, the Cathedral of the Icon of Our Lady of the Sign and St. Sergius Church.

The Francis F. Palmer House was only utilized as Constance Billard School for Girls/St. Jude’s School for Boys during a portion of Gossip Girl’s inaugural season, first appearing in the episode titled “Poison Ivy.”

The site’s 93rd Street exterior . . .

. . . as well as its courtyard and stairwell made numerous appearances during Season 1 and should be immediately recognizable to GG fans.

Eagle-eyed viewers undoubtedly know that a second school courtyard was also featured during Season 1 and throughout the end of Season 2. That spot cannot be found at the Francis F. Palmer House, though. It was actually just a set built on a soundstage at Silvercup Studios in Queens where the series was lensed.

Most interior school scenes were also shot on a studio-built set at Silvercup.

The inside of the Palmer House did pop up a few times as the interior of Constance Billard/St. Jude’s during Season 1, though, including in the episodes “Poison Ivy” and “A Thin Line Between Chuck and Nate.”

“A Thin Line Between Chuck and Nate” was actually the last time the Palmer House made an appearance on Gossip Girl. For whatever reason, beginning with the episode that followed, titled “The Blair Bitch Project,” the Museum of the City of New York started standing in for the gang’s school and the Palmer House was never to be seen again.

Then, inexplicably, at the beginning of Season 2, locales shifted once again – this time to The Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn, though establishing shots of the Museum of the City of New York were still often utilized.

Despite the Palmer House’s rather brief stint on Gossip Girl, it is still, in my opinion, one of the most recognizable locations from the show, not to mention a gorgeous example of New York’s early 20th Century architecture. I highly recommend a visit if you are in the area.

The Palmer House also stands in for The Briarton School, where Jamie Burns (Matt Bomer) teaches, on the third season of The Sinner.

And it popped up as the home of Nicholas Endicott (Dermot Mulroney) in the Season 1 episode of Prodigal Son titled “Like Father . . . “

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: The Francis F. Palmer House, aka the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, aka Constance Billard School for Girls/St. Jude’s School for Boys on Gossip Girl, is located at 75 East 93rd Street on New York’s Upper East Side. The other locations utilized as the gang’s academy on the series are the Museum of the City of New York at 1220 Fifth Avenue, also on the Upper East Side, The Packer Collegiate Institute at 170 Joralemon Street in Brooklyn, and Silvercup Studios at 42-22 22nd Avenue in Long Island City.

August 30, 2017August 29, 2017

The Empire Hotel from “Gossip Girl”

My friend Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, always teases me for being a huge fan of “Hollywood randoms,” i.e. stars he has never heard of. One of my favorites of the so-called randoms is Ed Westwick, who played Chuck Bass on Gossip Girl. Out of all the male TV characters I’ve ever come across, Chuck is hands-down my most-loved. (Jack Donaghy from 30 Rock runs a close second.) The Grim Cheaper and I were obsessed with Gossip Girl when it was on the air, but haven’t seen the CW series since it wrapped in December 2012. Out of the blue, he put on the pilot last night and I can’t tell you how great it was to once again hear that famous intro speech narrated by Kristen Bell. You know the one – “Gossip Girl here – your one and only source into the scandalous lives of Manhattan’s elite.” Watching the episode got me to thinking about the Empire Hotel, which was owned by Chuck on the series and which I stalked while in New York last April. Somehow I had never gotten around to blogging about the place. So here goes.

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The Empire’s history dates back to 1893 when construction began on a large 7-story lodging at the corner of West 63rd Street and Broadway on New York’s Upper West Side. The Hotel Casa Alameda, as it was set to be called, was never completed, though, and the property went into foreclosure. It was eventually sold, the construction finished and, in 1889, re-opened as the Empire Hotel. Nine years later, the Empire was purchased by Herbert DuPuy, who had lofty goals for the site. He had the building razed in 1922 and replaced it with a new, larger, 15-story hotel. The re-imagined Empire opened to the public on December 5th, 1923.

Its now iconic rooftop sign was erected at the same time.

Though Hotel Online states that the sign is “one of the first ever and longest standing neon billboards in the United States,” according to Curbed New York, it was actually replaced in the 1960s. I am unsure which site’s information is correct, but, regardless, the “Hotel Empire” sign makes for some amazing photo opportunities, as you can see here and here.

In December 2003, the Empire was shuttered after being slated for a condominium conversion project, but the plan was halted by a group of permanent residents who filed complaints with the city.

Instead, the hotel underwent a massive 3-year renovation, re-opening in August 2007.

The interior of the 413-room property was reimagined by interior design firm Goodman Charlton.

The result of their efforts is a very Old Hollywood-esque tapestry of golds, blacks, oranges, and the occasional zebra print.

The sweeping two-story lobby is marked by swaying curtains, tall cushy sofas, and a massive staircase.

It is not at all hard to see how the Empire wound up on Gossip Girl. Its design is so very, very Chuck Bass.

The site first showed up in the Season 3 episode of GG titled “The Lost Boy,” in the scene in which Chuck announces to his longtime girlfriend Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester) that he has cashed in all of his Bass Industries stock in order to purchase the Empire.

The hotel’s next appearance on the series was in “How to Succeed in Business,” also from Season 3, in which Chuck opens a speakeasy on the premises.

The Empire then went on to be featured regularly in both establishing shots . . .

. . . and in various on-location shoots throughout the remainder of the series’ 6-season run.

The penthouse suite Chuck called home was just a set, though, located on a soundstage at Silvercup Studios East in Queens, where the show was lensed.

