L.A. CAMEO: Here's Where "Mad Men" Shot Those Burger Chef Scenes

My pal Pat over at Eating LA asked me the other day where "Mad Men" shot Sunday's Burger Chef scenes -- including the moment where Don, Peggy and Pete dig into some greasy burgers. I checked with the "Mad Men" folks, and they could only tell me that it was shot at an empty restaurant in Rialto, Calif.

A quick bit of Google searches later, I finally found Roadside Peak's 2005 mention of Rialto's Jim's Burgers. A bit more Googling, and I got the address and then a Google Images snapshot from 2012 (above).



Yep, this is it, spruced up quite nice. Here's the cool part: This actually once was a Burger Chef location. Just about as authentic as you can get! Here's an illustration of what the Burger Chef restaurants once looked like:



The former Jim's Burgers location can be found at 765 East Foothill Boulevard -- that's Route 66, adding even more classic flair -- in Rialto. (Here's the Yelp entry.) It looks a lot nicer now than this photo of the interior uploaded in 2011. Hell, someone ought to take advantage of the newly restored joint and actually revive Burger Chef there!



Franklin Avenue was last in Rialto to visit the famed Wigwam Motel (the one with the teepee hotel rooms) on Route 66, for Chris Nichols' birthday. Read all about it here. Also, check out more of our "Mad Men" location scouting here.

And now, a montage of classic Burger Chef spots. Maybe Peggy and Don came up with a few of these?



Photo credits: Justina Mintz/AMC

L.A. Cameo: Here Are the Actual Sites From "Mad Men's" Season 7 Premiere

On AMC's "Mad Men," not only does Los Angeles play New York, but it sometimes gets to play itself too. We've chronicled quite a few "Mad Men" shooting locations over the years, including the Victorian home in last season's finale that doubled for Don Draper's childhood whorehouse. Now "Mad Men" is back for its seventh and final season, and it looks like the show will rely even more on Los Angeles locales (now that some of the show's characters actually reside in the 1969 version of our city). Above, you can see Don Draper (Jon Hamm) in front of one of the 1960s-era tile mosaics found at LAX. Here are more sites from episode 1:



(Sorry for the bad coloring here... for some reason I had a difficult time taking screen shots last night.) Above and below, Megan Draper (Jessica Pare) picks up her hubby Don at the Trans World Airlines terminal at LAX.

Here's a pull back shot of LAX from the episode. BUT wait a sec... that's not LAX at all! It's actually the old terminal at Ontario International Airport. Yep, although the shot of Don on the people mover was indeed filmed at LAX, the outdoor scene between Megan and Don was filmed many miles away in Ontario.



Above and below, here's Terminal One now, which is used for offices and storage.



Film shoots at the Ontario airport are also a regular sight -- "Argo" filmed its airport scenes here.



Above and below, Don and Megan meet Megan's new Los Angeles agent at a fancy restaurant. It's never revealed where they're supposed to be. Maybe Scandia? Chasen's?



In real life, the scene was shot at the infamous Dresden Room on Los Feliz, made famous by "Swingers" and still the home of Marty and Elayne!



The Dresden has been around since 1954, so maybe that indeed is where Megan and Don were dining.



Above and below, Joan (Christina Hendricks) meets Wayne Barnes (Dan Byrd) for drinks at a New York restaurant.



Of course, most Angelenos could spot that it actually was the Biltmore Hotel's Gallery Bar (below).



"Few bars in Los Angeles enjoy the fame of the Biltmore's Gallery Bar," the hotel proudly states.



California Pete hits the famous Canter's on Fairfax.



Not much needed to be changed on this Canter's shoot; as seen below, the restaurant still looks like it's from a bygone era.



I'm bummed a young Rodney Bingenheimer didn't walk by. But other than that, a stellar week one for L.A. cameos in "Mad Men."

We Found It, The Actual L.A. Location of Don Draper's Childhood Whorehouse

Pity young Dick Whitman/Don Draper. The childhood orphan wound up growing up in a Pennsylvania brothel with a stepmother who didn't love him. (At least he had the occasional Hershey's bar.) Season six of "Mad Men" featured several flashbacks to Don's teenage years in the whorehouse, leading to the final scene of the season finale -- in which Don (Jon Hamm) takes his kids to the home (now, years later, in complete disrepair, see above).

