The Office Filming Locations – Page 4

April 23, 2010July 22, 2010

Sid & Dexter’s Sports Bar from the “Happy Hour” episode of “The Office”

As I mentioned yesterday, one location that fellow stalker Lavonna was absolutely dying to stalk while she was in town last week was Sid & Dexter’s Sports Bar, the arcade/restaurant which appeared in the Season 6 episode of The Office entitled “Happy Hour”. So, before her arrival, I called upon fellow stalker Owen for some help in tracking the place down, but, unfortunately, the two of us came up completely empty-handed. My first instinct was that filming had taken place at one of the local branches of the popular Dave & Buster’s restaurant chain, but after looking at photographs of all of the D&B’s located in the L.A. area and comparing them to the screen captures of The Office that Lavonna had sent me, I couldn’t find a match. So, after a few hours of searching, Owen and I came to the unfortunate conclusion that Sid & Dexter’s was most likely not a real location, but a set that had been built solely for the filming of the “Happy Hour” episode. Lavonna was sorely disappointed over this discovery, as was I, because I knew how badly she wanted to stalk the place. But then, this past Friday, while stalking Scranton Business Park, I had an inspired idea. Because the security guard manning the front gate was so incredibly nice, I decided to ask her whether she knew where the “Happy Hour” episode had been filmed. And, lo and behold, she did! She told us that filming had taken place at a restaurant/arcade next to a bowling alley somewhere on Universal CityWalk. And, let me tell you, I almost fell over when I heard that. Usually when I meet crew members and ask them about locations, they have no recollection whatsoever about where a filming took place, even if they were actually on the set that particular day! So, for the security guard to know where the “Happy Hour” episode was shot, when she had never actually been there was absolutely incredible to me! Yay! So, Lavonna, her daughter, Melissa, her friend, Debbie, and I immediately headed over to Universal CityWalk to try to track down Sid & Dexter’s!

My initial plan of attack was to visit each and every restaurant located on Universal CityWalk until we found the right one. Thankfully, though, that wasn’t necessary. Fairly immediately upon entering the outdoor shopping center, Lavonna spotted a sign for the chain restaurant Jillian’s and thought it might be the right spot. And, sure enough, it was! In actuality, Sid & Dexter’s Sports Bar is a restaurant/arcade/bowling alley/billiards bar named Jillian’s. Sadly, though, it has been completely remodeled since its onscreen appearance and no longer looks anything like it did when filming took place. According to one of the super nice bartenders we spoke with, The Office filmed at Jillian’s for an entire week, just after the place had closed its doors to the public to begin the remodel process. As soon as filming wrapped, the ENTIRE place was completely gutted and the rebuilding began. The single, solitary decor item that remains from the old design is the above pictured cartoon which is now hanging on a wall in the billiards room. Such a bummer!

The Jillian’s staff could NOT have been nicer, though, and took us on our own personal tour of the restaurant to show us where filming took place and to explain what the former layout used to look like. As you can see in the above photograph and screen capture, the place is COMPLETELY unrecognizable from its Office appearance. 🙁

Thankfully, though, the ticket machines still look identical to how they appeared on the show, so, at least there’s that. 🙂

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Lavonna had desperately wanted to see the zebra-print wall which appeared in the background throughout most of the “Happy Hour” episode. Sadly, though, it had been thrown out during the remodel and that area was then transformed into the ticket redemption counter (pictured above).

And while Jillian’s still makes use of the actual pool tables which appeared in The Office, they have since been moved to a different part of the restaurant.

Lavonna also wanted to see the Whac-A-Mole arcade game that Dwight (aka Rainn Wilson) and Isabel (aka Kelen Coleman) played on the show, but the bartender informed us that that particular game was brought in by producers solely for the filming. The dance machine that Andy (aka Ed Helms), Kelly (aka Ellie Kemper), Ryan (aka B.J. Novak), and the other Kelly (aka Mindy Kaling) played on, however, is a real game that can still be found at Jillian’s.

