Friends – IAMNOTASTALKER

April 20, 2020April 20, 2020

Insomnia Cafe – The Inspiration for “Friends”

Oh, to be able to visit a coffee shop, order a steaming latte and sit in a secluded corner sipping away! Hard to believe that is something unattainable right now. These certainly are strange days we are living in. When things do get back to normal, one spot I am itching to re-patronize is Insomnia Cafe, the Fairfax District eatery that served as the impetus for Friends. I first learned about the place way back in 1995 via an interview with show co-creator Marta Kauffman that appeared in Friends: The Official Companion Book. In it, she talked about driving by the Beverly Boulevard cafe, taking note of its unusual name and thinking it would make for an interesting setting for a series. She and writing partner Kevin Crane penned the treatment for Friends (initially titled – you guessed it! – “Insomnia Cafe”) just a few days later. When I moved to Los Angeles about five years after first reading that interview, I found myself sitting at a stoplight on Beverly directly in front of the locale and just about fell over! I couldn’t believe I was in the same spot Kauffman was when she conceived of one of the most seminal shows in television history! In the years that followed, I passed by the site numerous times and doing so always brought a huge smile to my face. Somehow though, I never ventured inside. It wasn’t until last September when my friend Owen emailed me this USA Today article, which stated that Friends set decorator Greg Grande also used Insomnia Cafe as the inspiration for the design of the series’ iconic Central Perk set, that the locale went straight to the top of my To-Stalk List! And I headed right over there just a few days later.

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Insomnia Cafe was originally established in March 1992 at a small storefront located at 13718 Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. Founded by former nightclub promoter John Dunn, the late-night coffee shop, open until 3 a.m. on weekdays and 4 a.m. on weekends (hence the name), served up strongly caffeinated brew, but no cocktails. Per a 1995 Los Angeles Times article, Dunn stopped using drugs and alcohol in 1989 and “wanted to create a place that conformed to his own lifestyle.” The bohemian-style coffee bar, which the Times described as being “decorated with cast-off sofas” (sound familiar?), became an immediate hit. It also drew quite a bit of ire from nearby homeowners who claimed the leagues of patrons frequenting the eatery made constant noise and wreaked havoc in their neighborhoods in the early morning hours. Regardless, the cafe remained insanely popular and Dunn soon opened a sister site at 7286 Beverly Boulevard.

The Sherman Oaks location, which you can see photos of here, was where it was really at, though! Artists, screenwriters, and teens would pack the place, venturing in for espresso, open mic nights, and live music. The cafe also boasted legions of celebrity devotees. Just a few of the well-knowns seen hanging out at the coffee bar include Robin Williams, Mel Gibson, Sharon Stone, O.J. Simpson, A.C. Cowlings, Dwight Yoakam, Jerry Seinfeld, Daryl Hannah, Bobcat Goldthwait, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Leonardo DiCaprio, members of the Smashing Pumpkins, and Beck (who performed on the open mic nights before he was famous).

Sadly, area homeowners eventually succeeded in their fight to close the place. The Sherman Oaks Insomnia Cafe shut its doors in 1996. The Beverly Boulevard site remained open, though, and is still going strong today!

It, too, has a very bohemian vibe – and serves up some great coffee!

Per the Original Insomnia Cafe Facebook page, the Sherman Oaks location was the spot that actually served as inspiration for both Kauffman and Grande. A recent post on it states, “What is so funny and sad is the newer Insomnia Cafe we built in L.A., not the original one in Sherman Oaks, keeps claiming to be the inspiration for the TV show Friends. But the truth will always be known – Sherman Oaks Insomnia Cafe was it! The characters were based on the customers of the Sherman Oaks, California store.” I had the pleasure of speaking with Dunn recently and he confirmed the info. He also informed me that Kauffman and Crane actually wrote the seven-page treatment for the series at the Sherman Oaks site!

Kauffman, though, has repeatedly recounted first noticing the Insomnia Cafe moniker at the Beverly outpost. In a 2010 interview she and Crane did for the Television Academy, she said, “We were driving along – I think it was Beverly Boulevard – and we saw a place called the Insomnia Cafe. And I remember we were talking about how that would be a cool place to have as one of our main sets . . . we liked the idea of something being overcaffeinated.”

Writer Saul Austerlitz also starts off his book Generation Friends by saying, “One day in late 1993, a young television writer named Marta Kauffman was driving down Beverly Boulevard when she passed a funky coffee shop called Insomnia Cafe, located across the street from an orthodox synagogue. Full of lumpy couches and garish chairs, strings of Christmas lights and towering bookshelves piled high with mismatched books, the place was a beacon calling to the artists and slackers of the Fairfax-La Brea area. Something about Insomnia Cafe grabbed her attention, and she began to mull over an intriguing idea. Could a comedy series set in a coffee shop appeal to viewers? Kauffman and Crane had only recently moved to California from New York, and found that they missed their old crew of friends from Manhattan terribly. They had spent all their spare time together, done everything together, served as a kind of surrogate family. What if they put together a show about that?” The rest, as they say, is history.

In an incredible twist, longtime Insomnia Cafe fan Greg Grande was hired as the series’ set decorator. He loved the eatery’s funky, but comfortable vibe. In Generation Friends, Austerlitz says, “He would stop in to grab some coffee at Insomnia Cafe and would be inspired anew each time by the fabulously quirky décor inside. When it came time to dress the set of the new show’s coffee shop, Grande thought again of Insomnia Cafe and wanted to model the set’s look on what he remembered.” As Grande told EW magazine in 2019, “The idea was to have it feel like it was kind of a living room, hang out space. You know, not your typical generic coffee shop with the computers. What did they used to call them back then? Internet cafes? So the vibe that Marta [Kauffman] and Kevin [Bright] and David Crane wanted was, let’s make this feel like it’s truly a comfortable, casual living room. I had mentioned to them that there was a place in West Hollywood, — I still think it’s around — it was one of the first interesting coffee shops in L.A. called The Insomniac [sic] Café and that was kind of, in my world, the inspiration for eclectic, old, classic pieces of furniture. Nothing really matched, but there was collectible artwork on the wall, so I took that and kind of drove that point in. I made what I like to refer to as the seventh character on the show.” (As I mentioned in this post, Central Perk’s design was also partially inspired by Arnold’s Turtle in New York.)

Amazingly, Central Perk is not the only television coffee shop modeled after the locale! The Bold and the Beautiful’s Insomnia Cafe took not only design inspiration, but its name from the site!

And the eatery is also a filming location!

It is there that Kevin (Michael Rady) and Laura (Abby Wathen) first meet in the 2013 romcom Random Encounters, which also starred Meghan Markle.

Insomnia Cafe is also a central location on the series Love Is -.

Kramer (Michael Richards) visited the Sherman Oaks outpost in the Season 4 episode of Seinfeld titled “The Trip: Part 1,” which aired in 1992. Only the exterior of the café appeared in the episode, though.

Interiors were shot on a studio-built set.

