Tina Fey – IAMNOTASTALKER

July 19, 2019July 18, 2019

LOVE Park from “Shazam!”

I am a complete and total girly-girl, especially when it comes to anything having to do with love, hearts or romance. So when I headed to Philadelphia in September 2016, John F. Kennedy Plaza, aka LOVE Park, was at the top of my To-Stalk List – or rather the iconic LOVE statute that serves as its focal point was. Unbeknownst to me, the space was actually undergoing a two-year renovation at the time of our visit and closed to the public. I did get to see the sculpture, though, at a temporary display site in Dilworth Park in front of City Hall, a literal stone’s throw away from its usual home. The two spots are in such close proximity, in fact (they sit kitty-corner from each other across 15th Street), that it was not until perusing my photographs in preparation for this post that I realized I never actually set foot in LOVE Park during my trip! Regardless, after learning of the site’s fascinating history (and its connection to a certain Hollywood star), as well as of its recent cameo in the 2019 superhero film Shazam! (available on DVD and streaming now), I figured a blog about it was in order.

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LOVE Park was originally conceived of in 1932 by Cornell University architecture student Edmund Bacon, then 22, while working on his thesis, though it would not come to fruition for several decades. After graduating, Bacon spent time traveling around the world and eventually secured an architecture job in Shanghai. He then served in World War II before finally returning to his hometown of Philadelphia where he founded and then became the Executive Director of the City Planning Commission, a position he held from 1949 through 1970. During his tenure, Bacon spearheaded many projects to beautify the area, including finally enacting his college thesis idea of developing a municipal park to cover an underground parking garage that neighbored City Hall.

Bacon brought in his former Cornell University classmate Vincent George Kling to design the park, which opened to the public in 1965. Two years later, it was dedicated as “John F. Kennedy Plaza,” though it is more commonly referred to as “LOVE Park” thanks to the large Robert Indiana-designed LOVE sculpture that sits at its center. Measuring 6 feet by 6 feet by 3 feet, the shiny red, purple and green installation was first displayed on the premises, on temporary loan from the artist, in 1976 as part of the United States bicentennial celebration. Its return to Indiana in 1978 was met with much woe, so Philadelphia Art Commission president (and owner of the 76ers) Fitz Eugene Dixon Jr. rectified the situation, personally purchasing the piece to exhibit permanently in the Plaza.

In February 2016, John F. Kennedy Plaza was shuttered for the aforementioned renovation project which cost $26 million and took 2 years to complete. During the interim, the LOVE statue was moved to Dilworth Park, just south of the Philadelphia Municipal Services Building, as pictured below.

It was finally reinstated in February 2018 and the park re-opened to the public in May of that same year. The new design, which features two gardens, a great lawn, a fountain, and regular events including weekday food truck offerings, has been widely lamented by area denizens. An apparent shadow of its former self, The Philadelphia Citizen described the bleak space as “an enormous sidewalk,” while The Philadelphia Inquirer dubbed it a “granite Sahara,” and the Street Dept. blog went so far as to plead with locals to close their accounts with Bank of America, as the company funded a portion of the revamp. You can check out some images of LOVE Park pre- and post-overhaul here and here, respectively.

Aside from the LOVE statue, John F. Kennedy Plaza is perhaps best known for being a huge skateboarding mecca during the ‘80s and ‘90s, which brought the park worldwide attention, but also drew ire from some locals resulting in a long battle that caused the city to ban skating there in 1994. Many welcomed the activity, though, so the law was not strictly enforced and teens continued to shred it up on the premises until 2002 when the site underwent a renovation under the order of Mayor John F. Street which essentially made skating at the park obsolete. That project was met with much disdain, too, from countless Philadelphians including Edmund Bacon himself who, on October 28th of that year, hosted a protest of sorts by riding a skateboard through the Plaza – at the age of 92! As he stated to media outlets that day, “And now I, Edmund N. Bacon, in total defiance of Mayor Street and the council of the city of Philadelphia, hereby exercise my rights as a citizen of the United States and I deliberately skate in my beloved LOVE Park.” After his brief glide, he joyously proclaimed, “Oh God, thank you, thank you, thank you! My whole damn life has been worth it just for this moment!” You can check out a great video of the event here. Though Bacon is often referred to as “The Father of Modern Philadelphia” thanks to the huge mark he left on the City of Brotherly Love, I was thrilled to discover that his actual lineage is pretty darn noteworthy, too. Edmund, you see, is dad to none other than actor Kevin Bacon! And the LOVE Park’s Hollywood connection doesn’t end there.

