TV – Page 21 – IAMNOTASTALKER

July 23, 2009July 22, 2009

The Second Peach Pit

Two weekends ago, thanks to Mike from MovieShotsLA, I was able to stalk a location that I have long been on the lookout for – the storefront that was used as the second Peach Pit on the original Beverly Hills, 90210 series. Yes, I did say the “second” Peach Pit. As most fans of the series know, for some odd reason, three different locations were used to represent Brandon, Brenda and the gang’s favorite afterschool hangout throughout the show’s ten year run. And while Mike and I had found the other two Peach Pit locations a while back, the “second” one proved to be quite elusive. Until a few weeks ago, that is, when Mike randomly walked by it while doing some stalking in the Venice area and recognized it immediately!

Truth be told, what Mike actually recognized was not the Peach Pit storefront itself, but the alleyway located right next door which currently houses a nursery. During our search for this location, Mike and I had spent hours studying screen captures of the Peach Pit and could not for the life of us figure out what was located directly next door to it. It appeared to be some sort of empty lot or alleyway enclosed by a detailed wrought iron gate. So, when Mike saw that gate in person, he immediately recognized it! It is very surprising to me that producers chose to use this location for the Peach Pit, because, as far as I know, it is the only Venice location every used on the series.

I am very happy to report that the Peach Pit still looks exactly the same today as it did when Beverly Hills, 90210 was filmed there back in 1990. And, ironically enough, while the storefront where the Peach Pit supposedly existed is currently vacant, it looks as if a diner style restaurant is in the process of moving in there. 🙂 How apropos!

This particular location was only used as the Peach Pit during the show’s first season, beginning with the episode entitled “Higher Education”. The last episode it was featured on was the Season One finale entitled “Home Again”.

When Nat decided to remodel his restaurant in the Season Two episode entitled “”Pass, Not Pass” (pictured above), the producers moved to an entirely new location to film the Peach Pit’s exteriors. The reasoning behind the location change has remained a 90210 mystery, but my best guess is that either a new owner moved into the Venice storefront and wasn’t cool with the filming, or, even more likely, the producers decided that the Venice location was just too far out of the way to go for filming and decided to relocate the Pit to Pasadena, just a few miles from the Walsh House.

I cannot recommend stalking the “second” Peach Pit enough!!!!! It is absolutely unbelievable to me that, almost two decades later, it still looks exactly the same as it did during the 90210 days. For all of you 90210 fans out there, this location will definitely bring back some memories! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The “second” Peach Pit can be found in the Venice Place Building which is located at 1027 Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice. The first Peach Pit is located at 10801 West Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles and the third, final, and most recognizable Peach Pit is located at 45 South Fair Oaks Avenue in Pasadena.

July 16, 2009February 19, 2016

The Golden Girls House

This past weekend, thanks to fellow stalker Owen, I was able to stalk the home used in one of my favorite ’80s TV shows – The Golden Girls. Being that I was only eight years old at the time The Golden Girls premiered, I probably seem like a very unlikely fan of the show. But, for some reason, a sit-com which centered around the trials and tribulations of four single senior citizens living together in a Miami area home appealed to me. What can I say – I absolutely loved it!

But besides being a fabulous show, The Golden Girls also had, hands down, the BEST television theme song ever! 🙂 “Thank you for being a friend! Travel down the road and back again. Your heart is true, you’re a pal and a confidant.” Sing it with me, now! “And if you threw a party, invited everyone you knew, you would see the biggest gift would be from me and the card attached would say, thank you for being a friend!” LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT!

I am happy to report that The Golden Girls house looks EXACTLY the same today – and I mean EXACTLY the same – as it did when the show first premiered in 1985. It is absolutely unbelievable to me that the home has remained unchanged in a whopping twenty-four years time. LOVE IT! I’d like to go on record right now and thank the owners of this house for letting this piece of television history remain untouched for all of us stalkers to appreciate years later. Why can’t more filming location owners be like you????? LOL

What’s even more amazing to me is how iconic The Golden Girls house truly is. Even my fiance recognized it, and he recognizes virtually NOTHING. In fact, I think I can safely say that in all the years we’ve dated (eight and half, but who’s counting?), he has never once recognized a location that I’ve dragged him to – ever! Until this past weekend, that is. 🙂 Even though The Golden Girls house is extremely non-descript, for some reason a picture of it is imbedded in my brain, almost more so than any other TV home – except, of course, for the 90210 house! 🙂

