filming – Page 20 – IAMNOTASTALKER

January 25, 2011January 24, 2011

Donna Martin’s House from the B.Y.O.B. Episode of “Beverly Hills, 90210”

One location that I have been wanting to stalk for just about as long as I can remember now is the mansion where Donna Martin (aka Tori Spelling) lived in the Season 1 episode of fave show Beverly Hills, 90210 titled “B.Y.O.B”. For whatever reason, though, I could just NOT seem to track the place down. Over the past few months I had managed to contact a few of the crew members who had worked on the episode and even a few of the actors who had appeared in it, all of whom told me that they did not recognize the screen capture of the house that I had sent them and that the property where filming took place was located somewhere in the Valley. One of the crew members also told me that he was 99.9% certain that the establishing shot of the mansion which appeared in the episode had been a stock photograph and that no actual filming had taken place there. This news pained me to hear as, because stock photographs are most often purchased from stock location libraries, it meant that the chances of tracking the place down were slim to none. So, imagine my surprise last Friday when I received a tweet from Geoff, from the 90210locations website, informing me that he had somehow managed to find the mansion! Let me tell you, I just about died of excitement and dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out to stalk the place the very next day! Thank you, Geoff!!

Sadly, while I am VERY happy to report that the mansion still looks almost EXACTLY the same today as it did when it appeared on Beverly Hills, 90210 over two decades ago, the property is gated and is not very visible from the street. Sad smile The house, which was originally built in 1926, is definitely beautiful, though, and absolutely GINORMOUS! In real life, it boasts 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and 8,260 square feet of living space.

As fate would have it, when Mike, from MovieShotsLA, went to stalk the home later that very same day, the gate happened to be open and he was able to take the above photograph which matches the screen capture from the “B.Y.O.B.” episode perfectly! So incredibly cool!

[ad]

The mansion pictured above was actually only used as Donna’s residence in the “B.Y.O.B.” episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. In later episodes, two different properties stood in for her home – one located at 18515 Wells Drive in Encino, which I blogged about back in November of 2008, and another located at 1060 Brooklawn Drive in Bel Air, which in real life is owned by Barron Hilton, Paris’ grandfather, and which was also used as the Colby mansion on the television series The Colbys. In the “B.Y.O.B” episode, Donna throws a massive party at the mansion while her parents are out of town, during which Steve Sanders (aka Ian Ziering) spikes Brandon Walsh’s (aka Jason Priestley’s) drink – aka his “mucho ‘mahvelous’ mango margarita”.

As I mentioned above though, all of the actual filming of “B.Y.O.B.” took place at a different residence (pictured above), which, according to all of the crew members and actors that I spoke with, is located somewhere in the Valley, most likely Encino.

While I was scanning through the “B.Y.O.B” episode to make screen captures for today’s post, I noticed something a bit coincidental. In the scene in which Brenda Walsh (aka my girl Shannen Doherty) spots her brother Brandon standing in Donna’s backyard, a green awning-type structure is visible in the background.

Well, as it just so happens, there is a very similar looking – and very similarly situated – green awning-type structure in the backyard of the home located at 18515 Wells Drive in Encino, the very same dwelling which stood in for the Martin residence during the later years of the show. The brick patio flooring of the Wells Drive home also matches that of the home from “B.Y.O.B”. Wouldn’t it be ironic if the property used as Donna’s house in the “B.Y.O.B.” episode from Season 1 was the very same property which ended up being used as her home nine years later during Seasons 9 and 10? Without more close-up images of the backyard, it is impossible to tell either way, but nevertheless I found the whole thing very interesting!

Big THANK YOU to Geoff, from 90210Locations, for finding this location and to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for snapping the incredible photograph of it which appears in this post! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Donna Martin’s house from the first season of Beverly Hills, 90210 is located at 2405 Glendower Avenue in Los Feliz.

January 24, 2011January 5, 2018

Hanging Out at the Rehearsals for the Golden Globe Awards

Two Saturdays ago, as the Grim Cheaper and I were heading out to Santa Monica to run some errands, I got a text message from fellow stalker Lavonna reminding me that the Golden Globe Awards were being held the following evening at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. Lavonna suggested that I stop by the hotel to see if anything exciting was going on and thankfully the GC didn’t object, so we immediately drove right on over there. And, let me tell you, it could not have been more exciting! Had I known what was in store for me that day, I never would have been able to sleep the night before!

We arrived at the Hilton to pretty much mass chaos. Both the hotel’s front and back entrances were completely shut down and production trucks and set workers were absolutely EVERYWHERE!

There were also huge tents set up on the outskirts of the hotel property. The tent pictured above, which was situated across the street from the hotel in the parking lot of the now-defunct Robinsons-May department store, was for the Fox Searchlight Golden Globes After Party.

The Beverly Hilton Hotel is actually closed to the public on both the day before and the day of the Golden Globes ceremony and because security around the hotel was extremely tight, I did not think we would be able to get inside. The stalking gods were DEFINITELY shining on me when we showed up to stalk the place, though, because miraculously – and thanks to a very big connection my dad has at the hotel – we were allowed in! I literally could NOT believe it! The farther we ventured inside, the more often I kept turning back to look at the GC, my mouth hanging open in absolute shock.