According to a January 2010 CNN Entertainment article, the Empire saw a 5-10% increase in bookings and a 50% increase in website traffic due to the filming – at a time when most hotels were experiencing a decrease in numbers. John A. Fox, a senior vice president at hospitality consulting group PKF, noticed the spike in bookings, but “had not thought to attribute it to the hotel’s guest appearance in a television show.” Um, hello! Thankfully, David Bowd, president of the hotels division of Amsterdam Hospitality, the company that owns the Empire, had more foresight. Of his reasoning behind the decision to allow filming on the premises, he said, “I think that teenagers can dictate where their parents stay over vacation and we saw a lot of that over the Thanksgiving holiday and into the bookings for Christmas and New Year’s.” Serious kudos to the Empire! So many hotels, restaurants, and businesses I’ve come across consider filming a nuisance and aren’t too keen on broadcasting their onscreen appearances, which I’ve never understood as cinematic stints can be such a massive draw for potential customers.

Gossip Girl is not the only production to have utilized the Empire. In the 2010 flick Sex and the City 2, the after-party for the premiere of Smith Jerrod’s (Jason Lewis) new movie is held in the property’s lobby, though the hotel is not mentioned by name. Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) simply describes the place as “the VIP room at the after-party.”

It is in the Lobby Bar that Carrie catches Mr. Big (Chris Noth) flirting with the Senior Vice President of the Bank of Madrid, Carmen Garcia Carrion (Penelope Cruz).

As its name suggests, the Lobby Bar is located in a tucked-away corner of the Empire’s lobby.

In the Season 1 episode of Power titled “Not Exactly How We Planned,” which aired in 2014, James ‘Ghost’ St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick) and Tommy Egan (Joseph Sikora) met with Felipe Lobos (Enrique Murciano) at the hotel.

The Empire masked as the Wooster Hotel, where SVU detectives Odafin Tutuola (Ice-T) and Dominick Carisi Jr. (Peter Scanavino) investigated the rape of aspiring Olympic pole vaulter Jenna Miller (Kim Morgan) in the Season 18 episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit titled “Heightened Emotions,” which aired in 2016.

The Empire was also supposedly featured in the Season 2 episode of The Equalizer titled “Solo,” which aired in 1987, but I could not find a copy of it anywhere to make screen captures for this post.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Empire Hotel, from Gossip Girl, is located at 44 West 63rd Street on New York’s Upper West Side. You can visit the hotel’s official website here.

January 5, 2016August 7, 2020

The “Wicked City” Library

I have one more Wicked City location up my sleeve (for the time being, at least – I did track down a couple of others after watching the recently-released final five episodes, but have yet to stalk them) – the former Second Church of Christ, Scientist in West Adams, which masked as an L.A. library in “Should I Stay or Should I Go.” I have long been familiar with the stately, domed structure thanks to my many area stalkings (Fatty Arbuckle’s former house is located on the same street, as is the oft-filmed St. Vincent de Paul Church) and recognized it immediately upon viewing the episode. I had never done a proper stalking of it, though, and promptly dragged the Grim Cheaper right on over there to remedy that a couple of weeks ago.

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Second Church of Christ, Scientist was designed by architect Alfred H. Rosenheim, who also designed the American Horror Story house. The prolific Albert C. Martin, Sr. (of Million Dollar Theatre, Los Angeles City Hall and Thomas Higgins Building fame) acted as the engineer. The massive Italian Renaissance-style structure, which was modeled after the First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, aka the “Mother Church,” took more than two years to complete at a cost of $318,000. Its doors were opened to the public on January 23rd, 1910.

The property, which was built out of terracotta, brick, stucco and granite, was so grand that, according to the Big Orange Landmarks website, a 1908 Los Angeles Times article deemed it “the largest and most elaborate church west of Chicago.”

At the time of its completion, the interior featured a pipe organ, mahogany woodwork, stained glass windows, wainscoting throughout, and seating for 1,200 churchgoers.

The site’s most impressive feature, though, was – and still is – its 130-foot tall copper-clad, poured-concrete dome, which according to Big Orange Landmarks, measures 70 feet in diameter and weighs 1,400 tons.

The green-tinted dome seems to sparkle in the sunlight and only adds to the grandeur and beauty of the already picturesque church, which was named a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1968.

Due to declining membership and the high cost of maintaining the property, Christian Science Church vacated the building in 2008. The empty structure proved attractive to vandals, who spray painted the once stately structure with graffiti and broke many of its stained glass windows.

In December 2009, the site was sold to The Art of Living Foundation, a non-profit organization that teaches meditation, yoga, breathing, and emotional balance. The group lovingly repaired the damage done to the property and today use it as their main headquarters.

The former Second Church of Christ, Scientist played a significant role in Wicked City’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go.”

Masking as a local library, it is there that Kent Grainger (Ed Westwick) leaves the head of one of his murder victims among the stacks of books for detectives Jack Roth (Jeremy Sisto) and Paco Contreras (Gabriel Luna) to find.

I initially thought that the actual inside of the former church had also been used in the filming of the library scenes, but as soon as I looked through these interior photographs of the place I realized that was not the case.

As it turns out, interior filming took place at DC Stages, a downtown Los Angeles studio that has been around since 1988. The facility, which was originally called Dos Carlos Stages, is situated inside of a a former perishable food storage center and boasts several standing sets including that of a police station, a city hall, a courthouse, political offices, a hospital, a jail, apartments, hotel rooms, a restaurant, and, of course, a library. You can check out a drone video shot of the various sets here and some some photographs here. What I wouldn’t give to see the inside of that place in person!