In 1995, when MTV started airing My So-Called Life reruns, the network filmed a bunch of promos at the Sherman Oaks site, which resulted in teens popping by in droves in the hopes of seeing Claire Danes in person, as recounted in this article. Unfortunately, I could not find clips of those promos with which to make screen captures anywhere.

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: Insomnia Cafe, the inspiration for both the television series Friends and its Central Perk set, can be found at 7286 Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles’ Fairfax District. The Sherman Oaks outpost of the coffee shop was formerly located at 13718 Ventura Boulevard.

July 25, 2016July 22, 2016

Arnold’s Turtle – The Inspiration for Central Perk on “Friends”

It appears that my posts have been heavy on filming location inspiration as of late. On Friday, I blogged about the Annie orphanage and the two buildings that it was modeled after. And here I am today with another spot that served as inspiration – this one Arnold’s Turtle Vegetarian Café, the eatery that Central Perk from Friends was based upon.

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I first learned about the place in a 2015 The Huffington Post article titled “8 Behind-the-Scenes Stories You’ve Never Heard About Friends” written by Todd Van Luling. In the column, art director John Shaffner talks about the inspiration behind what became TV-dom’s most famous café. He says, “The coffee house came about because there was a little restaurant that we used to all go down to on West 4th Street in Manhattan and it had a door in the corner. So we went to Kevin [Bright] and Margaret [I believe he means Marta Kauffman] and David [Crane] and when we showed them the model and I said, ‘We want to do a little corner door like the restaurant that we used to go to,’ and they remembered it as well. It was called Arnold’s Turtle.”

The article pointed out that the eatery had long since been shuttered and was now the site of Hamilton’s Soda Fountain & Luncheonette, which, as Luling states, is “not exactly Central Perk, but, for superfans, maybe worth a trip.” You know it! So I headed right on over there during our April visit to NYC.

Arnold’s Turtle was originally established by Arthur Fine and Ingrid DeHart in 1975. The place’s unusual moniker was an homage to Arthur’s first pet, a turtle that was given to him by his grandfather when he was a baby. For years, the turtle had no name and apparently Arthur’s father took to calling him “Arnold’s Turtle.” Who is Arnold, you ask? The imaginary person who cared for the reptile. I know, it’s confusing. You can read the full story here.

The site was apparently a vacant shell at the time that Ingrid and Arthur took over and, with the help of their friends, was transformed into a warm and inviting space in which diners could play backgammon and other games while sipping coffee or waiting on their meals. The menu, which you can take a look at here, was heavy on vegetables and natural fare.

About ten years after opening, Arnold’s Turtle moved from its initial West Village home at the corner of West 4th and Bank Streets to a space at 210 Spring Street in SoHo. (That site was shuttered in 1990 and today Ingrid is a food blogger, nutrition coach and EFT practitioner.) The West Village space has gone through several different incarnations in the years following Arnold’s closure, including an Italian restaurant name La Focaccia, which opened in 2007, and an American Nouveau bistro named Tremont, which followed in 2011. When Tremont closed up shop three years later, Hamilton’s Soda Fountain & Luncheonette opened in its place.

Through all of the changes, those corner doors that figured so prominently in the design of Central Perk, remained intact and the exterior of the building still bears a striking resemblance to the Friends gang’s regular hangout.

If only the interior remained intact, as well. From everything I’ve read, it shared quite a bit with its onscreen counterpart. Eclectic, arty décor? This review of the place states that the atmosphere was “rustic and pleasantly Bohemian.” Check. Casual and inviting aura? This 1976 The Village Voice article said Arnold’s Turtle had “the homey appeal of a friend’s living room.” Check, again. The same article also described the eatery as boasting the following furnishings, “plants, mirrors, stereo, exposed brick.” Check, check, check, and check. Oh, and it served “café standards, espresso and cappuccino (four variations of each).” Again, check. The only thing that seems to be missing is a big orange couch. Ah, how I wish I could have visited when Arnold’s Turtle was still in operation.

I did have the pleasure of dining at Hamilton’s Soda Fountain, though, and absolutely loved the place. Luling, it turns out, was correct – it’s not exactly Central Perk, but worth a trip, regardless, especially for a superfan like myself. (Big THANK YOU to my friend Katie for providing the image below.)

Seeing those corner doors was particularly magical. (That’s fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, standing outside of the famous doors in my photo below, FYI. Smile )

I absolutely loved the message written on the stoop out front, too.

And bonus – the site is also a filming location, from one of my favorite productions, no less! I was thrilled to learn from a fellow stalker named Gary that back in the La Focaccia days, the restaurant had a cameo in the 2008 Sex and the City movie as the spot where Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) met Louise’s (Jennifer Hudson) fiancé, Will (Joshua Henry). (SJP had a short commute to work that particular day.)

Unfortunately, and as I only just discovered while doing research for this post, Hamilton’s Soda Fountain & Luncheonette recently closed. I am not sure what is in store for the space in the future, but hopefully it won’t remain shuttered for long. (Big THANK YOU to my friend Katie for providing the images below.)

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: Arnold’s Turtle, aka the inspiration for Central Perk on Friends, was formerly located at 51 Bank Street in New York’s West Village. The site was most recently home to Hamilton’s Soda Fountain & Luncheonette, but is currently vacant.

May 2, 2012May 2, 2012

The Paley Center for Media’s “Television: Out of the Box” Exhibit

Two weekends ago, as the Grim Cheaper and I were making our way home from the Hollywood Show, I decided to peruse through my Facebook newsfeed and just about died when I saw that a fellow stalker named Brittany had posted photographs of numerous Friends props and costumes on display at the Warner Bros. “Television: Out of the Box” exhibit at The Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills. Before seeing the pictures, I had been completely unaware of the new exhibit. And here I thought I had my finger on the pulse of L.A.! As you can imagine, I just about had a heart attack over Brittany’s fabulous pics and begged the GC to take me right on over there that very minute. Unfortunately, because the exhibit closes at 5 p.m. each day and it was already well into the afternoon by that time, I was forced to postpone our excursion until this past Saturday. And, despite some minor snafus which I will get to later, it was worth the wait and I had an absolute blast while there! (As you can see above, the exhibit is interactive and visitors are encouraged to sit on set pieces to pose for photographs, which I, of course, ate right up!)

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The Warner Bros. “Television: Out of the Box” exhibit features memorabilia, costumes and set pieces from over 50 different productions, but I was, of course, most excited to see the Friends items, which included (what were said to be) parts of the infamous Central Perk set. I was a bit confused about what the Central Perk couch was doing there, though, as I was fairly certain that the iconic piece was on permanent display at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank. When I asked one of the many docents on duty about it, he explained that there were actually four couches made for the series and that they would be swapped out periodically throughout the show’s ten-year run so that no one couch would be overused and appear old or worn onscreen. Which makes sense, right? Well, something felt off about the whole “set” to me and after I returned home I discovered that, according to The Paley Center website, the Central Perk display is actually “a replica”. Which begs the question, why were the docents (who work for Warner Bros. and not The Paley Center) not aware of this fact? (And I am still trying out the GC’s idea of posting the descriptions of my photographs above the photographs themselves. It is extremely foreign to me, but a lot of people seem to like it.)