Before being allowed inside, I was not sure if there would be all that much to see or if any celebrities would even be on the premises, but, as it turns out, rehearsals for the ceremony were taking place in the hotel’s International Ballroom. A small section of the Hilton’s lobby had been cordoned off and hotel guests were allowed to stand in that area for meet and greets with all of the celebrities who ventured past. Well, as you can imagine I just about DIED upon finding that out and parked myself in that area for the next eight hours. I’m not kidding! Smile (Pictured above is the back of Carson Daly, who was the first celeb to walk by after I got there. He was not at all friendly, though, and did not stop for photos or to sign autographs.)

As it turns out, the Hilton offers a very special – and very pricey – Golden Globes Package each year, which, besides the rehearsal-meet-and-greet, also includes a two-night stay at the hotel, a Golden Globes gift bag complete with an autograph book, a sit-down breakfast and box lunch the day of the ceremony, and – are you sitting down for this??? – two VIP bleacher seats on the actual Golden Globes’ red carpet! Oh, what I wouldn’t give to purchase that package! Because it costs between $3,000 and $3,900, though, I seriously doubt that is ever going to happen! Pictured above is the room key that Golden Globes Package guests receive upon check-in. So incredibly cool! All of the people situated in the meet-and-greet area were Golden Globe Package guests and I spent the entire day hanging out with them, while the GC parked himself in the hotel’s lobby bar to watch the football game on TV. I cannot tell you how much fun it was to spend the day waiting around to see stars with like-minded, celebrity-obsessed people. I had an ABSOLUTE BLAST and met some very cool fellow stalkers in the process!

After Carson Daly, the next celeb to walk by was E! News’ Giuliana Rancic, who was running late for a hair appointment and therefore could not stop to pose for pictures with any of us. She did seem very friendly, though, and apologized several times for not being able to stop. After Guiliana, there was a steady stream of celebrities who filtered through the lobby the entire rest of the day. It was a virtual movie star parade and, as you can imagine, I was in ABSOLUTE HEAVEN!

Next up was Kelly Osbourne, who is absolutely ADORABLE in person. I LOVED the little bow she had tied in her hair. SO INCREDIBLY CUTE! Kelly is also VERY thin. I’m talking TEENY, TEENY TINY! Far smaller than she appears to be on E!’s Fashion Police.

Kelly stopped to pose and sign autographs with every single person who was there, including me, which I was beyond thrilled about!

The star I was most excited about seeing, though, was Leighton Meester, whom I absolutely ADORE on Gossip Girl. I had so badly wanted to get a photograph with Leighton back in October of 2009, when I saw Gossip Girl being filmed while on vacation in New York, but that sadly did not happen. So I was BEYOND excited when she stopped to pose at the Hilton. YAY!

I had read in the January 2011 issue of Allure Magazine, for which Leighton was the cover girl, that the actress was just about as far removed from her Gossip Girl persona Blair Waldorf as one could possibly be. According to the editors of the beauty mag, not only did Leighton introduce herself to each member of the crew when she arrived for the shoot, but she also thanked each of the crew members individually upon leaving. And I have to say that my experience with her was much the same. Leighton was incredibly friendly, warm, personable, and down-to-earth. She stayed in the lobby a really long time in order to get a photograph with everyone who wanted one. She was a total and complete sweetheart and, after meeting her, I can honestly say that I love her even more now than I did before. Some celebrities wind up being a rather large disappointment when you meet or see them in person, but I am very happy to report that that was definitely not the case with Leighton. Smile

Not all of the stars who present awards at the Golden Globes actually show up for a rehearsal. A lot of celebrities have stand-ins who rehearse for them, as was the case with Steve Carell whose stand-in is pictured above. I love that the stand-ins had to wear their celeb’s name-tag around their neck. Too funny!

Other stars who were in attendance that day included Modern Family’s Julie Bowen, who sadly only had time to sign a few autographs as she was running late for a birthday party for one of her son’s friends;

Olivia Wilde, aka “Thirteen” from House, M.D., who despite having no make-up on looked absolutely stunning;

Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton, who actually seemed a bit aloof;

Home and Away and Star Trek star Chris Hemsworth, whose arms were literally the size of both of my thighs put together – I honestly do not think I have ever seen arms that muscular before in my entire life;

Hailee Steinfeld, whom I absolutely LOVE, mostly because she recently spoke out about getting majorly snubbed by super-diva Lea Michele while on the Paramount lot auditioning for True Grit;

TRON: Legacy star Garrett Hedlund, who was INCREDIBLY sweet;

and pop star Justin Bieber, whom I unfortunately did not get a good photograph of because he was ushered out of the lobby at lightning speed by his massive bodyguards. You can just barely see him in the above picture – he is wearing the white shirt and beaded necklace and is carrying a cell phone in his hand. Justin was SUPER cute in person, but a lot tinier than I had expected.

At around 6 p.m., most of my fellow stalkers started to pack up to leave as the only star left who was set to rehearse that day was Megan Fox and none of us were really interested in seeing her. I actually started to pack up my belongings, as well, but then a thought occurred to me – Brian Austin Green just might be accompanying Megan that night as the two of them seem to do just about everything together and if I could have gotten a photograph of him, but didn’t, I would ALWAYS regret it later. So, while everyone else went back to their rooms, the GC and I stuck around the lobby. And I am SO glad we did because about fifteen minutes later who should walk in but comedienne Loni Love, whom I absolutely – pardon the pun – LOVE. Loni is a frequent round-table guest on fave show Chelsea Lately and she is absolutely HILARIOUS! As soon as I spotted Loni, I gasped and said loudly to the GC, “OH MY GOD, it’s Loni Love!” Well, Loni heard me say this and looked over and smiled. I pointed to her and then to myself and mimed taking a picture with my hands and she IMMEDIATELY walked right on over to snap a photo with me! Loni was so incredibly nice and had a very warm personality and was easily one of my favorite people I met all day. It was especially exciting because my dad is also a HUGE fan of hers.