Many sources state that the Second Church of Christ, Scientist was used regularly as the Fulton County Courthouse on the television series Matlock, but I have not been able to verify that. I downloaded a couple of episodes to scan through and in each of them a different building masked as the courthouse, neither of which was the Second Church of Christ, Scientist, as you can see below. The series aired for nine seasons, though, so it is quite possible the West Adams church did make an appearance (or several appearances) at some point during that run.

The locale also pops up as the Radiant Assembly of God church on the HBO series Perry Mason.

Only the exterior of the building is utilized on the series. Interior church scenes were shot at the Trinity Auditorium, located at 851 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Second Church of Christ, Scientist, aka the Wicked City library, is located at 948 West Adams Boulevard in University Park. DC Stages, which was used for the interior library scenes, is located at 1360 East 6th Street in downtown L.A. Be advised that the studio facility is not open to the public.

January 4, 2016January 3, 2016

Edgeway Auto Upholstery from “Wicked City”

ABC finally released the remaining five episodes of Wicked City on both ABC.com and Hulu. Watching them proved to be a bit of a double-edged sword because the show got really good. And I already thought it was great! By episode 8, I realized what a real contender it could have been, with a long life on the small screen, but, sadly, that was not to be. I was thrilled, though, that producers were given a bit of a heads-up about the cancellation which allowed them to grant the story some closure. But seeing that closure only made me wonder what the original ending was intended to be, as I am sure it was vastly different from what did make it to the airwaves. My guess is that (spoiler alert!) the death of Karen McClaren (Taissa Farmiga) was a last-minute departure from the planned storyline, but who knows? Here’s hoping a DVD with behind-the-scenes info will be released at some point. (If I don’t eventually find out what was up with the Fly Brand cocaine, I may go crazy!) For those who have yet to see the final five episodes, I highly recommend watching. As fate would have it, Edgeway Auto Upholstery, where Kent Grainger (Ed Westwick) worked on the series – a spot I had previously stalked, but had yet to blog about – figured prominently in one of them.

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Edgeway Auto Upholstery first popped up in the episode titled “Running with the Devil,” in the scene in which Kent pretended to be a Hollywood producer while making a phone call to a production company in order to try to track down an actress he wanted to kill. (The storyline was dark, but oh so enthralling!)

Edgeway turned out to be an easy find. I figured filming had most likely taken place at a real auto upholstery facility, one that was most likely located somewhere in the San Fernando Valley. Besides the fact that the shop had a very Valley look to it, many of the spots featured in the series, such as Kent’s house and Valli Tropics, where Betty Beaumontaine (Erika Christensen) lived, were located in the area and producers often pick places to film that are in close proximity to each other. So I started searching for upholstery shops in the SFV and came across Nacho’s Auto Upholstery at 12443 Victory Boulevard in Valley Glen within minutes. Sure enough, it matched what had appeared on Wicked City.

Nacho’s looks exactly the same in person as it did onscreen. I love the fact that although the name was changed for the filming, producers used the shop’s actual lettering style for the fake signage.

Besides “Running with the Devil,” Nacho’s also popped up in “Heat Wave.” In the episode, detectives Jack Roth (Jeremy Sisto) and Paco Contreras (Gabriel Luna) figure out that the serial killer they’ve been chasing works at an upholstery shop. While hunting down leads, they spot a vintage red Corvette similar to one that the killer had been seen driving, parked at Edgeway Auto Upholstery and they break into the shop to investigate.

Quite a bit of the location was shown in “Heat Wave.”

A sign reading “Nacho’s Auto Upholstery” was even visible in the background at one point. Whoops! Winking smile

The shop’s small office area, which Roth and Contreras search through, was actually just a set, though.

And not even a full one, at that, as I learned thanks to a photograph that executive producer Jon Cassar tweeted along with the caption, “Sometimes 2 walls is all you need.” Ah, the magic of filmmaking.

Only the rear side of Nacho’s, which is reached via a back alley, appeared in Wicked City. The front of the shop, pictured below, was never shown onscreen.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Nacho’s Auto Upholstery, aka Edgeway Auto Upholstery from Wicked City, is located at 12443 Victory Boulevard in Valley Glen.

December 4, 2015February 25, 2016

Valli Tropics from “Wicked City”

Locations, locations, locations! Aside from Ed Westwick, locations were easily the best aspect of the now cancelled ABC series Wicked City. The show took place in Los Angeles circa 1982 and the location manager did a fabulous job of securing spots evocative of that era. None was more spectacularly retro than the apartment building where Betty Beaumontaine (Erika Christensen) lived. I became obsessed with the place, and all of its pink-accented glory, while watching Wicked City’s pilot episode, but, unfortunately, had a heck of a time tracking it down.

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In the pilot, a sign with the name “Valli Tropics” was prominently shown posted outside of Betty’s apartment. Because the complex had somewhat of a tropical aesthetic, I figured the name might be legitimate and did a Google search for “Valli Tropics” and “Los Angeles.” It yielded nada, though, so I abandoned my hunch that the name was real and began searching for images of tropical-style apartments in L.A. I poured through countless photographs, but none was of the right spot. I then looked through all of my local architectural guidebooks to see if the complex was pictured, but came up empty-handed. So I abandoned the hunt for a bit.

When the third episode, titled “Should I Stay or Should I Go,” aired and Betty’s apartment was featured prominently, I decided to start the pursuit up again. I revisited my original hunch that the name might be legit and this time did a search for “Valli Tropics Apartments” and “Los Angeles,” which led me to a yelp review written by the manager of a Valli Tropics in Studio City. From there, the complex was a snap to find. I honestly cannot believe that I spent so many fruitless hours searching for the place, when the name of it was right in front of me the entire time! The blonde factor was strong with this one.

In person, Valli Tropics did not disappoint!