In real life, Don's childhood whorehouse is actually in the historic Los Angeles neighborhood of Angelino Heights, a popular spot for film shoots (particuarly period pieces like "Mad Men"). The neighborhood, located just south of Dodger Stadium/Chavez Ravine, is known for its collection of still-standing Victorian homes.



Don Draper's childhood whorehouse, located at the corner of Douglas and Carroll (that's the Google Maps photo above), was built in 1887; is six bedrooms/one bath; 3,160 square feet -- and valued at just under $600,000, according to Zillow. (That sounds remarkably low, given the size and the historic value.)

Here's the Zillow entry:



Note a few important differences: "Mad Men" added *a lot* of CGI to make the house look more rundown than it really is. Plus it's surrounded by apartment buildings in that digitally altered scene from the show, but in real life it's just more homes. (At least the power lines on the left appear to be authentic.) Interestingly, this publicity shot for the show, found on Richard Rushfield's Tumblr, appears to also be without those digital alterations:



How popular is this house as a film location? The Google Maps photo of the house happens to catch a shooting trailer and "No Parking" signs all around the house:



Meanwhile, Nicole Verhamme, who lives across the street from Don Draper's childhood whorehouse and goes by the handle @slowdowncoletrane, has chronicled the "Mad Men" shoots. Check out this pic she snapped from her window:



"Once again, woke up on the set of a Mad Men shooting, & yes, that IS Jon Hamm right in front of me...!!!!" she writes. (Pic by @slowdowncoletrane)

Obviously they did add some junk to the front yard, it's not nearly as nice as the yard in the Google Maps pic. But the house sure doesn't look this shabby:



And by the way, it goes without saying, but there are no smokestacks on the other side of the street, despite this shot:



We've marveled for years about how "Mad Men" has expertly managed to turn Los Angeles locations into mid-century New York (as well as Rome and other locales). Check out some of our past posts here.

How amazing was that Season 6 finale, by the way? It really sets the stage for perhaps a new, introspective Don Draper. And it also gives us plenty to think about as we wait for the show's final season next year. I spoke to creator Matt Weiner about the season ender; read that TV Guide Q&A here.

A "Drive" Tour of Los Angeles

The recent exploration of real, gritty Los Angeles in film and TV -- as popularized by everything from "Collateral" and "Southland" to "(500) Days of Summer" -- expands again in the new Ryan Gosling feature "Drive." Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne calls the movie "one of the most perceptive recent attempts to understand the peculiarly standoffish personality of L.A.'s built environment."

More:

Don't expect glamour shots of Walt Disney Concert Hall, Griffith Observatory and other postcard landmarks; what you see through the windshield of the cars in "Drive" is largely the drab, closed-off and forgettable cityscape of the Southern California commercial strip.

Whenever any building in the movie shimmers or gleams, it is because it is being seen from an impossible distance, shot from a helicopter gliding over Bunker Hill at night or hovering Oz-like way off on the horizon. Otherwise, the characters in "Drive" spend most of their time in elevators, cheap apartments, greasy spoons and parking garages, grimly navigating a downmarket version of the anonymous urban interiors that the architect Rem Koolhaas once dubbed "junkspace."

The L.A. Times film blog 24 Frames takes us on a tour of "Drive" locations here. Some highlights:

MacArthur Park
Real place: corner of W. 6th Street and S. Park View Street, Los Angeles

Echo Park market
Real place: Big 6 Market, 500 block of S. Rampart Boulevard, Los Angeles

Shannon’s Garage
Real place: Picture Car Warehouse, 8400 block of Reseda Boulevard, Northridge

L.A. River
Real place: L.A. River near Reseda and Victory boulevards, Reseda

Ninos Pizzeria
Real place: Vincenzo’s Pizza, 11000 block of Balboa Boulevard, Granada Hills

Pawn Shop
Real Place: Santa Clarita Elks Lodge, 17700 block of Sierra Highway, Santa Clarita

Point Mugu
Real Place: Point Mugu State Park and beaches

Still In Limbo, "Mad Men" Lands L.A. Conservancy Honors

January Jones, as Betty Draper, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion -- which doubled as an Italian hotel in "Mad Men."

While the world awaits news of a deal between AMC, Lionsgate and Matt Weiner that would bring "Mad Men" back for three more years, the Emmy-winning show continues to earn accolades. This time, it's from the Los Angeles Conservancy, which is set to honor "Mad Men's" devotion to mid-century accuracy.