I also got a picture with Brad Wollack and Sarah Colonna who are also frequent guests on Chelsea Lately and both of whom were VERY nice.

Then, just as I turned to the GC and said, “I wish Ross Mathews was here!”, who should walk through the lobby doors but Ross himself and I just about had a heart attack! When Ross saw that we were looking at him, he immediately called us over and spent a good five minutes talking with us about the Golden Globes and which celebs we had seen that day. Ross is INCREDIBLY down to earth and the whole time we were talking to him, it felt as if we were speaking with an old friend – a celeb-obsessed old friend, of course. Smile Ross is also incredibly bubbly and REALLY funny. I absolutely love, love, LOVE him. Even more so now than I did before. And about three hours after we took the above photograph, Ross happened to walk by the GC and me once again and stopped to say hello and asked if we had seen any other celebs since we had spoken to him last. SUCH an incredibly nice guy.

Ross, Sarah, Brad, and Loni were all at the Hilton to rehearse for the LIVE on E! Golden Globes After Show, the set of which is pictured above.

Then, right at 7 p.m., Megan Fox walked through the doors of the lobby, followed by none other than David Silver himself, Brian Austin Green! And let me tell you, I could NOT have been more excited!

And while I let Megan walk right by, I called out to Brian and asked him to take a photograph with me, which he did. Brian was REALLY nice and when I told him how much I had loved 90210 he thanked me. It was literally the perfect end to a perfect day! Sigh!

After getting my photograph with Brian, the GC and I headed downstairs to the hotel’s legendary Trader Vic’s restaurant – which I will be blogging about later – to grab a bite to eat. The restaurant was undergoing preparations for the following night’s HBO After Party so I just had to pose celeb-style in front of the backdrop that was being set up. Smile

On our way out the door, after spotting director Oliver Stone whom we did not get a photograph of, I posed for a picture in front of the CNN and Inside Edition portions of the Golden Globes’ red carpet. You can see how blindingly bright the red carpet lights were in the above photographs. It was about 9 at night when those pictures were taken!

And I also just had to snap a pic in the back of the hotel, where another red carpet had been set up. Love it! All in all, it was a magical day and I can’t wait to do it all again next year! That is, if I can get past the front door. Winking smile

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Lavonna for reminding me about the Golden Globe Awards and suggesting that I stalk the Beverly Hilton that day! You rock, my friend!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Beverly Hilton Hotel, where the Golden Globe Awards are held each year, is located at 9876 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. You can visit the hotel’s official website here. For more information about the Golden Globes Package, you can contact the hotel directly.

January 21, 2011January 20, 2011

David’s Bungalow from “Beverly Hills, 90210”

This past Tuesday night, Geoff, from the 90210locations website, asked for my help in tracking down the blue and white bungalow where Carly Reynolds (aka Hilary Swank) – and in later years David Silver (aka Brian Austin Green), Dylan McKay (aka Luke Perry), and Noah Hunter (aka Vincent Young) – lived during Season 8 of fave show Beverly Hills, 90210. Now as I have mentioned a few times before on this site, I stopped watching 90210 after Season 4 when my girl Shannen Doherty left the series, but Geoff sent me a screen capture of the bungalow in the hopes that I could track the place down anyway. Randomly enough, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, had just loaned me several of his DVDs of the older seasons of the show with the instruction that I should start watching the series over again from the beginning. One of the seasons he loaned me just happened to be Season 8, so after I received Geoff’s email, I immediately popped in the first DVD and started scanning through it looking for clues to the location of Carly’s bungalow. And, thanks to a little help from Mike, I was able to find the place almost immediately.

Mike clued me into the fact that every shot of the bungalow shown on the series seemed to have been taken at an odd, sideways angle. And scanning through the Season 8 episodes, I realized that I could literally not find one single establishing shot that had been taken of the house head on.

That paired with the fact that the home seemed to be situated at an angle perpendicular to that of its front gate led Mike to believe that the property did not actually face the street.

He had also noticed that in both the episodes “Pride and Prejudice” and “Toil and Trouble” there was a house that looked like a mirror image of Carly’s located in very close proximity and directly across the street from it. All of these little “clues” added together led him to believe that Carly’s residence was not actually a house at all, but what is commonly referred to in Los Angeles as a “bungalow court” apartment complex. So, armed with that information from Mike and after scanning through quite a few Season 8 episodes of the show, I immediately starting searching through Google for addresses of different bungalow court apartments. And thankfully quite a few came up, almost all of which were in the Hollywood area. I then looked at all of those addresses using Bing aerial views. Because Carly’s house had a very unique roofline I thought it would be fairly easy to spot from above and, thankfully, it was! One of the addresses that had come up on Google was for a bungalow court located at 1554 North Serrano Avenue. And while that complex wasn’t where Carly lived on 90210, I did notice that there were quite a few other bungalow courts located on that very same street. And, magically, one was Carly’s! YAY! So, I immediately dragged my dad out to stalk the place yesterday afternoon.

[ad]

Carly and David’s bungalow court apartment complex is actually something of a historic property and was designed by architect A.B. Crist in 1919. It is a SUPER cute and picturesque little grouping of homes and it is not at all hard to see why producers chose to use it on Beverly Hills, 90210.