Every square inch of the place was just begging to be photographed.

And the vintage signing was to die for!

I was floored to see that the retro-ish sign that had been so prominently featured in Wicked City was a real life element of the building.

Surprisingly, other than the fact that it was built in 1956, I could find virtually no information online about Valli Tropics.

The complex is actually situated in an odd way, with the front entrance running diagonal to the street. One could easily drive right past it without noticing its architectural splendor.

Valli Tropics was featured repeatedly throughout the three episodes of Wicked City that made it to the airwaves. Besides the front exterior, the courtyard was also utilized on the show.

I am fairly certain that the interior of a real life Valli Tropics unit was used for the filming of the pilot . . .

. . . and that a set re-creation appeared in the other two episodes.

Oddly, while a brief shot of the exterior of Valli Tropics was shown in Wicked City’s second episode, which was titled “Running with the Devil” . . .

. . . a scene that was supposed to take place there was actually shot about five miles away, on the corner of Kittridge Street and Wilkinson Avenue in Valley Glen.

Thanks to the Litany of Schist blog, I learned that the Valli Tropics masked as the apartment of murder victim Jason Devereaux (Ben Feldman) in the Season 10 episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation titled “Working Stiffs.”

In the episode, Jason was said to live at 1120 Marapasa Parkway in Las Vegas, the numbering of which meshes with Valli Tropic’s real life address of 11120 Acama Street. The crew failed to remove the extra “1” from the building’s address placard, as well as from the Valli Tropics sign for the shoot, though, so the scripted address didn’t end up gibing with what appeared onscreen. Whoops!

Valli Tropic’s courtyard was also used in the filming of CSI.

As was the interior of one of the apartment units.

In the Season 11 episode of Criminal Minds titled “A Badge and a Gun,” the Behavioral Analysis Unit investigates a murder at the Valli Tropics, which is said to be in Atwater Village.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Valli Tropics, aka Betty’s apartment from Wicked City, is located at 11120 Acama Street in Studio City.

November 30, 2015November 24, 2015

Kent’s House from “Wicked City”

I cannot express how disappointed I am that ABC cancelled Wicked City. I’ll admit that I was not very impressed with the series’ pilot episode, but I think that was mainly due to the fact that it was rather jarring to see Ed Westwick (one of my absolute faves!) portraying a serial killer. The second episode had me hooked, though, and by episode three I was full-blown obsessed. So it was quite a blow when the show was cancelled just three days after that episode aired. And while ABC has said that the remaining five episodes that have yet to be broadcast will soon be available via streaming, so far that has yet to happen, which has me heartbroken that there might not be any sort of resolution to the show’s core mystery. The cancellation did not stop me from hunting down locations from the series, though. A couple of weeks ago on LAmag.com, I blogged about the Whisky a Go Go, which made several appearances on Wicked City. In the article, I mentioned some other locales featured on the show, but at the time I had yet to track down a few key spots, one of which was the Spanish-style home belonging to Kent Galloway (Westwick).

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I spent a ridiculous amount of time scouring film location databases looking for Kent’s home and, just as I was reaching my wits’ end, decided to call in the Grim Cheaper to ask for his thoughts. I happened to show him a scene from the second episode, which is titled “Runnin’ with the Devil,” and he noticed that a large wall was located across the street from Kent’s residence. He presumed it to be part of a studio and told me to search the neighborhoods surrounding The Walt Disney Studios.

Sure enough, I found the house within seconds, exactly where he said it would be! Sometimes I think he’s better at this stalking stuff than I am! Thank you, GC!

I was so intent on finding the locale not only because I am such a huge fan of Ed Westwick and Wicked City, but also because I just love the look of the place. The residence is picturesque, homey and a perfect representation of the Los Angeles bungalow.

In person it did not disappoint.

Though Zillow states that the property, which was built in 1940, measures one bedroom, one bath, and 1,551 square feet, it looks to be much larger from the outside.

The setting is also quite beautiful. The residence is situated on a 0.21-acre corner plot of land that almost looks like a park.

The house appeared in the first two episodes of Wicked City. I’m sure it was also utilized in the five unaired episodes that were shot prior to the cancellation, as well.

As you can see below, it looks much the same in person as it did onscreen, though it appears that a lot of foliage was brought in for the shoot.

I fell in love with the iron adornment on the front door while watching the pilot and was floored to see that it is an actual feature of the house.

I am fairly certain that the real life interior of the home was used in the filming of the pilot episode.

Unfortunately, I could not find any interior photographs of the place with which to verify that hunch.

The inside of Kent’s residence also made a brief appearance in the third episode of Wicked City, which is titled “Should I Stay or Should I Go,” but I am pretty certain that a set was used for that scene.

Interestingly, in the Google Street View imagery of the house, a film crew is visible shooting some sort of production in one of the neighboring residences.

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Kent’s house from Wicked City is located at 2023 West Parkside Avenue in Burbank.

November 19, 2015November 11, 2015

New “L.A.” Mag Post – About the Whisky a Go Go from “Wicked City”

Don’t forget to check out my latest Scene it Before post for Los Angeles magazine about the Whisky a Go Go from Wicked City. My articles typically get published in the early afternoon hours.