As you can see below, while similar, the couch on display at The Paley Center is most-definitely not the actual Friends couch. The arms and back of the real couch are much more rounded and have much thinner wood detailing than the “Television: Out of the Box” couch.

As I mentioned above, the actual Friends couch is on display at the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank. A photograph of it from one of the many VIP tours I have taken over the years is pictured below.

The coffee table featured in the exhibit also does not match the one that appeared on Friends.

Nor does the bench/coat rack that is on display.

Most maddening for me, though, was the fact that a docent had told me to be sure to sit in the green Central Perk chair, as one is not allowed to sit on it during a Warner Bros. tour. Beyond excited over this fact, I sat right down and decided to re-enact the scene in which Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston) waves to Isabella Rossellini in the Season 3 episode titled “The One with Frank Jr.”. Needless to say, when I got home and popped in my DVD of the episode and realized it was not, in fact, the actual chair, I was a wee bit peeved.

As you can see below, other than being green and quilted, the chairs in no way resemble each other, which seriously chaps my a** (as Sarah Jessica Parker likes to say). Hmpfh! So while The Paley Center website might call their Central Perk set “a replica”, it is, sadly, not a very good one. It seems that someone went out and purchased random, semi-similar looking furniture for the display instead of having actual replicas made. Not cool, Paley Center, not cool at all.

The actual green chair is on display at Warner Bros. Studios, as you can see in the photograph below, which Mike, from MovieShotsLA, took. The lesson here is this – if you want to see the actual Central Perk set from Friends, buy tickets to a Warner Bros. Studios VIP Tour and skip The Paley Center exhibit.

That all being said, “Television: Out of the Box” did have some cool (what I hope were) actual costumes and props on display. Some of the other Friends memorabilia at the exhibit included Ross Geller’s (David Schwimmer’s) leather pants from the Season 5 episode titled “The One with All the Resolutions” (notice the shirt does not match the one he wore in the episode, though);

Monica Geller’s (Courteney Cox’s) see-through karaoke outfit from Season 9’s “The One Where Monica Sings” [one of Chandler Bing’s (Matthew Perry’s) sweater-vest ensembles is pictured next to it];

one of Phoebe Buffay’s (Lisa Kudrow’s) outfits (I believe the coat was worn in several episodes, one of which was Season 7’s “The One with the Engagement Picture”, although the fringe on the sleeves seems to be missing), as well as one of her guitars;

the turkey Monica wore on her head in Season 5’s “The One with All the Thanksgivings” (the turkey looked so real, it was almost unbelievable!);

Chandler and Monica’s wedding vows (which both appear to have been written by the same person) and wedding rings;

Joey Tribbiani’s (Matt LeBlanc’s) shirt from the Season 7 episode titled “The One Where Rosita Dies”;

and a mash-up of two different outfits worn by Rachel during Season 10.

I originally thought that Rachel donned the schoolgirl-esque ensemble during the final episode of the series, but as you can see, while similar, it is not the same outfit.

Once I realized that it was not the finale outfit, fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, and I went on a hunt to track down the episode in which it was worn. As it turns out, the ensemble is actually a combination of two different costumes. The shirt was worn in the episode titled “The One with the Late Thanksgiving”, while the skirt and boots were worn in two episodes (due to a continuing scene) – “The One with Princess Consuela” and “The One Where Estelle Dies”.

You can see below how truly tiny Jennifer Aniston is. I am a pretty small girl, but I look like an Amazon woman standing next to her costume!

Also on display was Ross’ “Science Boy” comic book from the Season 9 episode “The One with the Mugging” and his laminated “Freebie List” from Season 3’s “The One with Frank Jr.”, which, as any diehard Friends fan will notice, has a glaring mistake on it.

In “The One with Frank Jr.”, Ross’ Freebie List was said to be comprised of the following actresses: 1. Uma Thurman, 2. Winona Ryder, 3. Elizabeth Hurley, 4. Michele Pfeiffer, and 5. Dorothy Hamill. If you’ll remember, Ross removed Isabella Rossellini (#2 above) from his final list for “geographical reasons” and Vanessa Williams (#4 above) was never mentioned at all. I thought that maybe the card above had been made far in advance of the filming and that the script had, for whatever reason, changed at some point, and producers figured that because the laminated card would never be seen up close by the audience, it did not matter that an inaccurate one was being used. After I got home, though, I scanned through the episode to see if the list was ever visible up close and, as it turns out, it was! In the scene in which Isabella looks at Ross’ card, I saw that it was not, in fact, the same one that was on display at The Paley Center.

Just when I was about to lose all hope in the authenticity of the “Television: Out of the Box” exhibit, I decided to check out the scene in which Ross first presented his list to the group and, oddly enough, in that scene The Paley Card was used. As you can see, it does, in fact, have Isabella’s name listed on it, as well as Vanessa Williams’. Why there were two cards made and used is beyond me, but that appears to have been the case.

Other sets on display at the “Television: Out of the Box” exhibit included a Monk’s booth from Seinfeld (which after the debacle with the Central Perk set, I am doubting is even real);

as well as some costumes from the series.

There were also several props and costumes from The Big Bang Theory;

The Ellen DeGeneres Show;

Gossip Girl;

Gilmore Girls;

ER;

The O.C. (LOVE IT!);

The West Wing;

True Blood;

and The Mentalist, Southland, The Closer, and Cold Case (all pictured below).

And while I took over 150 photographs of the exhibit (no joke!), I obviously could not showcase them all here. Other productions with memorabilia on display include Full House, Family Matters, Supernatural, Perfect Strangers, The Vampire Diaries, and Two and a Half Men. Despite the faux Central Perk set, I had an absolute blast visiting the “Television: Out of the Box” exhibit and cannot more highly recommend it to others.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Brittany for telling me about this exhibit! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Warner Bros.’ “Television: Out of the Box” exhibit is being held at the Paley Center for Media, which is located at 465 North Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills. The exhibit will run through 2015 and is open Wednesdays through Sundays from 12:00 to 5:00 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and students, and $5 for children under 13. You can find out more information about the exhibit here. Be forewarned, the Central Perk set on display at “Television: Out of the Box” is not the actual Friends set, but a poorly-executed replica. The actual Central Perk set can be viewed on the VIP Tour at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, which you can purchase tickets for here.

June 30, 2011June 29, 2011

The Jennifer Grant “Good Stuff” Book Signing

Back on Thursday, May 26th (I told you I am way behind in my reporting! Winking smile ), Vroman’s Bookstore welcomed Jennifer Grant for a signing and discussion of her new book Good Stuff: A Reminiscence of My Father, Cary Grant which chronicles the actress’ experiences being raised by one of the most iconic movie stars of all time. And while most of the people attending the event were fans of Jennifer’s famous father, I have been a long-time fan of Jennifer herself, ever since she appeared as Steve Sander’s (aka Ian Ziering’s) longtime girlfriend Celeste Lundy during Seasons 3 and 4 of fave show Beverly Hills, 90210.