So, of course, Melissa and I just had to pose on it. 🙂

The bartender ended up asking Jillian’s two general managers to come out so that we could ask them all sorts of silly questions about the filming of The Office, and, let me tell you, they could NOT have been nicer. They talked to us for a good twenty minutes and when they heard how upset Lavonna was over not being able to see that zebra-print wall, they ended up giving her the above “Sid & Dexter’s” sign which appeared in the “Happy Hour” episode! How incredibly cool is that?? I mean, talk about the ultimate Office keepsake!

The managers also showed us a bowling pin that the entire Office cast had signed during the filming. That’s Melissa posing with it in the above picture. So darn cool!

They also informed us that Justin Bieber had recently filmed his “Baby” video in the bowling alley located on Jillian’s second level. So, of course, we had to go stalk that, too.

I am very happy to report that the bowling alley portion of the restaurant was not altered during the recent remodel and still looks EXACTLY the same as it did in the video. Yay!

You can watch Justin’s “Baby” video by clicking above. I so love the line, “She had me going crazy, Oh I was starstruck, She woke me up daily, Don’t need no Starbucks!” LOL Although, I don’t think there’s a guy in existence who could make it so that I didn’t need Starbucks in the morning. 😉

While we were stalking Jillian’s bowling alley, we ran into another SUPER nice bartender named Rashid, who actually made a brief appearance in the background of the “Happy Hour” episode of The Office! He was supposed to have a speaking role in the episode and producers even went so far as to make him shave his head for the part, but, sadly, as so often happens in Hollywood, his scene wound up on the cutting room floor. 🙁 We are hoping it will be featured in the “Deleted Scenes” section of The Office’s yet-to-be-released Season 6 DVD set, though.

You can catch a glimpse of Rashid in the background behind the Sid & Dexter’s manager in the above pictured screenshot. So cool!

We had a blast hanging out at Jillian’s and I honestly cannot recommend stalking the place enough, even though it no longer bears any sort of resemblance to Sid & Dexter’s. The staff truly could NOT have been nicer, the prices were very reasonable, the food was excellent, and the ambiance was lively and fun! Jillian’s is definitely a place I will be returning to again and again!

On a Justin Bieber side note – For those who have yet to see his first appearance on Chelsea Lately which aired back in December, you really must tune in! The kid is absolutely adorable and HILARIOUS and truly holds his own against Chelsea, which is a pretty amazing feat for a 15-year old!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Jillian’s, aka Sid & Dexter’s Sports Bar from the “Happy Hour” episode of The Office, can be found at 1000 Universal Studios Boulevard, on Universal CityWalk, in Universal City. The bowling alley where Justin Bieber filmed his “Baby” video can be found on the restaurant’s second level. You can visit the Jillian’s website here.

April 22, 2010July 22, 2010

Scranton Business Park from”The Office”

The one filming location that fellow stalker Lavonna was absolutely NOT getting on a plane back to Cincinnati without stalking last week was the Van Nuys building which stands in for Scranton Business Park, where the Pennsylvania branch of Dunder Mifflin, Inc. Paper Company is located, each week on the hit television series The Office. And, even though, I have yet to watch even one episode of the show, because I know how popular The Office is with my fellow stalkers, I jumped at the chance to tag along with her to see the location for myself. I should explain here that Lavonna is an absolute MASTER STALKER! Honestly, Lindsay Blake has got nothing on her! In fact, she’s even taught me a thing or two! Lavonna comes out to Hollywood at least once a year for a stalking vacation and her trips are centered solely around visiting filming locations, touring movie studios, and attending television and talk show tapings. A typical L.A. vacation day for her begins at around 8 a.m. with the taping of a television show, which is followed up with the taping of yet another show at around 2 p.m., with a few stops in between at various filming locations and movie studios. She starts stalking at the crack of dawn and doesn’t stop until night falls. A woman after my own heart, I swear! She really should be a Hollywood travel agent, cause, let me tell you, she knows how to do this city right! 🙂