Unfortunately, there is a large tree that is now situated in front of Carly’s bungalow which considerably blocks the view of it from the street.

But the bungalow located directly across from it is very visible and, as you can see in the above photographs, looks exactly like Carly and David’s home. Like Geoff said to me after I told him I had found the place, I guess I am going to have to start watching all of the later seasons of the show now. Smile

On a side note – I just wanted to let all of my fellow stalkers know that Bing Maps has recently added a “Streetside” feature to its site and it is A-MA-ZING! In fact, I think it is safe to say that I am absolutely in love with it! The imaging is one hundred times better than that of Google Street View, not to mention one hundred times faster. If you are trying to track a location down, I honestly cannot recommend using it enough!

Big THANK YO U to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for helping me find this location!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: David Silver’s bungalow – aka Carly Reynold’s bungalow – from the later seasons of Beverly Hills, 90210 is located at 1547 North Serrano Avenue in Hollywood.

January 19, 2011January 24, 2011

The “Swingers” Apartment Building

One location that I stalked quite a few months back, but for whatever reason have yet to blog about is the Los Feliz apartment building where Mike (aka Jon Favreau) lived in the 1996 comedy Swingers. I had actually been wanting to stalk this location for quite some time, ever since reading on the IMDB trivia page for Swingers that Jon Favreau had lived there while writing the screenplay for the movie and during the actual filming. IMDB even had the address of the building – 5874 Franklin Avenue in Los Feliz – listed on its Swingers filming locations page, but when my husband and I showed up to stalk the place we discovered that such an address did not actually exist. At first I thought that the Swingers building had quite possibly been torn down, but, as it turns out, the information posted on IMDB was actually incorrect. While looking for the apartment numbered 5874, I noticed the building located at 5870 Franklin Avenue and thought it looked very similar to where Mike had lived in Swingers, so my husband and I ventured over there for a closer look. And amazingly enough we found our answer in a very cool way while doing so!

As it turns out, and as you can see in the above photograph, there is a Swingers poster hanging on the wall of the building’s lobby, which we spotted while peeking in through the front windows. Once I saw that poster, I knew we had to be in the right place! So incredibly cool! I am not sure why there is also a Batman poster displayed in the lobby, being that Batman was filmed in its entirety in England, but I am guessing that maybe someone involved in the production had lived in the building at one time or another.

In real life, the Swingers apartment building is named Chateau Marcella and it was originally built in 1928. Due to the building’s detailing and character, I assumed it was mostly likely a historic structure of some sort, but sadly I could find absolutely no information about it online. Like nothing, nada, zip. Not even a single Yelp report stating whether or not it was a nice place to live!

But I am happy to report that the building looks very much the same today as it did back in 1996 when Swingers was filmed.

[ad]

Not only did Jon Favreau live at the Chateau Marcella while Swingers was being filmed, but his real life apartment even stood in for Mike’s apartment in the flick! Which makes sense because according to some of the behind-the-scenes information that I have found about the movie online, the Swingers’ shoot was a very low budget one. So, I am guessing that to cut down on costs, Jon decided to use his own apartment for the filming instead of paying to rent out a location for days on end.

I believe that the filming of Swingers took place inside of apartment 382, as in the scene in which Mike comes home after first meeting Lorraine (aka Heather Graham), he opens his front door and a number is just barely visible. I believe that number is 382, but don’t quote me on that as it is very hard to make out. According to IMDB’s trivia page for Swingers, actor Adam Scott also lived at Chateau Marcella during the time that Swingers was being filmed.

The apartment also boasts a fabulous view of the Hollywood sign.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Chateau Marcella, aka the Swingers apartment building and actor Jon Favreau’s former home, is located at 5870 Franklin Avenue in Los Feliz. The 101 Coffee Shop, where Mike and his friends hung out in the movie, is located just a few blocks west of the apartment building at 6145 Franklin Avenue.

January 18, 2011January 17, 2011

72 North – The Real Life Emerald City Bar from “Grey’s Anatomy”

While Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I were watching True Blood being filmed in Pasadena last Wednesday night, we got to talking with the owner of The Old Towne Pub about all of the filming that has taken place in the area over the years. The owner was extremely knowledgeable and clued us in to a lot of locations that neither of us had previously known about, the most exciting of which for me was the downstairs bar of the former McMurphy’s Restaurant & Tavern, now 72 North, which is used as the supposed Seattle-area Emerald City Bar where all of the Seattle Grace interns hang out each week on the hit television series Grey’s Anatomy. I was EXTREMELY interested in stalking McMurphy’s upon finding out that after filming the Season 2 episode of the series titled “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head” on location there, producers had an exact replica of the place rebuilt at ABC Prospect Studios, where Grey’s Anatomy is lensed, that they then used for filming each and every week, which I thought was just about the coolest thing ever! Even though I have never watched Grey’s Anatomy, finding that out was like discovering that Central Perk from Friends was modeled after a real life coffee shop that one could actually visit! So incredibly cool! Sadly, McMurphy’s Restaurant and Tavern closed its doors a few years ago and the new owners completely gutted and remodeled the place, renamed it Dullahans, and it subsequently closed down yet again just a short while later. It was then sold once again to new owners and renamed 72 North. Miraculously though, through all of the changes of ownership and the extensive remodel, the downstairs bar area was left untouched and still looks pretty much exactly the same today as it did when Grey’s Anatomy first filmed there back in 2005. YAY! So, this past Friday night I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out to stalk the place.

