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SHOOT: Justin Hartley Films EMILY OWENS M.D. at the University of British Columbia

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.

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BIG READ: Steveston & Fort Langley Messed Up By Magic for ONCE UPON A TIME

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

SHOOT: Party on a Bus for a PSYCH Wedding?

Santa Barbara senior detective Carleton “Lassie” Lassiter (Timothy Omundson) fell in love in season six of Psych in what seemed to be a doomed relationship with Marlowe Viccelli (Kristy Swanson), a woman who is sent to prison for stealing blood for her brother — “My dear Marlowe. I will wait for you these six to eighteen months. See you next Wednesday,” Carleton vowed.

Marlowe is played by the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Kristy Swanson. She has been spotted in Vancouver filming two episodes of season seven of Psych so far. The first one at the Burnaby Youth Detention Centre, meaning she’s probably still in jail. And the second one last week at the River Rock Casino in Richmond, where people saw Shawn “Psychic” Spencer (James Roday), his BFF Burton “Gus” Guster (Dule Hill) and Lassiter (Timothy Omundson) wearing tuxes. Is this for a Carleton-Marlowe wedding?  Earlier in the week, I found Psych filming inside the Speakeasy Sports Bar on Broadway (bachelor party?) and then last Friday night at a school in east Vancouver dressed as the Santa Ynez Police Department with an American flag on the flag pole. Out of the Phat Cat Limousine Bus with the back sticker — Carleton and Marlowe: Last Fling Before the Ring! — trooped Roday, Hill and Omundson with an unindentified guest star in hand cuffs. No Swanson in sight. This being Psych anything could happen, but it warms my heart that Lassiter stayed true to Marlowe for at least six to eighteen months.

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YVRSHOOT: Magic Makes a Big Mess of Steveston’s Moncton Street in ONCE UPON A TIME 2×02

Magic has made a big mess of Main Street in Storybrooke (played by Moncton Street in Steveston south of Vancouver) for modern-day fairy tale series Once Upon a Time in episode two of the second season. Main Street is a disaster zone, with uprooted ashphalt, overturned and smashed-up cars, a downed telephone pole, blown-out windows, and the hull of a boat near the main intersection. Fortunately, the many local fans of the show could see some main cast alive and well amid the debris on the artfully-destroyed street.

Meghan Ory, Lee Arenberg and the Evil Queen herself, Lana Parrilla, did some early morning scenes, leaving the afternoon for Josh Dallas to chase a Mad Hat (see if you can spot the black top hat in the photos below) east along the street and then into the alley next to Storybrooke Country Bread. Dallas ran and ran and ran all afternoon in stages, and then met with fans at the finish. As I’ve said before, he’s a Prince Charming in real life, too.

When I returned in the evening, it looked like Josh Dallas was in for another bout of running, but to chase the Mad Hatter himself, Sebastian Stan, not a Mad Hat. Stan soaked his shirt with perspiration running west down the street in the evening heat. Why was he running from Charming? It seems the Mad Hatter knows something about the whereabouts of Ginnifer Goodwin’s Snow White and Jennifer Morrison’s Emma Swan, who are nowhere to be seen in Storybrooke. What’s happened to them? We’ll have to wait until season two begins airing to find out.

I don’t know how Once Upon a Time filmed so many scenes and managed the hundreds of fans who flocked to set all day and evening long. Read More »YVRSHOOT: Magic Makes a Big Mess of Steveston’s Moncton Street in ONCE UPON A TIME 2×02

Supernatural Films Season 8 Premiere at the University of British Columbia

Seeing both of the Winchester brothers filming the Supernatural season eight premiere at the University of British Columbia would have been quite the spoiler if producers hadn’t already revealed that it takes place a year after the events of the season seven finale and that Dean Winchester’s time in Purgatory will be told mainly through flashbacks. In today’s scene, Jensen Ackles’s Dean Winchester and Jared Padalecki’s Sam Winchester stroll down the Main Mall outside the CHEM building dressed in suits amid background performers.

I arrived just as they wrapped at the CHEM building so I decided to head to the White Spot outlet on the west side of the Main Mall to pick up a Triple-O burger. Halfway there, I realized that Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki were headed to the same place, tossing a football back and forth on the way. Supernatural had booked the patio for the next scene.

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