Jennifer also made an appearance as Nina Bookbinder, the girl Chandler Bing (aka Matthew Perry) couldn’t fire, in the Season 1 episode of Friends titled “The One With Two Parts: Part I”. But I digress.

Because I have never actually seen a Cary Grant movie, before attending the reading I did not have much interest in reading Good Stuff. My only reason for going to the event was to meet and, of course, get a photograph with Jennifer. But, let me tell you, all of that changed as soon as I started looking through the memoir. As I have mentioned before, I am just slightly anal, so I arrived at the signing about 3 hours early. Well, not only did those three hours ensure me a front row seat, but they also gave me time to peruse through the book and I was immediately mesmerized. Cary Grant was not only an amazing man, but an amazing father! He retired in 1966, the same year that Jennifer was born, so that he could devote all of his time to being a dad. Because Jennifer’s mother, Dyan Cannon (whom the actress is the spitting image of!), was at the height of her career at the time and often on location filming movies for months on end, most of Jennifer’s childhood was spent with her father. And Cary wanted to document his only child’s early years as best he could. Not only did he save and catalogue ever single letter ever exchanged between the two and every single photograph ever taken of them, but he also made hundreds upon hundreds of audio recordings of their time together, many of which are transcribed in the book. Sweetest of all, though, was the fact that, on the mornings when Jennifer was not staying with him, Cary would wait along the sidewalk of her bus route just to wave to her as her bus passed by on the way to school.

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The event began right on time and I just about died when I caught my first glimpse of Jennifer as she looks almost exactly the same today as she did eighteen years ago when she was on 90210. Jennifer started out the evening by reading a few passages from her book and I have to say that she is a fabulous writer and a fabulous speaker. Her voice has an almost lyrical quality to it and I was absolutely mesmerized listening to her. I was completely shocked, though, when she adopted a British accent to read her father’s words! Prior to that evening, I was unaware that Cary Grant was British!

Jennifer then opened up the session to questions from the audience and, even though A LOT were asked, for once they were actually well-crafted. I should explain here, to those who do not regularly attend book signings and television screenings, that people at these events usually ask the most asinine questions imaginable and it absolutely drives me mad! If you have the chance to ask a question of an actor, author, or director, make it a good one, people! And, for the love of God, do NOT ask the celebrity to get you a role in a movie or TV show! And yes, that has been asked at almost EVERY SINGLE EVENT I have ever attended! Most of the questions asked of Jennifer, though, were about what it was like to grow up with such a famous father. In answer to those questions, Jennifer told numerous anecdotes and, as amazing as it may sound, it seems she had a very normal childhood. The two often squabbled about Jennifer’s choice in music and boys, they took frequent outings to the Fox Hills Mall – one of Cary’s favorite haunts – and played regular family games of Trivial Pursuit. She said she never viewed Cary as a celebrity, but, while she knew he was special and certainly different than her friends’ fathers, to her he was always just “Dad”.

When it came time for the signing portion of the reading, the Vroman’s coordinator asked Jennifer if she would be willing to take posed photographs with those in attendance, to which the actress gave a puzzled look and said, “Of course I will!”, as if she could not figure out why anyone wouldn’t take a picture with their fans. LOVE IT!

When it was my turn to meet Jennifer, I told her what a huge fan I had been of Beverly Hills, 90210 and she said that the show was actually the very first acting job she had ever had and was one of the best experiences of her life. She told me that all of the actors were extremely nice and welcoming and that she looks back on that time with incredible fondness. She took quite a bit of time to chat with me and I even got to tell her about my experiences as an extra in the final episode of the series and that the 90210 theme song was still the ringtone on my cell phone. Smile Jennifer was so abundantly sweet and warm, it was almost unbelievable.

As I was leaving Vroman’s, I opened the book to read what Jennifer had signed and almost died over her inscription. It reads, “To Lindsay, Thank you for watching 90210 – your smile is infectious. Jennifer Grant” OMG nicest inscription EVER! Especially considering that so many celebrities will not even personalize books at their signings! Meeting Jennifer was such an incredible experience and I love her even more now than I did before! And while I have not started to officially read Good Stuff yet, it is the next book on my “To Read” list and after I do so, I will most definitely be stalking the many locations mentioned in it.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: You can purchase a copy of Jennifer Grant’s book, Good Stuff: A Reminiscence of My Father, Cary Grant, here. Vroman’s Bookstore is located at 695 East Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. You can visit the store’s official website here. And you can check out Vroman’s upcoming author events here.

February 26, 2010June 16, 2011

Jennifer Aniston’s Former Beach House

While out stalking the ‘Bu with Mike, from MovieShotsLA, a couple of weeks ago, I just about had a complete heart attack as the two of us passed by my girl Jen Aniston’s former beach house and I noticed that the door to the front gate was standing WIDE OPEN! Let me tell you, I must have screamed for a good sixty seconds over that one! Once Mike regained his hearing ;), he made an immediate U-turn across Pacific Coast Highway so that the two of us could head over to the house to get a peek behind the gates. I’ve actually stalked Jen’s former Malibu bungalow a few times in the past – and have even blogged about it once before – but being that this was the first time I was catching a glimpse of her front courtyard area, I figured the place was worth a re-post. And let me tell you, I was pretty much dying the whole time I was there. I mean never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I’d get to see past that front gate!

As we walked up to the house we noticed some workers standing out front, so I, of course, struck up a conversation with them. The workers told us that they were doing some landscaping in the front courtyard area of the residence, which is why the gate was open. When I asked one of them if he knew that Jennifer Aniston used to live on the property, he looked at me like he had absolutely no idea who Jennifer Aniston even was. LOL

I didn’t want to overstep my bounds or get the landscapers in any sort of trouble while I was stalking the place, so I stayed on the sidewalk area while taking the above pictures, but believe me I was absolutely dying to venture in for a closer look!

I did manage to catch a glimpse of the glass front door, though, which you can just barely see in the above pictures.

While there, I was so focused on seeing Jen’s former courtyard area that I didn’t even realize the garage door to the house was open. It wasn’t until Mike elbowed me and whispered really loudly in my ear, “GET A PICTURE OF THE GARAGE! GET A PICTURE OF THE GARAGE! That’s where Jen did her laundry!” that I even noticed it. LOL I so wanted Mike to ask the landscaping guys if we could peek inside the house, but he refused as he felt like that would definitely be crossing a line. And I have to admit I agree with him – which is why I didn’t want to ask the workers myself. 😉 But, oh, what I wouldn’t give to see the inside of that house!

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During the time Jen rented the home, the glass walls of the back patio area were actually covered over with some sort of black paneling which shielded the star from the prying eyes of not only the paparazzi, but stalkers such as myself. So, I was beyond floored when Mike and I traveled to the back side of the property and noticed that those panels were no longer there, which meant that Jen’s former “backyard” was visible. YAY! It’s actually very surprising to me that the notoriously press-shy Aniston ever lived in this house – especially during her divorce, when the media frenzy was at an all-time high – being that the public beach access walkway is located just a few feet to the east of the property. Because the area was so easily accessible, the paparazzi used to supposedly camp out night and day on the beach directly behind her house. Ugh!