[ad]

Ever since Emerald City Bar, or Joe’s Bar as it is also sometimes referred to on Grey’s Anatomy, appeared in the “Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head” episode, it has been featured almost weekly on the series as the regular hangout of Meredith Grey (aka Ellen Pompeo), Christina Yang (aka Sandra Oh), Derek Shepherd (aka Patrick Dempsey), and the rest of the Seattle Grace gang. The above screen captures were taken from the “Raindrops” episode, during which filming took place at the actual downstairs bar area of McMurphy’s Restaurant & Tavern.

The above screen captures were taken from later episodes of the series, during which filming took place at the studio-built replica of the bar.

The downstairs bar area at 72 North is currently only used for special events and private parties, but one of the super-friendly bartenders offered to open it up for me so that I could snap a few pictures of the place. And even though Bartender Joe’s Seattle-inspired decorations were of course no longer in place, the bar is still very recognizable from the series. So incredibly cool!

Unfortunately, I did not get a great picture of the bar’s front doors while I was stalking the place, but you can kind of see them in the above photograph.

72 North’s downstairs room can actually be reached via an exterior staircase much like it was portrayed on Grey’s Anatomy.

72 North has a kind of sports/dive bar-type atmosphere, but, let me tell you, the food they serve there is nothing short of FABULOUS! This is not your ordinary bar food in any way, shape, or form! The chicken was cooked to absolute perfection and, as I have mentioned numerous times before, I am extremely picky about my chicken. The GC and I ordered up a vegetable plate while we were there and not only was it amazing, but it was also absolutely HUGE! It was literally the size of a platter one would serve at a party! And the cost of that vegetable dish? Because it was happy hour, the tray was only $3! I am not kidding! Our entire meal came to $27 and we each had a cocktail! Needless to say, the GC was absolutely THRILLED upon receiving the check and told me that we could go back to stalk the place anytime I wanted. Winking smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: 72 North, aka the real life Emerald City Bar or Joe’s Bar from Grey’s Anatomy, is located at 72 North Fair Oaks Avenue in Old Town Pasadena. The downstairs bar is the area that is shown on the series. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

January 17, 2011January 17, 2011

Watching the Filming of “True Blood”

Last Wednesday evening I got a text from the owner of POP Champagne & Dessert Bar – my very favorite restaurant and the spot where the Grim Cheaper and I held the rehearsal dinner for our wedding last August – alerting me to the fact that the hit HBO television series True Blood would be filming at his eatery the following evening beginning at 9 p.m. He invited me to come down to watch and even though I’ve never seen even one episode of the vampire series, I was beyond excited! I immediately called up Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and asked him to join me as True Blood is his very favorite show. So, the next night at around 8 p.m. the two of us headed out to POP and were floored to see those ubiquitous yellow filming signs that I so love on the streets surrounding the restaurant.

[ad]

True Blood was actually first being shot inside of The Old Towne Pub, a bar that is located right next door to POP, and when filming wrapped there, the production was then set to move outside, to POP’s back entrance, which, oddly enough, was standing in for the front entrance to The Old Towne Pub. Confused? I was. For whatever reason though, even though the two doors look very similar (POP’s back entrance is pictured above left and The Old Towne Pub’s entrance is pictured above right), producers had decided that POP’s back door suited their filming needs better than The Old Towne Pub’s actual entrance.

And even though only POP’s back door and the alleyway directly outside of it would be appearing in the episode and none of the restaurant’s actual interiors would be seen, the eatery was required to close its doors during the shoot. So, I ,of course, just had to take a picture standing in front of the sign announcing that POP would be closing early that evening. Love it!

According to one of the crew members that we spoke with, the Old Towne Pub and POP Champagne Bar were being used for a flashback scene that was taking place in a punk bar in 1980’s London. The courtyard outside of the two bars and the alleyway were dressed to look like 1980’s London for the shoot and there were several British cars parked there, which was very cool to see.

The sides of the alley were also packed to the brim with all sorts of filming equipment and props.

According to one of the security guards that we spoke with, actors Stephen Moyer, who plays Bill Compton on the series, and Ryan Kwanten, who plays Sookie Stackhouse’s brother Jason, were in attendance that evening (at least I think that is what he said, but again I have never seen the show, so I cannot be positive of who was actually there). Sadly though, we did not spot either of them. We first watched the filming from a distance in the courtyard area behind the two bars, but we unfortunately could not see very much from there at all. Then the owner of The Old Towne Pub, who had been standing with us, informed us that we should venture upstairs to the courtyard’s outdoor patio where we would have a much better vantage point. Well, wouldn’t you know it, just as we made our way up to the second story patio, both Stephen and Ryan were wrapped for the night and walked off of the set. Apparently they took photographs with several fans who were also watching the filming on their way out, too, so Mike and I majorly lost out!!! While we were on the patio, we did get to watch a scene being filmed with some of the episode’s guest stars, though, which I was floored about. Even though I do not watch the show, as you all know I LOVE to watch filming of any sort, so I was in absolute heaven. And the crew truly (pun intended!) could NOT have been nicer, either. The first crew member that we spoke with upon arriving at POP was actually a real a-hole and I was fearful that they all might be unfriendly towards us. But, as it turned out, I really needn’t have worried as the rest of the crew was INCREDIBLY friendly and answered all of our questions about the filming and allowed us to take as many pictures as we wanted. YAY! One of them even came up to me to chat about the jacket I was wearing as he had just bought the exact same jacket for his girlfriend for Christmas. LOVE IT!