March 8, 2010March 7, 2010

Oscar Weekend 2010

The celebrity sightings during Oscar Weekend 2010 started a bit early for me this year when Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I accidentally stumbled upon the filming of CSI: Miami in Altadena on Friday morning. But I’ll save that story for tomorrow’s blog post. Today, it’s strictly all about Oscar, Oscar, Oscar! And, let me tell you, it was another amazing Oscar Weekend for me. Man, I love awards season!!!! 🙂

Anyway, after hanging out on the CSI: Miami set for a few hours this past Friday, Mike and I made our way over to the Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood to check out the Academy Awards preparations at the Kodak Theatre and to take a little walk on the most famous carpet in the entire world. My fiancé and I usually hit up the Kodak Theatre each year on the Saturday morning before the Oscar ceremony is held and, amazingly enough, the place is usually not all that crowded. But when Mike and I showed up early Friday afternoon, the Hollywood & Highland Center was absolutely JAM PACKED. So much so that they actually had to CLOSE the parking garage there as it was completely full! If you’ve ever been to that parking garage, you know what I mean when I say it is absolutely GINOURMOUS, so the fact that it was FULL was mind-boggling to me! Even with all the traffic and throngs of people, though, we finally managed to make it to the Kodak. And I can’t even tell you how exciting it was to be standing there in the middle of it all! Being that this was my fourth year stalking the Oscars, you would think that I’d be at least a little tired of it by now. But nothing could be further from the truth. I was absolutely ESCTATIC to be seeing it all in person once again. I still have to pinch myself every time I am there. Unbelievably, this was actually Mike’s very first Oscar stalk, though! For whatever reason, even though he grew up in the Los Angeles area, he had yet to ever visit the Academy Awards red carpet in person, so it was extremely exciting for me to be sharing that experience with him. And it got the Grim Cheaper off the hook of having to take me there on Saturday morning. So, it was definitely a win-win situation for all of us. 😉

I have to say that it was very cool to be stalking the Oscars a day earlier than usual, as Mike and I got to see quite a bit of the red carpet set-up taking place, including one of the Oscar statuettes being brought into the theater on a golf cart . . .

. . . and part of the red carpet being rolled out.

Thanks to the massive rain-storms that have been plaguing Southern California as of late, many of the Oscars were actually covered over with plastic tarps;

and there was also a rain tent set up over the red carpet. Which got me to thinking, why does it always seem to rain on Oscar Night?

As usual, the actual carpet was also covered over in tarping to prevent the awards crew from trampling on it pre-show.

And, even with the tarping, I, of course, just had to get a picture of myself standing on it. 🙂

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For those who have never visited the Kodak Theatre, it is located inside of the Hollywood & Highland Center, which is, for all intents and purposes, a mall. So, when the stars walk down the red carpet on Oscar Night, they are actually walking right through a bunch of shops. It’s pretty hard to imagine, I know, but you can kind of see the set-up in the above photographs. The windows to the right and left of the carpet area are actually stores. Whenever I take out-of-towners to the Kodak Theatre and explain that it is where the Oscar Ceremony is held each year, I invariably hear the following sentence, “But this is a mall!” LOL Anyway, the red carpet goes right through a stretch of the mall which houses such stores as MAC, Louis Vuitton (sigh!), Sanrio, Sun’s Up sunglasses store, the Gateway Newstand, and Kelly’s Coffee & Fudge. I swear, if I was an actor walking the red carpet, I would so be tempted to stop into Kelly’s Coffee for a quick latte before making my way into the theatre. 😉 To prevent this, though, the stores are actually required to close during Oscar Weekend, beginning on the Friday evening before the ceremony. Mike and I happened to stop into one of the stores on the red carpet to do some shopping while we were there and the clerk told us that she was getting ready to close for the next few days and that security was just about to do their final check of the premises, along with their bomb-sniffing dogs who roam each store to make sure that no explosive devices have been left inside. How crazy is that?

EXTREMELY bright (like absolutely BLINDINGLY so) lights were set up all along the perimeter of the red carpet. One is pictured above and even via photograph you can tell how darn bright it is.

Some of the Oscar statues are unbelievably HUGE, especially the one located at the corner of Highland Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard, which is where the red carpet begins. As you can see in the above photograph, even the base of that statue is taller than me!

I was just itching to jump up on the above pictured press stage to snap a quick picture, but the security guard standing in that vicinity did not look at all friendly so I didn’t want to risk it. He probably would have ended up banning me from the Hollywood & Highland Center for life. 😉

While hanging out on the red carpet on Friday, Mike and I ran into this enterprising young woman who was holding up a homemade sign asking Matt Damon to be her date to the Oscars. 😉 Love it!

While walking around Hollywood, we also spotted this gigantic movie poster for Sex and the City 2 on the side of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and I just had to snap a pic of it! Love it! Love it! Love it!

As much fun as Mike and I had on Friday, I must say that there was even more fun in store for me on Saturday. Beginning early Saturday morning and ending very late Saturday night, I dragged my fiancé from one end of Los Angeles to the other to do some major star-gazing. Sadly, though, due to the rain and the Independent Spirit Awards’ change in venue (while they are usually held on the beach in Santa Monica each Saturday before the Oscars, this year they took place on Friday evening at the much less accessible Nokia Theatre L.A. Live in Downtown Los Angeles), my celeb sightings weren’t as numerous this year as they were last, but I still managed to have an ABSOLUTE BLAST. In fact, I am still pinching myself this morning. I even got to meet up with one of my readers, a super sweet fellow stalker named Kendall, at one point during the evening. And while I didn’t spot my girl Jen or crooner Michael Buble (whose sightings were the highlights of my Oscar Weekend last year), I did manage to stalk quite a few celebs. But because hotel security is very tight during Oscar Weekend, I, unfortunately, didn’t get to snap any pictures of them. 🙁

So, without further ado, here is “The List” of celebrity sightings from Oscar Weekend 2010.