Jen moved into her wood-shingled Malibu beach bungalow in early 2005, immediately following her separation from now ex-husband Brad Pitt. She leased the property, which is supposedly owned by Oracle C.E.O Larry Ellison, through the end of 2007 for a reported $30,000 a month. Despite the fact that it is located right on the sand, thisclose to the ocean, Jen’s former beach house is fairly modest by celebrity standards. The residence, which was built in 1945, boasts two bedrooms, three bathrooms, and measures a scant 1,531 square feet. And I have to say that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the place. The house is incredibly charming and so very, for lack of a better word, cute and I would give anything to live in something similar. I am so enamored of the place in fact that I would consider it my dream pad, even if it hadn’t been previously lived in by Jen. 😉 The two-story bungalow is actually the place where the actress conducted her infamous first post-split interview which ran in the September 2005 issue of Vanity Fair magazine. According to several other interviews which also took place at the home, Jen decorated her bachelorette pad with mostly white furnishings adorned with white candles, white flowers, and quite a bit of Asian-inspired decor. She also reportedly kept a little vase filled with loose Merit brand cigarettes on an end table next to the couch for her guests to partake of. Apparently Jen remodeled the home a bit, even though it was a rental, before moving in. Vanity Fair author Leslie Bennetts says, “Although the bungalow was dark and depressing when she first saw it, a quickie makeover has transformed it into a cozy sanctuary that’s far more representative of Aniston’s personal taste than the showplace she and Pitt shared, where the decor seemed all hard edges and unforgiving materials.” Bennetts goes on to ask Jen what she likes best about being separated from Brad, to which the actress responds, “I can have a comfortable couch.” LOL

On a side note – Early last year fave website Big Time Listings reported on another (possible) former rental of Aniston’s in the Laurel Canyon area. And while Big Time Listings can’t actually verify that the actress ever lived in the home, according to the September 2009 issue of Elle Magazine, Jen did rent a house in Laurel Canyon during her pre-Friends days, so it’s a definite possibility.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Jennifer Aniston’s former beach rental is located at 22164 Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu.

January 22, 2010January 22, 2010

Stalking the WB – For the Third Time!

As I’ve mentioned a few times before, this past October, my good friends from Switzerland came to visit my family for a few weeks. While they were here, I decided to take them on a Hollywood studio tour. The only problem was I couldn’t decide exactly which Hollywood studio tour to take them on. So, I got Mike, from MovieShotsLA, on the phone and the two of us had a very in-depth discussion about it, carefully weighing all of our options. Not kidding – you should have heard the two of us. 🙂 Anyway, we quickly narrowed down our choices to either the Paramount Studio Tour or the Warner Brothers VIP Studio Tour. And even though I was leaning towards Paramount, Mike convinced me that because the WB Tour covers the overall studio experience, it would be the best choice for those stalkers who had yet to visit a movie studio. Paramount is geared more towards us die-hard stalkers, in my opinion, which is probably why I like it the best. 🙂 So, with our tour location finally decided upon, the four of us headed out bright and early the following morning to stalk the WB. This was actually my third time stalking the lot and it really is true what they say – no two tours are alike. I already want to go back for a fourth time. 🙂 Sadly, though, our tour guide left quite a bit to be desired on this particular venture. We still had a blast while there, don’t get me wrong – it’s pretty hard not to have fun on the WB lot – but, for whatever reason, our guide was a grump pretty much the whole way through. She also seemed to have a pretty high opinion of herself, which didn’t help my opinion of her. 😉

She even got a bit testy with me at one point, after bringing us to the Central Park portion of the lot and asking if anyone knew what television show it had been featured in. I, of course, raised my hand and said “It’s where Phoebe runs weird on Friends!” to which she snapped, “Well, you must have been on the tour before, which is the only reason you’d know that!” I wanted to explain that I had actually known the answer to that question while on my first WB tour, but I was afraid she’d pretty much bite my head off if I did! So, since it was obvious she didn’t appreciate stalkers, I kept my mouth shut for the remainder of the tour. The other disappointing aspect of the day was that Hennesy Street, which is one of the WB’s New York areas, Midwest Street, aka Anytown USA, and the Jungle area were all closed off to tour groups due to filming. 🙁 The Witches of Eastwick was actually the production being filmed on Midwest Street and we were very briefly allowed to venture over to the outskirts of that area to take a peek at what was going on, but unfortunately no photographs were allowed. Anyway, aside from Debbie Downer and the fact that numerous areas of lot were closed off, we had a great time on the tour. 🙂

The tour began the way it always does, with our guide driving us via golf cart through the very same studio gate that Carrie Bradshaw drove through in the Season Three episode of Sex and the City entitled “Escape from New York”. LOVE IT! 🙂

Our first stop was the old ER hospital set which has all but been dismantled. 🙁 So sad! While the hospital entrance and L Train track will be left up to be used by future productions . . .

. . . the area behind the large brown double doors which used to contain the ambulance bay and waiting room set, is now just empty space, as you can sort of see in the above photograph.

The way it used to look is pictured above. You can see more photographs of the old ER set on my two previous WB Tour posts which can be viewed here and here. According to our tour guide, ER’s Jumbo Mart Diner set is going to be left intact to serve as the studio’s tribute to the longest running medical drama ever to air on television.

Our next stop was the Nate’s Bar & Grill set from ER, which is also being left intact to be used by future productions. Nate’s Bar & Grill is what’s called a “practical set” in studio terminology because both its interior and its exterior can be used for filming.

Unlike the facade pictured above which has no interior area.

As you can see in the above photograph, Nate’s Bar & Grill lacks a ceiling, which is actually typical of movie sets. The ceilings of sets are always left open so that lights and other production equipment can be hung above the area being filmed. That’s often how I can tell if something was filmed in a studio or on location somewhere – if a ceiling is shown onscreen, that’s pretty much a dead giveaway that the production was filmed at a real life location. 😉

Located just outside of Nate’s is a very realistic looking subway set, which was extremely cool to see being that we had just returned from our New York trip a few days beforehand. 🙂

Our next stop was the the Embassy Courtyard, an area which was used in the 1999 made-for-TV movie Annie, in the television series Without a Trace, Hotel, and, as you can see in the above screen captures, Chuck .

We also visited New York Street, which is not to be confused with Hennesy Street, the lot’s other Manhattan-like area. New York Street has been used in the movies The Big Sleep, Blade Runner, Yankee Doodle Dandy, and The Last Samurai, for which the entire area was dressed to look like 1870s Japan.

Located on New York Street is the movie theatre facade pictured above, which was featured in the “New York and Queens” episode of The Drew Carey Show in which Drew and the gang challenge Mimi and her friends to a Rocky Horror Picture Show/Priscilla Queen of the Desert dance-off.

That very same area was also featured in the Season One episode of The Mentalist entitled “A Dozen Red Roses”.