A big THANK YOU to Owen for finding this location after hearing numerous rumors about its wherabouts – rumors like the house was actually located in Florida or Pacific Palisades or that it only ever existed on a studio backlot. He ended up finding the house several years ago on a German website that had a map of Los Angeles with the general vicinity of the GG home earmarked. Once he had the general area locked down – even if it was in German 🙂 – it didn’t take him long to find the home’s exact address and put to rest all of those pesky location rumors. The real story of the Golden Girls home is this: During the first seasons of the show, a Brentwood area house was used for all of the establishing shots of the ladies’ Miami area residence. Then in 1988, a replica of that home was built on the backlot of Disney MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida, and that replica was used for the exterior house shots for the remainder of the series – which seems odd to me being that the show was actually taped right here in Los Angeles. Anyway, you can see a photograph of the replica home here. Sadly, in 2003 the replica was torn down, along with the rest of Residential Street, in order to make room for a new stunt show called “Lights! Motors! Action!” To quote Chelsea Lately,”I don’t like that! I don’t like that at all!” At least the real house is still standing, though!

And if you are a big fan of the GG house, or just the show in general, I definitely recommend checking out this girl’s website. And people say I have way too much time on my hands! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Golden Girls house is located at 245 North Saltair Avenue in Brentwood.

June 22, 2009June 26, 2009

Don Draper’s House from Mad Men

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

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

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

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

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

[ad]

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

UPDATE:

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

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

May 28, 2009August 12, 2009

The Taken Mansion

This past weekend, my fiance and I rented the movie Taken – which was phenomenal, by the way!!!! – and I immediately recognized a home featured in it that was originally used in a Season One episode of fave show Beverly Hills, 90210. I have been dying to stalk the home for the past few years, but, unfortunately, it is located inside of a gated community and I haven’t been able to get past the guards. Yet!!! 🙂 But that’s why God created real estate websites – which is where I got the above photo. 🙂 The home, which was built in 1915 and is located inside of the exclusive Fremont Place complex in Hancock Park, has been featured in DOZENS of productions over the years. It has five bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms, boasts 8,240 square feet, and sits on almost two acres! Besides being featured on the silver screen, the home was also lived in by both Mary Pickford and Mary Miles Minter at different points in time.

In the movie Taken, the mansion stood in for the home of Liam Neeson’s ex-wife, Lenore, and her new uber-wealthy husband, Stuart. The mansion shows up several times in the movie, most notably as the site of Liam’s daughter’s birthday party.

Way back in 1990, the mansion was featured as the home of Brenda’s shoplifting pal Tiffany Morgan in the Season One episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 entitled “Every Dream Has It’s Price”. Ironically enough, though, no actual filming of Beverly Hills, 90210 took place at the home. A very brief establishing shot of the mansion was used in the episode, but all of the actual filming took place in the backyard of an Altadena home located directly across the street from Casa Walsh.

The same house also showed up in the Season 7 episode of CSI: Miami entitled “Dead on Arrival”. In the episode, the mansion was used as the setting of the fictional Bachelor-esque reality series “The Marrying Kind”.

screenshot1132

The mansion was also used in the Season Six episode of Cold Case entitled “November 22” as the present day home of pool shark Baltimore Red. And, as if all of that was not enough, in 2008 alone the home was featured in an infomercial, a DiGiorno pizza commercial, and episodes of Prison Break, Monk, Numbers, and the episode of The Mentalist entitled “Ladies in Red”. How cool would it be to own that place?!?!? Oh, I would be in heaven!!!! 🙂

According to The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book, the movie War of the Roses was also filmed in the Fremont Place community, just a few houses down from the Taken mansion. But, if you compare the above screen capture to the aerial image of the property supposedly used, the two houses don’t quite seem to match. So, unless some major renovations were done to the home since the filming of War of the Roses took place, I don’t think The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book’s information is correct. 🙁 Supposedly, the house from the Rocky movies is also located on the same street, but I haven’t been able to verify that yet. You can see photographs of some of the Fremont Place homes that have been used for filming and a really cool schedule of the 2007 and 2008 productions that filmed there here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Taken mansion is located at 56 Fremont Place in Los Angeles. The supposed War of the Roses home is located just down the street at 119 Fremont Place West. Please keep in mind that both of these houses are located inside of a gated, private community and trespassing is not allowed. 🙂

May 16, 2009May 16, 2009

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

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

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

[ad]

NUP_135040_1207

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

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

May 4, 2009October 6, 2022

Church of the Angels

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[ad]