In Shazam!, Dr. Sivana (Mark Strong) and Shazam (Zachary Levi) face off in a battle in the sky above LOVE Park.

During the fight, Sivana attempts to shoot Shazam with a laser, but misses and accidentally hits the William Penn statue atop City Hall instead, causing it to crash down to John F. Kennedy Plaza below.

LOVE Park also popped up in the 2009 comedy Baby Mama as the spot where Rob (Greg Kinnear) pretends to propose to Kate (Tina Fey) during a musical montage.

It is shown very briefly in an establishing shot of Philadelphia towards the end of the film, as well.

Noble Fox’s 2015 “What You Want” music video, which you can watch here, was also lensed at LOVE Park.

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: John F. Kennedy Plaza, aka LOVE Park from Shazam!, is located at Arch and 16th Streets in Philadelphia’s Center City neighborhood.

August 11, 2010August 11, 2010

The “Date Night” House

Last night, the Grim Cheaper and I sat down to watch the movie Date Night which FINALLY came out on DVD this week. We somehow missed seeing the flick in theatres when it first came out in April and I have been not-so-patiently waiting for it to be released on DVD ever since. Especially since Mike, from MovieShotsLA, tracked down the house which belonged to Phil and Claire Foster (played by Steve Carell and Tina Fey, respectively) in it over four months ago. Because I suffer from the need for immediate gratification, I actually stalked the place immediately after Mike told me its location and, as you can imagine, have been ABSOLUTELY DYING to see the movie ever since – even though the previews didn’t look especially promising. I have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised while watching it, too – despite what the reviews said, Date Night is a really cute movie! It’s heartwarming and sweet and laugh-out-loud funny. Not to mention the fact that Tina Fey and Steve Carell are exceptional in it! Loved it, loved it, loved it! But I digress!

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Mike tracked down the Date Night house pretty much immediately after seeing the movie in theatres. He knew from the get-go that the supposed New Jersey-area home was actually located somewhere in Pasadena thanks to these JFX Online paparazzi photos taken of Tina Fey and Leighton Meester during the filming. He also spotted an address number of “620” while watching the movie and from there used Google Street View to search all of the 600 blocks in the Pasadena area until he found the right residence. Thank you, Mike!

The Foster house actually shows up only a few times in Date Night, most notably in the ending scene in which Phil and Claire return home after their disastrous date in New York City.

And I am very happy to report that not only does the home look exactly the same in person as it did in the movie, but it is also ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE. In fact, it is almost too adorable. Had Mike not found the property’s real life location and had I not seen the place with my own two eyes, I would have been absolutely convinced that it was a fake house located on a studio backlot somewhere in Hollywood. The residence has that “studio” feel to it even in person and looks like it belongs on Wisteria Lane and not in the real world. 😉

As you can see in these photographs of the inside of the home, the real life interior of the property was also used in the filming.

And, ironically enough, the “Byzantine/Mediterranean” house that Claire tries to sell at the beginning of Date Night is located right next door to the Foster home, which makes things convenient for us stalkers.

On a Date Night side note – If you haven’t yet watched the bloopers reel featured at the end of the flick, you REALLY need to and can do so by clicking above. They are absolutely hilarious and really show how much fun the movie must have been to work on. It was actually watching stuff like this that first made me want to be an actor. Yes, the hours are long and the work is tedious, but in what other kind of career does one get to laugh as much as this??? 🙂

Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for finding these locations! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Phil and Claire Foster’s house from Date Night is located at 620 Vallombrosa Drive in Pasadena. The home that Claire tries to sell at the beginning of the movie is located right next door at 608 Vallombrosa Drive.

November 9, 2009November 8, 2009

The “30 Rock” Building

One of the locales at the very top of this year’s New York vacation’s must-stalk list was the main building featured on my new favorite television show 30 Rock. For some reason, until we rented the series earlier this past summer, neither my fiancé nor I had ever seen even a single episode of the NBC comedy. For years we had both heard how great the show was, but, for some odd reason, had never tuned in. So, when we finally sat down to watch Seasons 1, 2, and 3 in early June, I must say I had some pretty high hopes. And, to be honest, I really didn’t get what all the hoopla was about . . . until we watched the fifth episode of the series which was entitled “Jack-Tor”.! In the episode, GE Microwave Division executive Jack Donaghy (aka Alec Baldwin) tries to film an informational video about product placement for his staff to watch and, I swear, I don’t think I stopped laughing once during the show’s entire 22 minute duration! It was ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS. From that moment on not only did I completely love the show, but also one of its main actors – Alec Baldwin – which is something I NEVER before would have thought possible. Who knew Alec Baldwin was so funny?? Anyway, for those of you out there who have yet to see an episode of the series, I offer this piece of advice – you simply must tune in!!!! 🙂 Every episode is laugh-out-loud HILARIOUS – and, let me tell you, there is nothing I like to do more than laugh out loud! 🙂 So, while in New York last month, I, of course, just HAD to stalk the GE Building where Jack Donaghy, Liz Lemon, and the rest of the 30 Rock gang work on the series.