1. Jerry Ferris – from Jen Schefft’s season of The Bachelorette

2. Jamie Foxx

3. Lenny Kravitz

4. Aaron Eckhart

5. Benjamin McKenzie – At one point in the evening, I noticed Ben standing next to my fiancé at a valet stand, so I leaned over and said “Hi, Ben!” He looked over expecting me to be someone he knew, got a blank expression on his face, and then smiled a big smile when he realized I was just a fan and said “Hey, how are you doing?” SIGH!

6. Elizabeth Banks

7. Dennis Haysbert (from 24)

8. Ben Stiller

9. J.J. Abrams (the producer of Lost)

10. will.i.am (from the Black Eyed Peas) – He seemed super nice and waved at us.

11. Ed Westwick

12. Jessica Szohr

13. Jake Gyllenhaal

14. Maggie Gyllenhaal – She is extremely taaaaaaaaall in person.

15. Rashida Jones

16. Katie Couric

17. Zachary Quinto

18. Morgan Freeman

19. Jason Reitman

20. Steven Spielberg

21. David Spade

22. Leonardo DiCaprio

23. Halle Berry

24. B.J. Novak

25. Kevin Connolly

26. Sofia Vergara (Gloria from Modern Family)

27. Jesse James

28. Sandra Bullock

29. Ryan Reynolds

30. Ryan Seacrest – He is so not as short as everyone makes him out to be.

31. Jon Hamm

32. Jennifer Westfeldt

33. Jimmy Kimmel

34. Anna Kendrick

35. Christian Slater – Was super friendly and waved at us. 🙂

36. Meg Ryan

37. Ron Livingston

38. Jemaine Clement (from The Flight of the Conchords)

39. Colin Firth

40. Taylor Lautner – He looks VERY young in person, but is VERY cute.

41. Fred Savage

42. Kristin Davis

43. Kate Beckinsale

44. Eddie Murphy

45. Matt Damon

46. Luciana Barrosa

47. Tina Fey

48. Jeanne Tripplehorn

49. Gina Gershon

50. Stanley Tucci

51. Robert Downey Jr.

52. Susan Downey (Robert’s wife, who is a big time producer)

53. Jeff Bridges

54. Winona Ryder

55. Mariska Hargitay – She is STRIKINGLY beautiful in person!

56. Rich Ross – The new chairman of Walt Disney Studios, who I actually served on jury duty with once. 😉

57. Julie Bowen (Claire from Modern Family)

58. Ty Burrell (Phil from Modern Family)

59. Elton John – We ate dinner just a few tables away from him and in what was an absolutely surreal moment, the musician working at the restaurant started playing Elton’s 1970 hit “Your Song” with him sitting just a few feet away.

60. George Takei and his husband Brad Altman – My fiancé said he was actually star struck for what was probably the first time in his life over seeing the two of them, not because he is a Trekkie, but because he is a fan of “The Howard Stern Show” on which George is a frequent announcer.

61. Carrie Underwood

62. Eric Nies

63. Brian Grazer

64. Felicity Huffman

65. Eric McCormack from Will and Grace

66. Jeff Prettyman

67. Dianna Agron (Quinn from Glee)

68. Mark Salling (Puck from Glee) – He is SUPER cute in person and also waved to us.

69. Vera Farmiga

70. Amy Adams

71. Carey Mulligan

72. Peter Sarsgaard

But the highlight of the evening for me had to be when I got to see my latest celebrity crush, Mr. Schuester himself, Matthew Morrison from Glee! Sigh! Ironically, earlier in the day, I had told my fiancé that of all the people I was hoping to see this Oscar Weekend, Matthew Morrison was number 1! And then it happened! I got to see him – and better yet, he even did a little Glee-style spin and turn in front of us when he walked by. SIGH! I literally almost had a heart attack right there on the spot! Truth be told, though, I was SO completely starstruck over seeing him in person that I didn’t even notice his little dance routine. I must have blacked out from excitement or something, but it wasn’t until fellow stalker Kendall mentioned something about it that I even realized he had done it. LOL Anyway, Oscar Weekend 2010 was INCREDIBLY exciting and I CANNOT wait to do it all again next year!!!!! But for now, I am absolutely exhausted, so I am going to go park myself on the couch and spend the next few hours recuperating. 😉

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: I stalked so many hotels and bars this Oscar Weekend, that there are far too many to name here. For a detailed list of places to go to see movie stars on Oscar Weekend – or any weekend, for that matter – check out this blog post that I wrote last year.

October 26, 2009October 26, 2009

The New York Palace Hotel

Yet another Gossip Girl location that I set out to stalk during this year’s Manhattan vacation was the New York Palace Hotel, a locale which has appeared in pretty much every single episode of the series since it began back in 2007. Truth be told, though, I actually first stalked this location quite a few years back during my very first trip to the Big Apple, long before Gossip Girl was even on the air. And, let me tell you, I absolutely fell in love with the place! Each year since then I’ve made sure to stop into the Palace at least once during our annual New York vacation to either grab a cocktail at GILT or to simply relax for a few minutes in the hotel’s opulent lobby. So, as you can probably imagine, I was completely floored this past summer when I first watched the pilot episode of Gossip Girl and realized that a huge portion of it was filmed on location on the hotel grounds. So, while in New York two weeks ago, I just had to drag my fiancé back to the Palace, this time to do some stalking of my new favorite show! 🙂