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

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

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

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

May 1, 2009December 6, 2013

San Francisco City Hall

I think it’s pretty safe to say that I’ve read just about every biography on my girl Marilyn Monroe that’s ever been published. So, imagine my surprise when I came across an article the other day which stated that the starlet married her second husband, baseball legend Joe DiMaggio, at San Francisco City Hall. How in the heck did I not know this before??? I grew up in San Francisco for Pete’s sake! City Hall was pretty much right in my own backyard! In fact, I even stalked the place back in October, during my last trip to the City by the Bay. I had yet to blog about it, though, because it was extremely windy the day I was there and I only got out of the car long enough to take one photograph – the one pictured above. Check out my hair! LOL So, the other day, after reading about Marilyn’s San Francisco wedding, I sent my good friend Nat, who lives in the area, on a stalking mission to take photographs of City Hall for me, so that I could finally blog about it. 🙂 Here goes!

San Francisco City Hall was built in 1915 by architect Arthur Brown, Jr., who also designed Coit Tower, the War Memorial Opera House and Pasadena City Hall. The Beaux-Arts style building that stands today is actually San Francisco’s second City Hall. The first, which was built in 1899 and stood at the corner of Grove and Larkin Streets where the public library is now located, was completely destroyed during the 1906 earthquake. Rescue workers were able to salvage the statue that stood atop of the original City Hall’s dome and planned on placing it on the new building. Unfortunately, the statue fell off the back of a flat bed truck while being transported to its new location and was destroyed. LOL LOL LOL How’s that for irony?? The current City Hall measures over 500,000 square feet, takes up two entire city blocks, and cost over $3.5 million to build! Over ten acres of marble were used in the construction. The building’s dome stands at 307.5 feet tall, trumping Washington D.C.’s Capital Building’s dome by 14 inches.

Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio’s wedding took place on January 14, 1954 in the third floor chambers of Judge Charles S. Perry, who was a close friend of Joe’s. DiMaggio’s other good friend Reno Barsocchini and his former manager Lefty O’Doul were the couple’s only guests. Sadly, the marriage was short-lived. Marilyn filed for divorce only 274 days later. City Hall is also the location where Mayor George Moscone and County Supervisor Harvey Milk were shot to death by Dan White on November 27, 1978.

San Francisco City Hall has been featured in countless movies and television shows over the years. The interior of the building’s rotunda showed up at the very end of Raiders of the Lost Ark, where it stood in for the Washington D.C. building where Indiana Jones agreed to let Marion Ravenwood buy him a drink (pictured above). City Hall was also used in Bedazzled, The Rock, A View to a Kill, Dirty Harry, Milk, Tucker: The Man and His Dream, The Towering Inferno, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Dharma and Greg (in the “Much Ado During Nothing” episode), Foul Play, and Bicentennial Man, just to name a few!

I highly recommend stalking San Francisco City Hall. It is an absolutely beautiful building and just seeing the dome alone in person is worth a drive by! And, although I didn’t venture inside while I was stalking the place, the first floor area is open to the public. Free tours are also given three times daily, Monday through Friday, at 10 a.m., 12 p.m., and 2 p.m. San Francisco City Guides also offers free interior tours of City Hall every Thursday at 11:00 a.m. You can visit their website for further details.

Big THANK YOU to my surrogate stalker Nat who took all of the above photos. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: San Francisco City Hall is located at 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place in San Francisco.

April 28, 2009June 16, 2011

The Beverly Hills, 90210 Spring Dance!

A few weeks ago, I happened to pop in my Beverly Hills, 90210 Season 1 DVDs to watch the “Spring Dance” episode – one of my very favorite 90210episodes of all time! As I scrolled through the DVD menu, I realized that, unbelievably, I had yet to watch that episode accompanied by the commentary by series’ creator Darren Star. So, I settled in with a nice Starbucks Iced Latte to listen to what Darren had to say. And I am SO glad I did, because besides dishing juicy little tidbits of information (such as Shannen Doherty and Luke Perry were not getting along at all that day), Darren also stated that the West Beverly High Spring Dance sequence had been filmed at the Universal Sheraton Hotel in Universal City. So, I of course, grabbed my boyfriend and my camera and immediately headed over there! 🙂

Unfortunately, last year the Sheraton Universal Hotel underwent a $25 million renovation project and now looks completely different than it did back in 1991 when 90210 was filmed there. 🙁 Even the hotel’s main entrance has changed significantly and the circular awning which was shown as the gang drove up to the prom venue has been replaced. : ( According to the hotel’s General Manager, Peter Walterspiel, the forty year old Sheraton “needed a facelift pretty badly”.