Back in January, Lavonna posted a challenge on my site asking readers to track down the Scranton Business Park building where Dwight (aka Rainn Wilson), Jim (aka John Krasinksi) and Pam (aka Jenna Fischer) report to work each morning. And, lo and behold, just a few days later, a fellow stalker identifying himself as “Snidley Whiplash” – which just so happens to be the name of the villain in the Dudley Do-Right cartoon series – responded with a list of numerous Office locations, including the building Lavonna so badly wanted to see. As it turns out the building is actually a part of Chandler Valley Center Studios, the very studio where The Office is filmed. So, bright and early this past Friday morning, Lavonna, her daughter, Melissa, her friend, Debbie, and I headed out to Van Nuys to do a little “Scranton” stalking. Randomly enough, a few fellow stalkers had actually emailed me prior to Lavonna’s visit to let me know about their experiences stalking The Office set. Most of them had been extremely lucky during their stalk and not only met some of the cast members, but got to take photographs with them, as well. I was hoping we might have the same sort of luck, but, sadly, the series’ had wrapped its Sixth Season two weeks prior and no cast member were on the lot while we were there. 🙁

There was a security guard on duty manning the front gate while we were there, though, and she TRULY could NOT have been nicer to us! Not only did she let us take all of the pictures of the studio that we wanted, but she also spent a good twenty minutes speaking with us and answering all of our silly questions about the cast and the filming of The Office. And, best of all, she even pointed us in the direction of the bar/arcade which appeared in the Season 6 episode of the show entitled “Happy Hour” – a location which Lavonna had feverishly been searching for before her visit. But I’ll save that story for tomorrow’s post. 🙂 (Please excuse the craptastic screen captures pictured above – I downloaded one episode of The Office off of iTunes and, wouldn’t you know, it was an episode which only featured nighttime shots of Scranton Business Park. Ugh!)

I had also heard from a few fellow stalkers that several “Dunder Mifflin, Inc.” and “Vance Refrigeration” signs were posted on the exterior of the Chandler Valley Center Studios building, but, sadly, they had all been removed two weeks prior when filming wrapped. The only Office decor left over from the filming that we could see while we were stalking the place were the parking signs for Bob Vance(aka Robert R. Shafer), president of Vance Refrigeration, and Michael Scott (aka Steve Carell), regional manager of Dunder Mifflin, Inc. Paper Company. And, even though I don’t watch the show, it was incredibly exciting to see those two signs! I can’t tell you how cool I think it is that they are visible to the public!

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When I told fellow stalker Owen about Friday’s Office stalking adventures, he sent me a bunch of photographs of the studio that he had taken back in September of 2008 while he was visiting the Los Angeles area with his brother. As you can see in the above pictures, when the show is not on hiatus, the “Scranton Business Park” and “Dunder Mifflin, Inc.” signs are out in full force! So darn cool! I’m so going to have to go back to stalk the studio again once The Office starts filming next season!

Owen also snapped some pictures of Michael’s office window, which is shown quite frequently on the series . . .

. . . and Dwight’s Trans-Am, which he spotted right out in front of the Scranton Business Park building.

The interior of the Scranton Business Park building actually houses The Office production offices. The soundstage where the interior Office scenes are filmed can be found directly next door and just due west of Scranton Business Park.

I honestly can’t recommend stalking Chandler Valley Center Studios enough! I don’t even watch The Office and I was still incredibly excited to be seeing Scranton Business Park in person. But what made our experience extra-special was the super friendly security guard. I can’t tell you how much fun stalking can be when the people working on the set are nice! Love it!

Big THANK YOU to Owen for letting me post his Office stalking pictures on my site and to “Snidley Whiplash” for telling me the location of the Scranton Business Center!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Scranton Business Park from The Office, aka Chandler Valley Center Studios, is located at 13927 Saticoy Street in Van Nuys.

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.

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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.