Los Angeles: On Location

By Manda

Well, y'all, it's my turn. I live in Los Angeles. The number one question people ask me is the following, "Do you see famous people ever?"

The short answer is that yes, sometimes I see famous people. But seeing a famous person in the "wild" is much different than seeing them all glossed up on a red carpet! They're hard to recognize in person, especially if they're not wearing makeup and are in their sweats (and yet, I DID still manage to recognize a very rumpled Rachel Hunter at Best Buy once. And Kevin Nealon too. He is very tall). The guys who are easy to spot are the professional athletes, usually basketball players because they are so very tall ... and even then I usually have no idea who they are. The best way to know if a celeb is around is seeing a ton of photographers loitering around the outside of some store (they are prohibited from following anyone over the threshold of a private business). Most locals just get irritated by all the shenanigans and move away from the scene as quickly as possible.

Anyway! At the risk of this post turning into a "Celebrities! They're just like us!" post, let's talk about the famous stuff I DO recognize on television all the time: My 'hood. To explain my city a little better, I find the following "map" useful. You see, the city limits are just preposterously huge! Calling LA a city is just ... it doesn't work. It is SO spread out. We have a downtown but it's not like downtown Chicago (I grew up in the suburbs) or Boston or ... any of those. This map tries to show the scale by cramming other cities inside LA's city limits, just for comparison's sake. I would say it's more like a bunch of suburbs all crammed together.

{map via Facebook.com}

(I live west of Manhattan)

What I will say is that they don't call this place Tinseltown for nothing! The entertainment industry is a enterprise that's alive and kicking here. Which is why there are so many celebs around (I wish they'd wear nametags though, jeesh). The one thing that has startled me about living where I do are the SETS I recognize when I watch television now. It seems like every time I watch a show, no matter where it's set, my husband and I do a "Hey! That's our (fill in the blank)!" It kinda kills the magic, you know? Especially when a story is set in New York or Florida or some such nonsense. My fellow locals can tell you ... WE KNOW THAT IS NOT FLORIDA.

For instance? The diner where Don Draper's secretary-turned-babysitter-soon-to-turn-fiancee Meghan helps the kids clean up their spilled milkshake? It's Dinah's, a chicken joint that I pass every time I visit my local Target. In fact, movie and television crews seem to swarm that joint A LOT. Once we saw Nas' tour bus parked outside!

And then! On Modern Family's "Express Christmas" episode -- speaking of Target -- Claire and Hayley go to MY Target! It's located on the inside of a shopping mall and there's no mistaking that entryway ... I see it several times a week! I've actually recognized quite a few backdrops on Modern Family.

I see TV cops running down the parkway that I run down just outside the airport ALL the time! Most recently Regina King was chasing a thug down on SouthLAnd (she was also a student at the high school where I coached once. Word). This is another show that if you live here, you'll recognize a lot. I actually really love this about SouthLAnd ... most of what they film is on location so you get to see a lot of LA, and not just the pretty, fake, "Hollywood" stuff.

{photo via TVGuide.com}

And even more recently my husband was on a jog when he got held up by a film crew on the same corner, he chatted them up and learned they were filming an episode of CSI (I cannot remember which one it was but is was decidedly NOT Los Angeles).

You know the opening scene of Hancock where Will Smith character's all drunk and stopping an insane car chase? That's MY stretch of the 105 freeway!

Once I came home from the store to see that there were signs up all over my neighborhood ... Entourage was going to be filming there, so don't park on your own street! Well LA-TEE-DAH.

We have a local bowling alley that's also a hot bed for television shows. We see trailers and lights and the whole shebang parked outside all the time and I'm pretty sure I recognized our bowling alley's interior on United States of Tara.

Oh and of course, the iconic Randy's Donuts? With the giant donut on top? The one that Buster from Arrested Development tries to eat? The one that Ironman 2's Robert Downey Junior is hanging out on while nonchalantly eating a donut? That's my donut shop. DUDE.

{my photo. of my donut shop mug. I LIKE DONUTS OKAY.}

My list goes on and on. I never really see that many celebrities, but you can bet your bottom dollar that if a scene has been filmed at one of my usual hot spots I can pick it out pretty easy. Don't even get me started on Santa Monica Pier, Dodger Stadium (hello, every cop show has at least one dead body outside the parking lot there), Tito's Tacos (careful the Tito's link autoplays music) or The Grove which is in everything.

Tell me, have you ever watched a show and gone "Oh CRAP! That's my in-laws' condominium complex!"? Because I have. AND IT IS WEIRD!

Comments

[Kate]

Jay and Gloria's house on Modern Family is across the street from my Aunt and Uncle's house, and their house has been used in a few car commercials. Fun for those of us who don't live in the neighborhood, (my husband is still thrilled about talking Steelers football with Ed O'Neill the last time we were out) but less so for everyone there, as you mentioned.

(Their backyard was also searched by police when the whole OJ Simpson thing went down. It's a busy neighborhood!)

[Heather]

The next time I go see my friend in L.A. (Studio City, to be precise), I am printing this out and taking it with me! Donuts! Tacos! Diners!

This was a fun post!

[Tara]

I love this post. Next time I go see my FIL I am coming to see you. And the (outside of the) apartment where Steve Carrell lived in 40 Year Old Virgin was shot at my FIL's complex. :)

[Jesabes]

This is so cool, Manda. All I've got is my uncle worked on the set of Twister when it filmed here (in Iowa). Well, not so much "worked" as was on hand. He's a fire fighter and they were there as a precaution.