We also briefly visited the Warner Village area of the lot, where we saw “New Christine’s” apartment building from the series The New Adventures of Old Christine.

Our next stop was the soundstage used in the filming of the television show Chuck, a series which I have never before seen. But I was extremely excited to see the set nonetheless because it was modeled after the very same apartment building featured in the movie ‘Til There Was You – an apartment building which I have not only stalked, but also blogged about. 🙂 I cannot tell you how cool it was to be seeing that set in person, as it looks very much the same as its real life counterpart. Love it! And while our tour guide did let us know that the Chuck set was based on a real life apartment building, she mistakenly told our group that said building was located in Los Feliz, which is actually incorrect. The building, which is named El Cabrillo, is actually located in Hollywood. I didn’t dare correct her, though, since she had already made it pretty clear that she didn’t care to hear any information I had to share. 😉 We also got to venture inside the characters’ individual apartments, which really are located directly off the building’s courtyard area. Unfortunately no photographs were allowed inside of the Chuck soundstages, but you can see what the set looks like in the above screen captures. When I asked our tour guide why the area was off-limits to cameras she said it was to prevent spoilers, i.e. if a crewmember accidentally left something on set that gave away a future plot point and then a tour group came in and took pictures of the set and then those pictures somehow wound up on the internet ;), fans might figure out the future plot development and stop watching the show. Which I think is pretty silly reasoning, but c’est la vie.

No WB VIP Tour would be complete without a visit to the car museum, where we got to see several vehicles from The Dark Knight, including the Batmobile;

the Bat-Pod motorcycle;

and the Stealth Launch Batmobile; all of which my best friend, Robin, the only guy in the group, loved seeing. 🙂

Also on display was the Ducati 996 motorcycle from The Matrix Reloaded;

the “Shaguar” from Austin Powers in Goldmember;

Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino from the movie of the same name;

the Nerd Herd car from Chuck;

the General Lee from The Dukes of Hazzard;

several vehicles from AI, including the Hovercopter;

the Ford Angila from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets;

and a 1969 Lincoln Continental from The Matrix, along with a wax figure of “Agent Smith”.

The best part of the tour for me, though, had to be when we got to see the Central Perk set from Friends. Granted, I’ve seen the set twice before on the two other WB Tours I’ve attended, but this time we were actually allowed to venture ONTO the set, walk around, touch things, and even sit on the furniture! YAY! Let me tell you, I just about DIED I was so excited! (Those are my friends Doina and Stephanie sitting on the Friends couch with me in the above photograph.)

And I just HAD to take pictures of absolutely EVERYTHING!

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Well, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I HIGHLY recommend taking the WB VIP Studio Tour! Even with a craptastic tour guide, it’s still a fabulous adventure to have in L.A.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Warner Brothers Studios is located at 3400 Riverside Drive in Burbank. Tours run every 30 minutes Monday through Friday from 8:20 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Advance reservations are recommended. Tickets cost $45 per person. You can learn more about the tour here .

January 21, 2010April 2, 2010

Vasquez Rocks County Park

One location that I have been dying to stalk for what seems like ages now is Vasquez Rocks County Park in Agua Dulce, California. I first read about the park in fave stalking book Hollywood Escapes: The Moviegoer’s Guide to Exploring Southern California’s Great Outdoors about 7 months ago and absolutely begged my fiancé to take me there. He politely declined and I’ve pretty much been stewing about the whole thing ever since. It’s funny how things work out, though, because while Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I were driving in the Valley on our way to do some stalking a few months back, we got into an in-depth filming locations conversation, as we are often apt to do, and somehow missed the freeway exit we meant to take. When we realized our mistake about 15 miles later – I told you it was an in-depth conversation 🙂 – and turned off the freeway, we found ourselves at the entrance to Vasquez Rocks County Park and I just about died from excitement. So, we decided to take a little stalking detour and headed right into the park.

The large sandstone boulders which make up Vasquez Rocks County Park have been around since prehistoric times and were brought into their unique upturned positions thanks to numerous earthquakes and years of erosion. The 932-acre park is named after Tiburcio Vasquez, the infamous outlaw who wreaked havoc in the Los Angeles area from 1856 until 1875, the year he was executed. In 1874, just before being captured by authorities, Tiburcio spent quite a bit of time hiding out in the park that now bears his name. Even though the man murdered and pillaged all across L.A. for close to 20 years, because he claimed that all of his crimes were committed in the name of justice for Mexican-Americans, he is viewed by many as a hero.

According to The Los Angeles Times, the 150-foot high rocks which populate the park are “the most commercially photographed boulders on the planet”. And, even though the area looks like it could be found in a faraway land or on a distant planet, it actually lies within Hollywood’s “Thirty Mile Zone” (aka TMZ – and yes, that term is why the famous website is so named), which makes it extremely popular with location managers. For those not familiar with the term, the Thirty-Mile Zone encompasses the area within a thirty mile radius of the intersection of West Beverly and La Cienega Boulevards in Los Angeles. If a production is filmed outside of the Zone, SAG rules stipulate that travel time, mileage, and a special “distant location rate” must be paid to union members of the cast and crew. So, thanks to its money-saving location and amazing, unique beauty, Vasquez Park has appeared in COUNTLESS, and I do mean COUNTLESS, productions over the years.

There is even a little kiosk on the property that documents some of the filming that has taken place there in the past. Love it!

The main reason I wanted to stalk the park was because it was one of the main locations featured in one of my all time favorite music videos – the 1991 video for Michael Jackson’s hit song “Black or White”. In an ironic twist of fate, I just happened to be wearing my “I Heart MJ” shirt that day. 🙂 Love it! Vasquez Rocks were featured in the scene in the video in which George Wendt lands in a remote field after being blasted out of his house thanks to his son, Macaulay Culkin’s, loud music. The rocks also show up in a subsequent scene in which MJ dances on a stage with a group of Native Americans.

The rocks were not used, however, for the scene in the very beginning of the video in which Michael is shown dancing with a group of Aborigines. That portion of the video appears to have been shot in front of a green screen inside of a Hollywood studio.

The rocks also appeared in one of my favorite episodes of Las Vegas, which was entitled “Good Run of Bad Luck”, in the scene in which Delinda (aka Molly Sims), Nessa (aka Marsha Thomason), and Mary (aka Nikki Cox) go on a search for buried treasure and wind up getting stranded in the Nevada desert until eventually being rescued by country crooner Clint Black.

I absolutely LOVE the scene in which Delinda, lamenting over her belief that her father always wanted a son, says “We don’t have that click. You see him with Danny . . . click, click, click, click, click! I want Daddy and me to be close, you know, like George Jetson and Daughter Judy or Cliff Huxtable and what’s-her-name? You know, the one who married Lennie Kravitz.” LOL

The rocks also stood in for the Las Vegas set of the defunct sci-fi movie Shutter Speed in which Joey Tribbiani (aka Matt LeBlanc) was supposed to star in the Season 5 episode of Friends entitled “The One With Joey’s Big Break”.