Because the GE Building (pictured above) is located at 30 Rockefeller Plaza it has been dubbed “30 Rock”, which is, of course, how the show got its name. And while the GE Building is, of course, famous in and of itself and has appeared in countless movie and television productions over the years, for today’s post I thought I would focus solely on its role in 30 Rock. The series, which was conceived and created by comedienne Tina Fey, centers around a group of writers and actors and their weekly struggles in putting together the fictional television show TGS with Tracy Jordan. TGS is based on the real life sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live, on which Tina Fey worked as an actor and head writer for over seven years. Because SNL is filmed each week on a soundstage inside of the GE Building, Tina decided to set her fictional series in the exact same location. In reality, though, while the GE Building is used for all exterior set-up shots on the show, 30 Rock is actually filmed inside of a soundstage on the Silvercup Studios lot in Queens.

Several different areas of the GE Building are featured prominently in the opening credits of 30 Rock (which you can watch here) each week and it was those areas that I set out to stalk while in New York last month. Ironically enough, though, because Rockefeller Center is so darn huge, I actually had a hard time finding the particular locations I wanted to stalk and had to ask a nearby policeman for help! LOL Thankfully, though, he was also a big fan of the show and was able to point me in the right direction. The first locale I wanted to stalk was the ornate gold-plated 30 Rockefeller Plaza sign that is shown towards the beginning of the opening credits. I wasn’t even sure where to begin looking for that particular placard, though, and had incorrectly assumed it would be located somewhere on one of the building’s exterior walls. In actuality, the sign is located on the ground just outside of the GE Building’s main entrance – and it’s absolutely HUGE in person!!! I had no idea it would that big! LOL It was so large, in fact, that we couldn’t take a very good picture of it as we couldn’t get the whole thing to fit in our camera lens. LOL

The next spot I wanted to stalk was the gold lettered “30 Rockefeller Plaza” sign with the grey marble background that quickly runs from right to left across the screen at the very end of the 30 Rock opening credits. It turns out that the sign is located just to the left of the GE Building’s main entrance and is extremely hard to see in person. The policemen actually pointed out the sign to me no less than four times before I could actually see it! LOL He actually had to walk up and physically touch it before I realized what he was talking about. LOL The sign is actually much smaller than I expected it to be and is very hard to see from far away, thanks to the reflection of the sun off its marble background.

And because we didn’t get very good photographs of it the first time around, we had to actually head back there the very next day to take some additional pictures, which is why I am wearing a different outfit in the above pic. 🙂 But you can tell how hard it is to see the sign from far away in the above photograph.

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And where is the GE Building’s side entrance which is also sometimes featured on the series? It’s actually just around the corner from the building’s main entrance and the two “30 Rockefeller Plaza” signs I talked about above. The side entrance is actually the main entrance of New York’s NBC Studios and is featured quite frequently on 30 Rock. Besides being shown regularly in establishing shots, the side entrance has also been used in the actual filming of certain episodes, as was the case in the Season Four opener entitled “Season Four” – LOL- in which Kenneth the Page leads his fellow pages along with a group of mall santas, horse whisperers, bucket drummers, and TGS’ two lead actors – again LOL – in a mass picket outside of NBC studios (pictured above). The demands of that picket, you ask? That GE exec Jack Donaghy sign a piece of paper stating “I am a big, old liar.” LOL LOL LOL

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I cannot tell you how cool it was to finally be able to stalk the various locations featured each week in the opening credits of 30 Rock! I could NOT have been more excited! 🙂 And for those of you out there who have never seen the show, you really need to start tuning in! However, I’d really recommend renting Season 1 and watching the series from the very beginning.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: As its name implies, the 30 Rock building, aka the GE building, is located at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York. Both of the gold-lettered “30 Rockefeller Plaza” signs can be found at the front entrance of the building. The first one is located on the ground directly outside of the building’s front doors and the second is located on the wall just to the right of the main entrance. The NBC Studios entrance can be found on 50th Street between Rockefeller Plaza and 6th Avenue. Liz Lemon’s apartment building – which I unfortunately did not stalk while in New York – is located at 160 Riverside Drive in New York’s Upper West Side.