"Mad Men" has landed the organization's 2011 Preservation Award in the Media category. Here's why:

Though set in New York, Mad Men is produced in Los Angeles and has used local midcentury sites as filming locations. The show wove historic preservation into a Season 3 storyline about Madison Square Garden, as one of the admen protested the demolition of the iconic Penn Station.

Creator and executive producer Matthew Weiner has gone even further in supporting historic preservation. He hosted opening night of last year’s Last Remaining Seats series and spoke out in support of our efforts to preserve La Villa Basque restaurant, a 1960 hidden gem in Vernon.

Mad Men had filmed key scenes in Season 4 episode “The Suitcase” at the restaurant because of its pristine condition. When new management began removing original elements of the restaurant in a plan to “make it more Mad Men,” Mr. Weiner urged them to keep La Villa Basque intact.

For catapulting 1960s culture into the mainstream, showcasing Los Angeles’ treasures of sixties architecture, and taking a stand on real-life preservation issues, the Conservancy is proud to honor Mad Men and Matthew Weiner with its 2011 Media Award.

Here at Franklin Avenue we've chronicled the use of Los Angeles locations in "Mad Men" -- check out some of those posts here.

The awards will be handed out at a luncheon on Thursday, May 12 at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Downtown.

'Glee' Sectionals Head Back to Wilshire's Saban Theatre

Regular "Glee" viewers (yes, I know, the show is frequently frustrating to watch, but we still are) can frequently spot Los Angeles locations doubling as Ohio. This week, the show has been filming its "regionals" episode right across the street from my office, at the Saban Theatre on Wilshire (where last year's 'regionals' episode was also shot.

The base of the production has actually been stationed at my office building this week -- hence the yellow signs denoting "WMHS" (above). That's code, of course for "William McKinley High School" -- the name of the school on "Glee."

Funny enough, the "Glee" cast will be back at the Saban on March 16 for their Paley Fest event.

Below, here are extras lined up, I assume to play audience members at "regionals."



If you're curious about other "Glee" location shoots in Los Angeles, we've written about some in posts such as this one, while the site GleeFilmingLocals has an operation here.

Los Angeles Cameo: The Century Plaza Hotel on "Modern Family"

Perhaps the Los Angeles Conservancy should enlist the cast of ABC's hit comedy "Modern Family" to help save the endangered Century Plaza Hotel.

The hotel played a large role in this week's Valentine's Day-themed episode, as Phil and Claire look to recharge their marriage by getting a room at a hotel -- while downstairs, Jay and Gloria go to see a standup routine by comedian David Brenner.

Above, a scene shot in the lobby (and below, how the lobby normally looks.)



A few more shots, as Claire is stuck on the escalator:





And how that part normally looks:

South Pasadena Makes a "Modern Family" Cameo

The fictional "Cup N Cake" cafe seen on Wednesday night's episode of ABC's "Modern Family"? We're pretty sure it's actually the Kaldi coffeeshop in South Pasadena (close to the Mission Gold Line stop and the Thursday night Farmers' Market).

Why? Check out the building behind Gloria (Sofia Vergara) -- it appears to be the South Pasadena Library, as it's situated exactly where it is in real life opposite the coffeeshop.



It's hard to tell from these pics... anyone else watch last night and come to the same conclusion? (UPDATE: OK, you've all convinced me I'm right. Here's a pic of the real-life location below.)


(Flickr pic by Santa Barbarian.)

And Starring Pasadena, Glendale and Burbank as Pawnee, Indiana

Viewers of NBC's Amy Poehler comedy "Parks and Recreation" have probably figured out that the Pasadena City Hall doubles as Pawnee, Ind.'s city hall. (Above, another view from a recent episode.)

And as we've written before, the empty pit (recently filled) on "Parks and Rec" is located in Van Nuys.

A few more recent shots from the show:



The coffee shop where Ron Swanson takes his ex-wife (played by Megan Mullally) is Frank's -- located in real life at 16 West Olive and Victory Blvd in Burbank.



The Motel Glen Capri, on San Fernando Rd. -- near the Glendale/Burbank border. It's where Ron and his ex-wife sneak away for their tryst. And according to the motel, the location -- perhaps because of that cool, '60s era neon sign -- is a popular spot for filming:

Movies such as The Good Girl with Jennifer Aniston, Raising Helen with Kate Hudson, and Georgia Rule with Lindsay Lohan, are just some of the actresses that have visited the Glen Capri Inn & Suites-San Fernando.