The following evening, I dragged the GC out to stalk the The Old Towne Pub so that I could snap some picture of the restaurant’s interior where filming had taken place. Our original plan was to grab a bite to eat there, but unfortunately the restaurant does not serve food and the two of us were absolutely starving, so we did not end up staying. The server on duty was super nice, though, and let us take all of the photographs of the place that we wanted even though we were not actually eating there. I definitely plan on re-stalking this location after the True Blood episode airs and doing a more in-depth post on it as an episode of the HBO series Hung was filmed there as was the 2000 movie Bedazzled.

True Blood Filming in Pasadena–1-12-2011

Mike took the above video on his iPhone of the two guest stars rehearsing the scene that we watched being filmed. He also took all of the photographs which appear in this post, so, a big THANK YOU goes out to him for allowing me to share them all on my site. THANK YOU, Mike, from MovieShotsLA! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: POP Champagne and Dessert Bar is located at 33 East Union Street in Old Town Pasadena. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here. True Blood was filmed at POP’s back entrance on Aayes Alley, which is denoted with the pink arrow in the above aerial view and which can be reached from East Holly Street. The episode was also filmed inside of The Old Towne Pub, which is located at 66 North Fair Oaks Avenue, directly behind the Container Store, in Old Town Pasadena. You can visit that restaurant’s official website here.

January 7, 2011January 6, 2011

The Hollywood Towne House Motel – Lumen’s Motel from “Dexter”

This past weekend, the Grim Cheaper and I were doing some stalking in Hollywood when we happened upon the Hollywood Towne House Motel – aka the supposed Miami-area hotel where Lumen Ann Pierce (aka Julia Stiles) lived during this past season of fave series Dexter – which in my never-to-be humble opinion was the very best season the show has yet produced. Is it just me or does the series keep getting better and better with each passing year? Julia Stiles was absolutely PHENOMENAL in her role this past season. I honestly think it was the best acting she has done thus far in her career. Loved her, loved her, loved her! Anyway, while I usually rely on Seeing Stars’ extensively detailed Dexter filming locations page to find locales from the series, I recognized Lumen’s motel immediately upon driving by it, thanks to the place’s unique (and very bright) color scheme. What was even more amazing, though, was the fact that the Grim Cheaper also recognized the place immediately upon driving by, as well! He’s learning, folks! Smile

Even had we not recognized the place, this one most likely would have been an easy find as the real life name of the motel was used on the show. So incredibly cool!

The Hollywood Towne House Motel first showed up in the Season 5 episode of Dexter titled “Beauty and the Beast”, in the scene in which Dexter Morgan (aka Michael C. Hall) tracks down the motel Lumen was living in before she was kidnapped. The motel looks exactly the same in person as it did on the series and it is not at all hard to see why producers chose to use it as the place definitely has a Miami vibe to it.

[ad]

The motel’s real life main office also appeared in the episode.

And it, too, looks much the same in person as it did onscreen, except that in real life there is a pane of security glass which surrounds the front counter. I so desperately wanted to get a picture of myself standing in the spot where Dexter was standing in the episode, but unfortunately the office was closed when we showed up to stalk the place.

The motel was also used in the next episode of Dexter, which was titled “First Blood”, in the scene in which Dexter breaks into Lumen’s motel room and discovers that she is planning to seek revenge against her kidnappers.

In that episode Lumen was living in room number 110.

And while I originally had thought that the real interior of Room 110 was used in the filming of “First Blood”, after looking at the photographs of the motel’s actual rooms on TripAdvisor, I no longer believe that to be the case. I am guessing that the interior of Lumen’s room was a set that was built on a soundstage. (The TripAdvisor reviews of the motel are not too kind, by the way. One is titled “Should be condemned! It’s a Dump and Unsafe!!!!” LOL LOL LOL And one group of particularly enterprising guests even went so far as to make a YouTube video review/tour of the motel which is pretty incredible to watch! If you are at all grossed out by dirty hotel rooms, however, I suggest you do NOT watch it.)

Ironically enough, “Beauty and the Beast” was not the first time that Dexter was filmed on location at the Hollywood Towne House Motel. The very same spot was used in the Season 3 episode of the series titled “Turning Biminese”, in the scene in which Sergeant Angel Batista (aka David Zayas) seeks out Detective Barbara Gianna (aka Kristin Dattilo), who is working undercover as a prostitute, to ask her out on a date. Real romantic setting to ask someone out on a date, I know. Smile

While we were stalking the place, I was floored to discover that Sunset Gower Studios, the lot where Dexter is filmed, is located directly across the street from the Hollywood Towne House Motel, which explains how producers came to use it on the series.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Hollywood Town House Motel, aka Lumen’s motel from Dexter, is located at 6055 West Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Lumen stayed in room number 110 on the show.

January 6, 2011January 6, 2011

The “My So-Called Life” House

Since I blogged about the house which stood in for the Chase residence in the pilot episode of My So-Called Life yesterday, I thought I would write today about the house which was used in the remaining 18 episodes of the series. I have actually blogged about this location once before, over three years ago when I first started this site (and I absolutely CANNOT believe that it has already been THREE years!), but because it has been so long I figured the property was worthy of a more in-depth re-post. So, here goes! I became obsessed with finding the Chase residence back in 2007, but unfortunately, at that time the location was not posted anywhere online and the only information I had to go on was an address number of “1110” that was visible in the background of a few episodes. I had a hunch, though, that the dwelling was most likely located in South Pasadena, as the producers of My So-Called Life had filmed another one of their series, thirtysomething, primarily in that area. So, one weekend the Grim Cheaper and I ventured up and down all of the 1100 blocks located in South Pasadena until we found the house. And, amazingly enough, it didn’t take us long at all.