First opened in 1969, the twenty story, 451 room hotel is now ready to face the 21st Century. Although I never saw the Sheraton pre-remodel (except on 90210, that is!) , I absolutely love the way it now looks! The lobby is shiny and modern and full of bright, open spaces. And there are many black and white photographs of old time movie stars, like Audrey Hepburn and my girl Marilyn Monroe, lining the lobby walls! Gotta love it! 🙂

I really wanted to grab a cocktail in the hotel’s Club Lounge (where the lights change colors based on the cycle of the sun!), but alas it was only 4 in the afternoon when I was there. 🙁 Oh well, next time!

The Beverly Hills, 90210 Spring Dance scenes were filmed in the hotel’s Grand Ballroom, which, thankfully, looks much the same today as it did eighteen years ago when it appeared on 90210. 🙂 Although some parts of the room have changed since that time, you can see in the above photos that the dark wood doors, wainscoting, and even the wallpaper are still the same.

You can see in the above photos that the wierd lights located above the ballroom doors also haven’t changed since the filming. The screen capture I made of the lights didn’t come out very well, but if you watch the episode you can see the lights more clearly.

Many other productions besides Beverly Hills, 90210 have also been filmed at the Sheraton Universal Hotel. The reality series Cougar used the hotel for both location filming and as the place where all of the contestants were put up during the filming. According to the concierge the escalators leading down to the hotel’s conference rooms were used repeatedly on the show (pictured above). Contestants from the reality series America’s Got Talent were also put up at the Sheraton Universal. And on an episode of Hogan Knows Best, Brooke Hogan and her father, Hulk, checked into the Sheraton while visiting Los Angeles. A recent episode of the television series Chuck was filmed in the Club Lounge and the hotel was also featured in both Desperate Housewives and CSI: Las Vegas.

The Universal Sheraton, which is nicknamed the “Hotel of the Stars”, often plays host to celebrities, as well, including George Clooney, B.B. King, Michael Jackson, Ava Gardner, Tom Hanks, Sophia Loren, Gladys Knight, John Travolta, Dolly Parton, Matthew McConaughy, and my girl Jen Aniston. Telly Savalas, Jen’s godfather, actually LIVED in the hotel for over 17 years!!!! Apparently, Telly began staying at the Universal Sheraton while starring in the television series Kojak, which was filmed just down the road at Universal Studios. He was so keen on the hotel that he ended up moving his wife and kids in and making it his permanent residence. Supposedly, he used to hang out quite often in the lobby bar and was always willing to take pictures and sign autographs for hotel guests. 🙂 Sadly, on January 22, 1994, Telly passed away in his Universal Sheraton Hotel suite. He was only 70 years old. 🙁

I HIGHLY recommend stalking – or even staying at – the Universal Sheraton. In fact, I am trying to think of a good excuse to drag my boyfriend there for a weekend. 🙂 The staff was incredibly nice to me and answered all of my silly questions about the filming that had taken place there over the years – although no one remembered the 90210 Spring Dance being filmed there back in 1991. LOL For all of you tourists who are planning a trip to Universal Studios, the Sheraton Universal would be the place to stay as it is literally a hop, skip, and a jump away from the theme park. You wouldn’t even have to rent a car. 🙂 Oh, and my favorite part of the hotel? The mini Hollywood sign located at the Sheraton’s main entrance (pictured above). LOVE IT! 🙂 I’ve gotta get me one of those for my backyard! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Sheraton Universal Hotel is located at 333 Universal Hollywood Drive in Universal City. You can visit their website here. The Beverly Hills, 90210 Spring Dance took place in the hotel’s Grand Ballroom, located just downstairs and to the right of the main lobby.

April 20, 2009April 20, 2009

The Closer Duplex

As I have mentioned before, I am a huge fan of TNT’s crime series The Closer. As is my whole family, actually. So, a few weeks ago when my mom challenged me to locate Brenda and Fritz’s duplex apartment building from the series, I accepted the challenge! 🙂 And it didn’t take me long to find it at all.

Actually, I can’t really take credit for this one. I happened to show my boyfriend a screen capture I had made of Brenda’s building to see if he might have an idea of where it was located, and, sure enough, he did! He told me that there is a certain area of Hollywood that is chock full of duplexes just like Brenda’s and that I should start my search there. And that’s exactly what I did. That area is South of Beverly Boulevard, in between La Brea and Fairfax. And sure enough, that’s exactly where I found the building! It was actually on the second street I searched. 🙂

Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson and her fiance Fritz Howard move into this duplex on the Season 4 series opener, entitled “Controlled Burn”. Brenda spends most of the episode, which guest-starred Life On Mars cutie Jason Mara, fretting about what to do with her cat, Kitty, as her new landlord has a strict “no pets” policy. “Controlled Burn” actually featured some on location filming at the duplex, when Brenda brings home a reporter who is writing a story about the squad (pictured above). The duplex is shown throughout the rest of Season 4 in establishing shots of Brenda and Fritz’s home.

