Another day of filming of Arrow. Another day of stunts. It’s non-stop action for this kick-ass show. Today started with the Oliver Queen stunt double climbing up a wall in a downtown alley, soon to be replaced by Oliver Queen himself, Stephen Amell.
Read More »ARROW Star Stephen Amell Up a Wall in a Downtown Vancouver Alley for Ep. 1×03 – Updated
It was Timothy Omundson’s turn to shiiine tonight in a The Shining-themed season six episode called Heeeeere’s Lassie on Global TV. His normally buttoned-down Santa Barbara police detective Carlton “Lassie” Lassiter goes psycho after buying a condominium in the Prospect Gardens apartments, a place he comes to believe is haunted. And that forces this skeptic to hire the services of James Roday’s psychic detective Shawn Spencer and his BFF, Dule Hill’s Burton “Gus” Guster, who come dressed as ghost busters.
James Roday directed this episode with a lot of horror film sight gags, like a pregnant woman named Rosemary (Rosemary’s Baby) and the twin old ladies, boy on a toy bicycle, chandelier dripping with blood, labyrinth in the basement and a dishevelled Lassie chasing Gus through it (The Shining). Here’s Omundson below looking very Jack Nicholson emerging from the building after filming. And this is what he tweeted after wrapping the episode last summer: “Just got in from a Looooong day at work. Well…5 of them to be exact. Gonna clean my gun, press my bullet proof vest and hit the rack.”
Read More »PSYCH 6×11 Heeeeere’s Lassie in the West End on Global TV
In early May, Continuum filled the 600 block Thurlow in downtown Vancouver with 125 extras, flashing prop Vancouver police cars, an emergency vehicle and a firetruck to film scenes of a bomb scare evacuation for last night’s season finale, featuring stars Rachel Nichols and Victor Webster and guest stars Ian Tracey (Da Vinci’s Inquest, Intelligence, Sanctuary), as the wonderfully wacky man from the future, and Nicholas Lea (The X-Files, V), as a suspicious CSIS officer. Unfortunately this bomb scare turned out to be a diversion and the building that Liber8 had targeted was the iconic Arthur Erickson-designed concrete tower at 1075 West Georgia next door.
Read More »Ian Tracey and Nicholas Lea Guest-Star on CONTINUUM Season One Finale
On Continuum’s season finale entitled Endtime, Rachel Nichols’s Kiera Cameron and Erik Knudsen’s Alec Sandler race to prevent a 2012 terrorist attack which defines the future, set off by Tony Amedola’s Liber8 leader Kagame, who’d been sent back in time to do exactly this. I saw them film Nichols and Knudsen running into the iconic Arthur Erickson-designed building at 1075 West Georgia Street in Vancouver in early May in take after take. Zooming in, I could see them in conversation with someone in a police uniform but never suspected it was Tony Amendola’s Kagame. Watching the finished product last night, I wondered if the late Arthur Erickson would be pleased or annoyed to see his building digitally destroyed like this on screen. I think he would be pleased.
Read More »CONTINUUM Digitally Explodes Arthur Erickson-Designed Building in Season One Finale
Upcoming TV series Arrow kicked glass — literally — at CBC Vancouver late Friday night. A Green Arrow stunt double burst through a “candy glass” window on the east wall feet first to the sounds of prop gunfire. Crew had spent the day setting up for this and we were hopeful that star Stephen Amell, who quietly boasts of doing roughly 75% of his own stunts, would perform this one. But not when there’s glass involved. Even stunt glass. Filming lasted overnight so Amell could have got plenty of action inside, which we couldn’t see, facing off against arch-villain Deadshot played by Michael Rowe, who tweeted he was on set. It’s a good bet that it was Deadshot who fired a prop rifle out of the open window on the left earlier in the evening. We’ll have to wait to see the third episode to find out, but clearly this show has not let up on the kick-assedness of its pilot.
Read More »ARROW Kicks Glass (and Ass) at CBC Vancouver for Ep. 1×03
Published August 3rd on Vancouver is Awesome. A week today, about a hundred Fringe fans from around the world will gather in Vancouver at The… Read More »BIG READ: The FRINGE Event, Calling All Fringe Fans
The University of British Columbia campus is pretty deserted in the summer months so there weren’t many students around yesterday to notice that their Irving K. Barber Learning Centre had been renamed Denver Memorial Hospital again so that hospital drama series Emily Owens, M.D. could film some quick scenes at the main entrance with a prop Denver Memorial ambulance parked out front in the sunshine and lots of background performers dressed in hospital scrubs milling about.
It’s been four months since Emily Owens M.D. (then called First Cut) filmed scenes for the pilot at Irving K. Barber of its star Mamie Gummer (Meryl Streep’s daughter) walking in and out the front doors as Emily, a social nerd and surgical intern who finds life at Denver Memorial Hospital a lot like high school, where the popular students are people like real-life former model Justin Hartley (the Green Arrow on Smallville) as Will, a fellow surgical intern and Emily’s big crush.
I didn’t expect to see Justin Hartley (with glasses) on Emily Owens M.D.’s first day back shooting in Vancouver (August 1st) so my photos below aren’t the best. He certainly is crush-worthy and in a CW teaser for the show we see Emily admit to Will how much she likes him. “I’m so sorry. I just don’t see you like that,” he replies kindly. Oops. How embarrassing and endearing of Emily. No wonder CW execs see Emily Owens as the next Ally McBeal.
Read More »SHOOT: Justin Hartley Films EMILY OWENS M.D. at the University of British Columbia
Once Upon a Time’s Charming family — Josh Dallas’s Prince Charming, Ginnifer Goodwin’s Snow White and Jennifer Morrison’s Emma Swan — on set today in Steveston… Read More »YVRSHOOT: ONCE UPON A TIME’s Charming Family Films Season 2 Premiere in Steveston
Published July 30th on Vancouver is Awesome
How big a hit is Once Upon a Time? The rookie fairy tale series was American TV’s second biggest drama hit (in the prized 18-49 demo) last season, below veteran Grey’s Anatomy but above veteran NCIS. And that’s put the fictional town of Storybrooke, Maine, on the map. Filmed in metro Vancouver, pieces of Storybrooke can pop up anywhere from Steveston to North Vancouver to New Westminster to Fort Langley, but Main Street is usually Moncton Street in the village of Steveston and sometimes Glover Road in the village of Fort Langley, 50 kilometres away.
In last season’s jam-packed finale, a couple of things happened: the curse was broken so all the fairy tale characters trapped in Storybrooke for 28 years now know who they really are and soon after, magic swept through the town courtesy of Rumplestiltskin. And what a mess that magic has made in season two, as we see from on-location shoots in Steveston last week and Fort Langley the week before for episode two. Crew turned two blocks of Moncton Street in Steveton into a disaster zone, with a big green-screen hole in the Storybrooke Hardware & Paint sign, uprooted ashphalt, overturned and smashed-up cars, a downed telephone pole, blown-out windows, and the hull of a boat near the main intersection. Over on Glover Road in Fort Langley, the windows in the Storybrooke Town Hall (Community Centre) were boarded up, posters of The Missing covered the town boards, a fire truck and fire fighters were on hand and the populace was in relief mode handing out blankets, bottles of water and toilet paper.
Fortunately, fans in both locations got to see main cast alive and well amid the destruction and to meet them too, with a couple of big exceptions: Ginnifer Goodwin’s Snow White and Jennifer Morrison’s Emma Swan are nowhere to be found in Storybrooke. What’s happened to them?
Read More »BIG READ: Steveston & Fort Langley Messed Up By Magic for ONCE UPON A TIME