As it turns out, the property is located just a few blocks south of Mission Street at 1110 Glendon Way. And I am very happy to report that even though over one and a half decades have passed since filming took place, the Chase house still looks very much the same today as it did onscreen.

The only real differences I noticed were that the exterior has since been painted a dark green color, while it was light blue on the series, and the French doors located just to the left of the front door have since been replaced by a large picture window. Otherwise though, the property is completely recognizable from the show.

The house is actually owned by the City of South Pasadena and is currently vacant, so I was able to snap some pics of the interior of the property through the front windows. As you can see, it doesn’t bear much of a resemblance to the interior of the Chase house that was shown on the series, which was, of course, a set that was modeled after the residence used in the pilot episode.

[ad]

The Chase house was also used as the childhood home of Michael Myers (aka Daeq Faerch) in Rob Zombie’s 2007 remake of the horror film Halloween.

According to this website, the home’s real life living room and foyer appeared in Halloween, but the basement, bathroom, hallway, and bedroom scenes were filmed inside of a residence located at 2218 South Harvard Boulevard in Los Angeles.

The house where Brian Krakow (aka Devon Gummersall) lived on My So-Called Life is located just across the street and two properties south of the Chase home.

Amazingly enough, it still looks very much the same today as it did when filming took place over 16 years ago.

In the episode titled “Dancing in the Dark”, Angela and Jordan Catalano’s (aka Jared Leto’s) very unromantic first kiss took place in Jordan’s car which was parked just outside of Brian’s home.

And I am fairly certain that the real life interior of Brian’s house was also used in the filming of that episode.

The home located just across the street from Angela’s, which was pictured in the background of quite a few episodes, still looks pretty much exactly the same today, as well.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Chase house from all of the episodes of My So-Called Life excluding the pilot is located at 1110 Glendon Way in South Pasadena. Brian Krakow’s home is located across the street and two houses south of the Chase residence at 1115 Glendon Way.

January 5, 2011January 6, 2011

The Chase House from the Pilot Episode of “My So-Called Life”

Ever since fellow stalker Andrew tracked down the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles from the “So-Called Angels” episode of fave show My So-Called Life, I have been itching to re-watch the entire series from beginning to end as I have not seen it in years. So, I immediately went out and purchased the most recently-released boxed set of the show and finally sat down to start watching it last night. While doing so, I became a bit obsessed with locating the house where the Chase family – Graham (aka Tom Irwin), Patty (aka Bess Armstrong), Angela (aka Claire Danes), and Danielle (aka Lisa Wilhoit) – lived, because, as an astute fellow stalker named Somerset pointed out to me a while back, it was not the same property that was used for the other 18 episodes of the show.

Unfortunately though, there was virtually nothing for me to go on for this particular stalk – no house number, no visible street signs, not even a full view of the exterior of the property. But then, all of a sudden, like a lightning bolt from the sky, I spotted a clue – a very important clue. In the scene in which Angela waits for Rickie Vasquez (aka Wilson Cruz) to pick her up to go to Let’s Bolt nightclub, I noticed that the streetlights on Angela’s street were round. And while I had seen those streetlights (pictured above) before, I had only ever seen them in one place – in one very small section of Pasadena. The trees that lined Angela’s street also looked very familiar to me and I had an inkling that they might be the very trees that are located along Pasadena’s oft-filmed Madison Avenue.

[ad]

So, I began my search for the Chase home on Madison Avenue and, using Google Street View, found the property almost immediately! YAY! And I ran right out to stalk the place first thing yesterday morning.

And while the full exterior of the house is never actually shown in the pilot episode of My So-Called Life, as you can see in the above screen captures and photographs, the location of the window to the right of the front door and the roof lines of the front porch match up perfectly to what appeared onscreen.

The house across the street matches up perfectly, as well.

As does the house that is located at the end of Angela’s street.

The tree that is visible in the background of the scene in which Brian Krakow (aka Devon Gummersall) and Angela are shown arguing also looks exactly the same today as it did onscreen.

And amazingly enough, the tree that Brian sits in at the end of the episode is actually there in real life and still looks EXACTLY the same today as it did in March of 1993 when the pilot was filmed! SO INCREDIBLY COOL!

When Angela gets dropped off by the police at the end of the episode, instead of going directly home, she and Brian walk north on Madison Avenue to the corner of Madison and Alpine Street, where Angela spots her father talking to a woman who is not her mother. That area also looks much the same today as it did during the filming.

And, according to the DVD commentary by series creator Winnie Holzman, director Scott Winant, and executive producer Marshall Hershkovitz, the interior of the property was also used in the filming of the episode. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to see the inside of that house!

After the Grim Cheaper got off work yesterday evening, I dragged him back out to the house so that he could snap a picture of me reenacting that famous shot of Angela and Brian standing in the middle of the street. Oh, I cannot tell you how long I have wanted to take that picture! I was literally skipping to the car on the way there. Sigh!