The Closer duplex looks EXACTLY the same in person as it does on TV, right down to the wind chimes hanging from the second story balcony and the decorative plaque located above the carport. Oddly enough, though, producers changed the address number of the duplex during filming. As you can see in the above screen capture, the address number on The Closer is 130/132. The real address, though, is 126/128. Which makes absolutely no sense to me! If you’re going to change the house number for whatever reason – most likely to ward off stalkers like myself 🙂 – shouldn’t you change it more significantly than that? LOL Because, to tell you the truth, when searching for the duplex, I was only looking at buildings with 130/132 address numbers, but quickly noticed The Closer duplex located right next door to a building that was numbered 130. LOL 🙂

The other inconsistency I noticed about the duplex is that in The Closer there is only one exterior door. You can see in the above screen capture that to enter her apartment, Brenda has to go through the main front door, which then leads into an anteroom.

But in real life, the duplex actually has a second front door located just to the right of the main entrance. Since Brenda’s unit is the one with the large plate glass window on the bottom floor, she should actually enter her home through that second exterior door, which is never shown on TV. Ah, the magic of Hollywood! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Closer duplex is located at 126/128 North Detroit Street in Hollywood.

April 17, 2009March 11, 2018

“Smoke Gets In Your CSIs”

A few months ago while doing some cyberstalking, I came across this fabulous blog post about a photographer named Rob Greer who was lucky enough to have my fave show CSI: Miami film right in his studio. So, of course, I just had to stalk the place. 🙂 Especially since the episode which was filmed at the studio, entitled “Smoke Gets In Your CSIs”, was one of my favorite episodes from this season! In the episode, which aired in February of this year, the team investigates a physician who performs illegal organ transplant surgeries right in his own home. The episode was pretty much a thrill a minute and I was literally on the edge of my seat the whole time – especially when Eric Delko finally professed his love to Calleigh Duquesne. I have been waiting for those two to get together for YEARS! 🙂

screenshot871

In “Smoke Gets In Your CSIs”, Rob Greer’s photography studio was used as the Miami home of the episode’s renegade doctor. Filming took place in both the interior and the exterior of the studio. I actually find it odd that they chose this location to stand in for a physician’s home, as neither the interior nor the exterior look much like a home at all. The place actually looks more like a warehouse than anything else. But, due to the illegal surgeries that the physician was performing in the episode, I am guessing that the producuers wanted his home to have a cold, urban, industrial feel to it. You can see some great photos of the photography studio here.

Rob Greer’s photography studio is located in the Los Angeles Brewery Arts Complex. The complex, which can best be described as a sort of compound or artists’ enclave, is an eclectic mix of buildings, warehouses, and offices. Apparently, the buildings house mostly live/work units and are available for lease to artists only – ie. graphic designers, painters, photographers. The complex is located in an industrial part of town, out in the middle of nowhere, which led me to wonder how in the heck a location scout would even find out about it. But my boyfriend said since the compound has such a unique look, it is probably used in productions all the time and therefore is well known in the scouting world. The entire area is gated and not usually open to the public, but luckily when I showed up to stalk the place it was open for an art gallery showing. 🙂 Yay! I can’t really recommend stalking the complex, though, because besides the fact that it is normally closed to the public, there also just isn’t really that much to see.

Rob Greer’s blog post about the CSI: Miami filming is a great read with tons of pictures and I highly recommend giving it a glance. According to Rob, set dressers came to his studio the day before the filming and spent quite a few hours dressing the space with living room furniture and a large chandelier so that it would look more like a home. But the following morning, when the director arrived on set, he took one look at the living room set-up and wanted it all removed! LOL Only in Hollywood! Rob Greer’s experience with the cast and crew of CSI: Miami was exactly on par with my encounter with them a few months back. He said they were incredibly nice and friendly, especially David Caruso, whom he describes as “really warm and genuine”. 🙂 I’m telling you, the CSI: Miami cast is like no other!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Rob Greer Photography is located at 678 South Avenue 21 in Los Angeles. Be careful not to trespass on the property, though, because, as I mentioned above, the area is not usually open to the public.