The rocks show up very briefly in the 2004 movie First Daughter, in a beginning scene in which Samantha Mackenzie (aka Katie Holmes) is shown on a peace-keeping mission in an unnamed foreign land.

They were also the location of the Arena Diner in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

And the location of Dr. Evil’s underground lair in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.

Bruce Campbell rides his horse through Vasquez Rocks in the 1992 flick Army of Darkness.

The large open dirt area was the parking lot where Joe Dirt realized his parents had abandoned him in the movie of the same name.

The entire town of Bedrock was built – out of styrofoam, no less – on the Vasquez Rocks property for the filming of both The Flintstones and The Flintstones: Viva Rock Vegas.

Rihanna and Justin Timberlake recently filmed their “Rehab” video at the Rocks.

And the park also flies by very quickly in fave movie Little Miss Sunshine, in the scene in which Olive and her family begin their journey from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Redondo Beach, California. The freeway they are driving on in the above screen captures is the 14.

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The rocks have also been featured in episodes of Monk, CSI:Crime Scene Investigation, Numb3rs, NCIS, Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, MacGyver, Charmed, The Lone Ranger, The X-Files, 24, Bonanza, Fear Factor, Roswell, Sliders, and in the movies Blazing Saddles, Holes, Alpha Dog, Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey, Starship Troopers, Wild Wild West, Short Circuit, Star Trek (2009), and Planet of the Apes (2001), among countless others. You can see an extensive breakdown of the many productions filmed at the park here.

Although the park measures well over 900 acres, the areas most commonly used for filming are those located within walking distance of the two large open dirt fields denoted in the screen captures above. The dirt fields are located very close to the main road and are easily accessible to stalkers. 🙂 While Mike and I were stalking the park, a student film was being shot on the premises and because one of the crew members thought we were part of the production – and we said nothing to dissuade him of that idea 🙂 – we were allowed to drive right up to the dirt lot. I am not sure that cars are admissible in that area on a normal basis, though.

Vasquez Rocks is an absolutely BEAUTIFUL place – one of the most unique and picturesque spots I’ve ever had the privilege of seeing with my own two eyes – and I HIGHLY recommend stalking it!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Vasquez Rocks County Park is located at 10700 Escondido Canyon Road in Agua Dulce. The park is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

June 17, 2009August 17, 2009

The “Joey” Apartment Building

For quite a while now I have been begging Mike, from MovieShotsLA, to locate the apartment building where Joey Tribbiani lived with his nephew, Michael, on the Friends spin-off Joey. So, imagine my surprise when I came across the address randomly in The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book. In the book, the address is listed as an almost after-thought, which is why it took me so long to notice it. LOL Apparently, most stalkers aren’t as interested in finding Joey filming locations as I am. 🙂 LOL Being that the show was canceled after only 14 episodes, I can’t say I’m all that surprised. But, because Joey was always my favorite Friends character (besides Rachel, of course!), I absolutely loved that show! “How you doin’?” 😉

On the show, Joey lived in a large apartment building named Monroe Manor, located directly beneath the Hollywood sign. Apparently, production designer John Schaffner chose the 50s style building because of its mid-century appeal. He said, “I didn’t want to do another Los Angeles show in a Spanish house or Craftsman cottage. I was more inspired by architects like Frank Lloyd Wright and Rudolph Schindler, who worked in natural materials that create a more casual feeling.” Monroe Manor definitely has a unique appearance to it and evokes a feeling of old time Hollywood.

The Monroe Manor complex was constructed in 1949 and is made up of ten terraced, duplex-type units built right into a Hollywood hillside. Each of the twenty apartments in the complex is entirely different in size and style. A side view of the building, which shows its tiered design, is pictured above. As you can see in the above photograph, the building is actually much larger than it’s front exterior would lead you to believe and much larger than it appeared onscreen in Joey. I read online that Monroe Manor was supposedly modeled after my girl Marilyn Monroe, but – call me crazy – I just don’t see the resemblance. 😉 LOL I think it is safer to say that the building was most likely just named after her. 🙂

In an interesting side note, after Joey was cancelled in 2004, a paramedics company in Charlotte, North Carolina purchased the entire set from the show (pictured above) to be used for their training simulations! Apparently, simulations are acted out on the former Joey set and recorded for later review and evaluation. How incredibly cool is that?? I so think I need to go work for that company!!!! North Carolina, here I come! 😉

In an even more interesting side note, when Matt LeBlanc first came to Hollywood, long before hitting it big with Friends, he actually lived at Monroe Manor!!!!! It was a complete coincidence years later when production designer John Schaffner chose the building to be used as the residence of struggling actor Joey Tribbiani. This was definitely a case of art imitating life! 🙂 Ironically, my good friend Maura has been asking me to find Matt LeBlanc’s house for some time now – so, Maura, this one’s for you. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Joey apartment building, aka Monroe Manor, is located at 2232 North Beachwood Canyon Drive in Hollywood. Joey lived in Apartment #7. In real life, Matt LeBlanc lived in #16.

May 15, 2009May 14, 2009

Moondance Diner

This morning my mom sent me a link to an awesome new locations website called “Where It’s At – Pop Culture Is All Around You”. And I, of course, became TOTALLY and COMPLETELY engrossed in it for a good hour and a half. I was so engrossed in it, in fact, that I was late in meeting my dad for our usual morning Starbucks run! Anyway, while perusing the site I happened upon this link about an oft used New York filming location named Moondance Diner. And I almost fell out of my chair when I read that the historic restaurant had been moved clear across the country in late 2008! Apparently, the diner was driven over 2,300 miles -on a flatbed truck, no less – all the way from the island of Manhattan to a tiny town in Wyoming named La Barge (population 493!). At first, I thought the website was mistaken, as I had visited Moondance Diner on my 2007 trip to the Big Apple. How in the heck could an entire restaurant be moved halfway across the country in as little as a year and a half????

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Apparently, the historic diner closed its Manhattan doors in July of 2007 after a real estate development company purchased the land beneath it. The company planned to demolish the historic restaurant to make room for a high rise condominium complex, but thankfully preservationists stepped in to stop the demolition. Moondance ended up being donated to the American Diner Museum and was subsequently purchased by Vince and Cheryl Pierce for the bargain price of only $7,500! The Pierce’s made the incredible decision to relocate the famed diner to their hometown of La Barge, Wyoming. And I have to say ‘Way to go, Vince and Cheryl!!!’ I am so thankful that the diner, which opened in 1929 and was originally named the Holland Tunnel Diner, is still alive and well for all of us stalkers to visit!

The diner has been featured in numerous productions over the years, most notably as the restaurant where Mary Jane worked in the first Spiderman movie.

On Friends, Monica also worked at Moondance after being fired from her chef job during Season 3. No Friends filming actually took place at the diner, though. While the restaurant’s exterior was used for some set-up shots, the interior was a set that was built on a Warner Brothers soundstage in Burbank. The interior of Monica’s diner looks nothing like Moondance’s real life interior, though. Nor did the real life waitresses have to wear silly outfits like Monica’s. LOL

Moondance was also featured in the music video for the a-ha song “You Are The One” and in the 1985 movie After Hours. According to the Where It’s At website, the diner was also used in an episode of my fave Sex and the City, but I am not sure which one. So, I am putting it out there to you, dear readers – does anyone remember which episode of SATC was filmed at Moondance Diner?