On a side note – the creators of My So-Called Life, whose production company is named “The Bedford Falls Company”, threw in quite a few references to their favorite film It’s A Wonderful Life in the pilot episode of the series – including the scene in which Angela changes her clothes behind a bush a la Mary Hatch (aka Donna Reed) and a scene in which Brian wears a shirt with the number “3” on it, a la George Bailey (aka James Stewart). Love it, love it, love it!

It’s A Wonderful Life is also playing in the background of the scene in which Angela apologizes to her mother.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Chase house from the pilot episode of My So-Called Life is located at 1025 South Madison Avenue in Pasadena. The tree Brian sat in at the end of the episode is located in front of the house at 1014 South Madison Avenue. Angela spots her father talking to the mysterious woman at the southeast corner of South Madison Avenue and Alpine Street. And, finally, the famous shot of Angela and Brian standing in the middle of the street was filmed in front of 1014 and 1025 South Madison Avenue with the camera looking north on Madison towards Alpine Street. The Mr. Deeds house is located just three doors down from the MSCL pilot house at 989 South Madison Avenue. The house that was used as the Chase home in the other 18 episodes of the series is located at 1110 Glendon Way in South Pasadena.

January 4, 2011January 4, 2011

Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa from “House, M.D.”

The third and final location that I stalked while vacationing in Lake Arrowhead this past Thanksgiving with my family and the Grim Cheaper was the Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa, which was featured prominently in the Season 6 episode of House, M.D. titled “Known Unknowns”. The property, which was originally named the Arlington Lodge, was first built in 1923 by A.L. Richmond, the owner of the Arlington Hotel in Santa Barbara, and was designed by architect McNeal Swasey at a cost of $500,000. The upscale Lodge boasted numerous luxuries, including ornate drawing rooms, outdoor terraces, guest quarters with private bathrooms, and a main lobby, dubbed the “Great Hall”, which featured a 45-foot tall vaulted ceiling, a large fireplace, and a grand staircase. The resort was opened to the public on June 23, 1923 and became an immediate success. According to legend, such Hollywood luminaries as Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Roy Rogers, Carole Lombard, and Gary Cooper were all frequent guests. The hotel also attracted movie crews and such films as 1952’s Just For You, which starred Jane Wyman, Natalie Wood, Bing Crosby, and Ethel Barrymore – Drew’s great-aunt, 1965’s I’ll Take Sweden, which starred Bob Hope, Tuesday Weld, and Frankie Avalon, and 1973’s made-for-TV movie A Summer Without Boys, which starred Barbara Bain and Michael Moriarty, were all filmed on location there. Sadly though, the Arlington Lodge burned to the ground in October of 1938. And while it was rebuilt shortly thereafter, the entire resort was razed in December of 1976 in order to make room for a new hotel, the Arrowhead Hilton Lodge, which opened to the public in 1982. And while Bob Hope, Gerald Ford, and Baron Hilton – Paris’ grandfather – were all in attendance for the resort’s grand opening, it doesn’t seem as if many celebrities frequent the hotel today. Currently the property, which is now known as Lake Arrowhead Resort, boasts 162 guest rooms and 11 suites, a full-service spa, a fitness room, a coffee bar, an upscale restaurant named BIN189, and a 40-foot pool.

[ad]

Sadly though, I have to say that the Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa is truly nothing special. Don’t get me wrong, the place is O.K., but after the website had touted its “idyllic” and “majestic” ambiance, I had expected a heck of a lot more than what was actually there. The setting is absolutely gorgeous, but truth be told, ALL of Lake Arrowhead is that beautiful.

And while the BIN189 restaurant is absolutely GORGEOUS, I cannot in any way, shape, or form recommend eating there. While we were stalking the hotel, we popped into the restaurant and were enticed by its roaring, oversized fireplace and decided to grab a drink there, but as soon as we sat down, a woman came into the eatery with her large dog (which one would think would be a health code violation, but I guess not) and the dog proceeded to bark hysterically at the top of its lungs. The dog was so terribly loud that we had to get up and leave. All of the patrons in the restaurant at the time were quite upset over the barking dog and three groups besides ours ended up walking out in the middle of their meal. You’d think at an average cost of $35 a plate, the management would have done something -like kick the freaking woman and her dog out -but because the hotel is “pet friendly”, the servers all said that there was absolutely nothing they could do. So, that was pretty much it for that place! My family literally could not get out of there fast enough and I therefore did not get to stalk very much of the resort! 🙁

In the “Known Unknowns” episode of House, M.D., in which doctors Gregory House (aka Hugh Laurie), James Wilson (aka Robert Sean Leonard), and Lisa Cuddy (aka Lisa Edelstein) attend a pharmacology and public policy conference in the Adirondacks, extensive use was made of the Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa. According to a review that I read on Travelocity, the vast majority of the hotel – including the restaurant and pool – was closed off during the filming, yet the hotel management failed to inform guests of that fact when they made their reservations – which sounds pretty much right on par as to the level of customer service that we experienced while there. Anyway, filming of the episode took place in the lobby area;

down by the lake;

on the outdoor terraces;

in one of the meeting rooms;

and in BIN189, which was both the site where the big 80’s party scene was filmed;

and where the doctors ate breakfast on the last morning of their conference.

I am fairly certain that the two guest rooms shown in the episode were not actually Lake Arrowhead Resort hotel rooms, but were sets that were built on a studio soundstage, as they just don’t seem to match up to the rooms that are pictured on the hotel’s website.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Even though I REALLY wouldn’t recommend stalking this particular location, Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa is located at 27984 California 189 in Lake Arrowhead. You can visit the hotel’s official website here.