The New York Palace Hotel is absolutely beautiful inside and out and is one of my very favorite places to visit in all of New York. By now, I really must sound like a broken record due to the fact that I pretty much say that about every single place I stalk in the Big Apple. LOL But it’s just that there are so many spectacular and incredibly unique places on the island of Manhattan that I find it very difficult to narrow down my favorites! Anyway, the New York Palace Hotel was originally built as a private home for New York Evening Post editor and Union Pacific Railroad founder Henry Villard in 1882. Villard hired the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White to design and build six four-story townhouses surrounding a central courtyard in an empty lot across from St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The buildings were constructed in a Neo-Italian Renaissance style and were modeled after Rome’s Palazzo della Cancellaria. In 1883, Villard moved into his new home, which was still under construction, for a period of just a few months. Sadly, though, he ended up filing bankruptcy shortly thereafter and was forced to sell the entire property, which was then known as the Villard Houses, to several different owners before construction had even been completed. In 1974, the townhouses were purchased by the Helmsley (yes, that Helmsley) Hotel chain. The Helmsleys came up with the inspired idea to purchase the air space above the Villard Houses (and here all this time I never knew that type of thing was for sale! LOL) in order to add a 55-story tower to the property and turn it into a luxury hotel. Construction of that tower took six years to complete and in 1981 the Helmsley Palace Hotel finally opened its doors to the world. It didn’t take long for the Palace name to become synonymous with the utmost in luxury and elegance. In 1992, the hotel was sold to a private limited partnership, who changed its name to the New York Palace Hotel, as it is known today. The Palace Hotel is currently owned by the upscale Dorchester Group and boasts 360 square-foot guest rooms, 22,000 square feet of meeting space, two restaurants, including GILT, which has been awarded two Michelin stars , and a 7,000 square foot spa and gym, where complimentary tennis shoes and workout clothes are made available to guests. LOVE IT! Rooms average $297 per night, which is incredibly low for such upscale accommodations, especially considering that the hotel is located in Manhattan.

The Palace Hotel features prominently on Gossip Girl, not only because the hostelry is owned by Bart Bass, Chuck’s father, on the show, but also due to the fact that Serena van der Woodsen and family lived in one of the hotel’s Triplex Suites while their home was being remodeled during Season One. The hotel is such an integral part of the show, actually, that, according to this article, filming of GG takes places there at least twice a month! How cool is that?? The areas of the hotel that have been used in the filming over the past three years include the front exterior (pictured above),

the central courtyard,

the second floor mezzanine,

the lobby’s courtyard entrance,

the special events venue named the Madison Room,

the entrance to the famous GILT restaurant,

the interior of GILT,

and the GILT kitchen.

In fact, GILT’s menu now even features “The Gossip Girl – You Know You Love It” grilled cheese and truffle oil sandwich (YUM!), much like the one Chuck made for Serena in the pilot episode. 🙂 My good friend Steffi, who is also a HUGE GG fan, is holding GILT’s menu in the above picture.

Besides being a main filming location for Gossip Girl, the Palace is also a celebrity magnet. According to fave book, Michael Jackson: The Magic, The Madness, The Full Story, back during his “Thriller” days, the Palace was the only New York Hotel where the King of Pop would rest his head. The hotel also plays host to a number of A-List events each year. A few of the stars who have been spotted there in the past include Prince, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Lady Gaga, Orlando Bloom, Harry Connick, Jr., Helena Christenson, Claire Danes, Hugh Dancy, Molly Sims, Kristin Davis, Bethenny Frankel, and Rose McGowan.

I honestly can’t recommend stalking the New York Palace Hotel enough! The staff is INCREDIBLY friendly – one of the concierges even went so far as to get me a GILT menu when I was there two weeks ago just so that I could take a picture of the Gossip Girl sandwich listing! 🙂 And the entire property – from the Central Courtyard to the ornate lobby – is just simply breathtaking. I honestly can’t say enough about it! Especially at Christmastime! If you find yourself in the area during the month of December, stopping by to see the Palace’s Christmas decorations, which are pictured above, is a MUST! Christmas trees, garland, and white twinkle lights can be found EVERYWHERE, especially in the hotel’s Central Courtyard which is absolutely transformed into a mass of sparkle. LOVE IT!

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For further information on the hotel you can read an amazingly in-depth review, written by someone who actually stayed there, here. Although, because the author listed the fact that Palace’s “popular restaurant/bar is closed intermittently for film crews” under the Con section of her Palace Hotel Pros and Cons List, you have to take everything she says with a grain of salt. LOL I mean, for me that little tidbit is SO totally a Pro! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The New York Palace Hotel is located at 455 Madison Avenue in Manhattan. You can visit their website here.

October 20, 2009October 20, 2009

Watching The Filming of Gossip Girl

Two weeks ago while in New York, thanks to fave website OnLocationVacations – who I am now seriously thinking of naming my first born after 🙂 – I was able to watch the filming of Gossip Girl live and in person no less than THREE times!!!!! Yes, you read that right – THREE TIMES! For those not familiar with the site, OnLocationVacations features a “Daily Filming Locations” page that chronicles which productions are filming where all over the U.S. – most notably on the island of Manhattan. So, I, of course, checked that page pretty much immediately after I woke up every morning while on my New York vacation. And, as you can probably imagine, I just about died when on October 5th I read that my new fave show Gossip Girl would be filming in Central Park, just a few blocks away from the hotel where I was staying. So, I immediately dragged my fiancé, my best friend, Robin, his girlfriend, Stephanie, and his mother, who were all visiting from Switzerland at the time, out to the Conservatory Water, which is more commonly known as the Model Boat Pond, in Central Park to do some GG stalking! THANK YOU OnLocationVacations! 🙂 (On our way to the set, Stephanie and I spotted the above pictured Craft Services truck and were SO excited we just had to stop and snap a quick pic!) 🙂

Upon arriving at the Model Boat Pond, I, of course, struck up a conversation with a few crew members from the show who really could NOT have been nicer or more friendly. They chatted with me about where filming was taking place specifically and about who was on set at the time. The only cast member present when we showed up, though, was Taylor Momsen, who plays Jenny Humphrey, aka “Little J”, on the show. Taylor was very cute in person and much taller than I expected her to be, but, unfortunately, she also looked a bit under-the-weather. During breaks she pretty much just sat off to the side of the production and kept to herself. The next day, I heard that she actually collapsed from exhaustion a few hours after we left the set! Poor Taylor!