Moondance has also had its brush with celebrity. Frank Sinatra used to be a frequent patron, as were many of the New York Yankees. And “Rent” playwright Jonathan Larson even worked at Moondance for a time. I can’t tell you how happy I am that this historic diner was saved from the wrecking ball!! If I ever find myself in La Barge, Wyoming, I fully plan on stalking it! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Moondance Diner was originally located at 80 6th Avenue in New York. It’s current location is at the corner of Main Street and 6th Avenue in La Barge, Wyoming. You can visit Moondance’s website here.

September 18, 2008February 13, 2009

Stalking the WB!

This past Monday, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I took a little stalking field strip to both Warner Brothers Studios and the Paramount Lot. I’ll get to the Paramount tour tomorrow, but today it’s all about the WB. What can I say – the Warner Brothers tour was awesome! It is nothing at all like the Universal Studios back lot tour. The WB tour is far more intimate and personal. A maximum of twelve people is allowed in each tour group, which makes for a far more flexible, personalized tour. The WB tour also lacks the cheesiness that is pretty much ever-present over at Universal. Don’t get me wrong, I had a blast on my Universal birthday tour, but if I had to choose between the two, I’d much prefer stalking the WB. Anyway, Mike and I arrived bright and early at about 8:30AM and I must admit I was as giddy as a schoolgirl! 🙂 Before the tour began, we got to do some shopping in the WB gift shop. The gift shop sells some great souvenirs like t-shirts, key chains, mugs, and even lip gloss, from hit shows like Entourage, Gossip Girl, Gilmore Girls and, my personal fave, Friends.

There is also a lot of movie memorabilia to stalk inside the gift shop, such as Daniel Radcliffe’s costume from the original Harry Potter movie and Will Smith’s outfit from I Am Legend (pictured above).

There is even a Starbucks located right inside the gift shop, so I was in heaven!! Movie memorabilia AND a Starbucks?? What more could a girl ask for? 🙂

After getting our shopping on at the gift shop, we were instructed to move into a small movie theatre where we were shown a short movie about the many productions that have been filmed on the lot. The movie definitely got me pumped up and excited for the tour and I was literally on the edge of my seat ready for the tour to begin. After the 15 minute movie, our tour group boarded a small tram and headed for the famous WB back-lot.

The first movie site stalked on our tour was the location of one of the most well-known screen kisses in cinema history – the famous upsidedown kiss between Spiderman and Mary Jane that took place on a fire escape in the pouring rain. That fire escape is located on the WB’s back-lot in an area that is now called “Spiderman Alley”. 🙂 Apparently the scene was not very fun, or romantic, to film, as Tobey Maguire had to hang upside down for over eight hours, giving him a massive headache, not to mention all the water running up his nose from the fake rain. That kiss was later emulated by Seth and Summer in one of my favorite O.C. scenes ever!

Our next stop on the tour was the exterior set of ER ‘s Cooke County General Hospital. This set was very cool to see as I was a big fan of ER during its first few seasons.

While 95% of the sets for ERare located inside a soundstage, the exterior set includes the hospital’s ambulance entrance, a small portion of the waiting room,

The Jumbo Mart where the doctors eat,

the “L” tracks from the Chicago railway system,

and even George Clooney’s former basketball hoop left over from the days he starred on ER.

Next up our tour guide took us to a small stretch of grass that often doubles for Central Park in Warner Brothers movies and television shows. The patch of lawn is so small, I have no idea how it can possibly double for a park, but it does. The small park was featured on Friends as the place where Phoebe “runs weird” and also as the location of Rory’s “study tree” on the Gilmore Girls.

Next up was Lorelai’s house from Gilmore Girls which looks pretty much exactly as it did during the filming of the show.

In actuality, the entire town of Sleepy Hollow from Gilmore Girls is located on the WB lot, and it, too, looks pretty much exactly as it did during filming. This set is usually called Anytown, USA and has been used in countless productions, most prominently as Hazzard County in the Dukes of Hazzard television series.

Pictured above is Luke’s restaurant from Gilmore Girls,

and the Hazzard County Courthouse from Dukes of Hazzard.

I think I was most excited of all to see the house from one of my fave 80s sitcoms – Growing Pains (pictured above). I used to seriously love me some Kirk Cameron. 🙂 The house looks a bit different now, but it is still pretty recognizable as the Seaver Family home. As we drove up upon the house, our tour guide asked if anyone could still remember the words to the show’s theme song and I am proud to say, I still could. 🙂 You can watch the Growing Pains intro here. Cue theme song – “Show me that smile again, don’t waste another minute on your crying . . .” 🙂

The side of the Seaver house was also used as Lane’s house on Gilmore Girls. Apparently many houses on the WB lot have double, or even triple, fronts so that they can be used for multiple houses at a time.

We also got to see crew members setting up a scene for Ghost Whisperer on the WB’s Paris Street. Ghost Whisperer used to be filmed at Universal Studios, but due to the recent fire, production has since moved to Warner Brothers. Paris Street was also used in the filming of Casablanca, as the location of Rick and Ilsa’s Parisian tryst.

The building pictured above was featured as the location of Rick and Isla’s teary Paris goodbye. Ahhh, we’ll always have Paris! 🙂

Also included in the tour was a walk through of the set of Two and a Half Men– which was VERY cool as I watch that show all the time; an up-close and personal view of many cars used in major motion pictures – ie. the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazzard movie, the Batmobile, and Keanu’s car from the Matrix; a tour of the Warner Brothers Museum which displays numerous costumes and other movie memorabilia from such films as Harry Potter, Fools Gold, The Matrix, and The Dark Knight;and a walk through of the third biggest soundstage in the US which has been used in productions such as Ocean’s 13 and The Perfect Storm. We were not allowed to take any photographs while inside the soundstages or the museum which was a total bummer! 🙁

My favorite part of the tour, hands down, had to be when we got to see the original Central Perk set from Friends. SO COOL! After the final season of Friends, the entire Central Perk set was moved to an empty soundstage preserved for us fans to visit. 🙂 The set pieces are a little tweaked and aren’t set up exactly as they were during filming, but it still looks pretty much as it did on TV. SO COOL!

Mike and I had an absolute blast on the WB tour and I HIGHLY recommend stalking it!!!! No two tours are ever the same, and I am seriously considering doing it again soon. 🙂

BIG THANK YOU to Mike for taking all of the above pictures – would you believe my camera died at the very beginning of the WB tour cause this stalker forgot to charge it the night before. I am such a blond sometimes!!! LOL

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Warner Brothers Studios is located at 3400 Riverside Drive in Burbank. Tours run every 30 minutes Monday through Friday from 8:20am to 4:00pm. Advance reservations are recommended. Tickets will cost you $45 per person – and I assure you, it is $45 well spent! You can learn more about the tour here.