Also on set that morning was Air Bud actor Kevin Zegers who will be guest-starring as Little’s J.’s new love interest on several episodes of Gossip Girl this season. Because I didn’t recognize him, while we were there I asked around to see if any of the crew members could tell me who he was, but no one seemed to know. LOL One crew member told me that Kevin had starred in the Spiderman movies, but that information turned out to be incorrect. LOL It wasn’t until after I got home that fellow stalker Owen was able to identify him for me. Thank you, Owen! 🙂 Anyway, after watching the filming for about thirty minutes or so, my fiancé and best friend dragged me away from the set. 🙁 Needless to say, neither one of them is very much into filming locations. LOL

But have no fear, because later that afternoon, I, of course, dragged everyone back to Central Park to see if any of the other cast members had shown up. I was hoping most of all to see Ed Westwick (aka Chuck Bass) and Leighton Meester (aka Blair Waldorf) because, as I mentioned yesterday, they are my two favorite actors on the show. I so heart Chuck Bass!!!! So, as you can imagine, I literally almost fell over when I walked up to the set and saw my two faves standing hand in hand filming a scene! YAY! I could NOT have been more excited! And it seems that I’m not the only one who reads OnLocationVacations because there were at least two hundred fans and paparazzi standing around watching the filming when we arrived. 🙂

I cannot tell you how exciting it was to watch GG being filmed right before my very eyes!!!!! The scene being shot involved Chuck and Blair taking a leisurely stroll through Central Park just East of the Model Boat Pond.

We literally took close to 500 pictures while watching the filming that afternoon, so deciding which ones to post here proved to be rather difficult. LOL I wanted to post them ALL! But that probably would have crashed my entire blog, so I had to settle for a select few. 🙂

Leighton Meester is absolutely BEAUTIFUL in person – much prettier than she appears to be on TV – and MUCH taller than I had expected!! I thought she would be teeny tiny, but in person she looked to be about 5’6”.

But I have to say that seeing Chuck Bass in person was my favorite part of the day! 🙂 Like Leighton, Ed Westwick is also much better looking in person than he appears to be on TV, but what struck me the most about him was the fact that he makes the SAME EXACT facial expressions in real life that he does while acting as Chuck on the show. LOVE IT! Stephanie and I were cracking up the whole time while watching him because he is just so similar to his character.

In between takes Leighton and Ed hung out together on set and seemed to get along really, really well. They were laughing and joking together and appeared to really enjoy each other’s company. It was very cool to see.

And when she wasn’t chatting with Ed, Leighton was pretty much glued to her blackberry. A girl after my own heart, I swear! 🙂

Unfortunately, as you can see in the above photos, during most of the breaks from shooting a big guy in a red sweatshirt stood in front of Ed and Leighton blocking the paparazzi’s view of the two stars and making it rather difficult for me to take photos. 🙁

Because Chuck and Blair are my fave GG characters, I pretty much hit the jackpot with the filming I got to see. I felt really bad for Stephanie, though, as she was absolutely dying to see Serena (aka Blake Lively) in person. The closest we got to seeing her, though, was when her stand-in walked by (pictured above). And, let me tell you, it was absolutely uncanny how much her stand-in looked like her! Everyone started furiously snapping photos of her until she got close enough for us to realize that it wasn’t actually Blake Lively. LOL

The following morning, October 6th, I once again checked OnLocationVacations and was FLOORED to discover that GG was filming on location yet again – this time in SoHo. So, much to my fiancé and best friend’s chagrin, I once more dragged everyone out to the set to do some stalking. LOL This time actor Penn Badgley, who plays Dan Humphrey on the show, was shooting a scene by himself. And, for some incredibly odd reason, besides the ever-present paparazzi, we were the only stalkers on the set that day. And can I just say here that I so love the New York paparazzi!!! They are so incredibly friendly and so incredibly different from the L.A. paps, who always seem to have a chip on their shoulder. One photog that I struck up a conversation with told us exactly where to stand to get a good pic of Penn. And, sure enough, he was right! It wasn’t two minutes after we moved to where the photog had told us to stand that Penn walked RIGHT BY! 🙂

So, of course, I asked him if he would mind taking a quick photograph with us. Penn was SUPER nice and said that he had to film a really quick scene, but that he’d be happy to pose with us afterwards. You can see him filming the scene in the monitors pictured above.

So, while Penn filmed his brief scene, Stephanie and I waited off to the side and, as promised, just a few minutes later he walked by us once again. When he got close to us he stopped and said to his bodyguard, “Hold on a second, I promised these girls a picture.” How sweet is that!!!!! Sigh!!!!! So darn cool!

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All in all it was an AMAZING experience being on the GG set. The cast and crew could NOT have been friendlier and I had an absolute blast being there! I highly recommend stalking the show if you ever have the opportunity!

A big THANK YOU goes out to OnLocationVacations without whom none of this would have been possible!!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Gossip Girl scenes with Taylor Momsen, Ed Westwick, and Leighton Meester were filmed on the East and West sides of the Conservatory Water, aka the Model Boat Pond, in Central Park near 74th Street and Fifth Avenue. The scene with Penn Badgley was filmed in SoHo at the corner of North Moore and Varick Streets.