Seeing Stars: Where the Movies Were Shot (on Location)

Most of the scenes on "Modern Family" take place in and around the three family homes (or on the sets they built at 20th Century Fox studio to duplicate the interiors those homes), but they do occasionally venture out for an on-location shoot, more often than you might think.

Looking back on the very first (pilot) episode, for instance,
there's a scene at a mall where 11-year-old Manny tries in vain
to woo a 16-year-old girl who works at a photo kiosk in the mall.

Fortunately, I've been to that particular mall many times,
so I recognized it immediately.

This mall scene was shot inside the South Bay Galleria,
located at the corner Artesia & Hawthorne Blvds, in Redondo Beach.
(They are on the top (third) floor of the mall.)

Here's a photo of that mall:

Here is a Google StreetView of the mall's exterior,
with the camera looking southwest.

But let's talk about more recent on-location scenes.

Here are just a few examples of Modern Family on the road...

In Season 8, Episode 19, the family dresses up like Roaring 20's gangsters
to attend the wedding of Phil's father.  There's a key scene where the family
stops at a gas station, still in costume, where an embarrassed Haley
meets up with two of her schoolmates.

You can watch that scene here.

The gas station itself is a Unocal 76 station
at 11675 W. Pico Blvd., in West Los Angeles.

That's at the N.E. corner of Pico Blvd & S. Barrington Ave.

Here is a Google StreetView
of the gas station.

One particular away-from-home location has shown up in several different
episodes (including  Season 8, Episode 15).  It's the bowling alley
where Cam and Jay go league bowling.

You can watch that scene here.

Those bowling scenes were shot in the San Fernando Valley,
in an actual bowling alley, called Pinz Bowling Center,
at 12655 Ventura Blvd, in Studio City, CA.

Here is a Google StreetView
 of the bowling alley.

Another location that they have used often on the show can be seen
in Season 8, Episode 3, where Cam coaches a football game.

You can watch that scene here.


This scene was shot on the football field of Palisades High School,
at 15777 Bowdoin St, in the hills of Pacific Palisades.

They have used the high school for a number of other scenes.

If the school looks familiar, you might have recognized it from the series
"Teen Wolf", where it plays the regular role of "Beacon Hills High  School".

Here is a Google StreetView
of the school's football field.

In Season 7, Episode 16, Mitchell and Cam try to teach Lily how to ride a bike.
The scene is obviously shot at a park, but which one?

You can watch that scene here.

This was shot at Will Rogers Memorial Park,
at 9650 Sunset Blvd, in Beverly Hills.

This park is right across Sunset from the Beverly Hills Hotel, and
was named after Will Rogers, who was the honorary mayor of the city.

(Don't confuse this park with the much larger Will Rogers State Park in
Pacific Palisades, which was Will Roger's actual home/ranch.)

Here is a Google StreetView
of Will Rogers park.

In Season 7, Episode 16, Claire attends a yoga class where the sexy instructor
shows her a number of stimulating positions... much to Claire's secret  delight.

You can watch that scene here.

This scene was filmed in an actual yoga studio,
Goorus Yoga, at 15327 W. Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles.

(That is only a block east of Palisades High School.)

Here is a Google StreetView
of the yoga studio.

In Season 6, Episode 23, Phil tries to bust into
an old movie theatre he helped to build:

You can watch that scene here.

In real life, this is the Rialto theatre,
at 1023 Fair Oaks Ave, in South Pasadena,

Here are a couple of photos I shot of the theatre back in 1992:

(This theatre was seen in "The Player", in "Transformers",
and most recently, in "La La Land".)

In Season 6, Episode 21, Phil helps Jay move Lily's Princess Castle
home, because Gloria insists on keeping it around.

  When Jay complains about it, Phil takes it as a hint, and deliberately
drops the pink castle off the back of their truck, into the road, where it
is immediately hit by a garbage truck and smashed into pieces.

You can watch that scene here.

This scene was filmed with Jay's truck headed northeast
on Bluff Creek Drive, in Playa del Rey.

(Playa del Rey is between Marina del Rey and LAX.)

The castle falls off the truck where that road meets S. Seabluff Drive,
at approximately 12334 Bluff Creek Drive, in Playa del Rey.

Here is a Google StreetView of the street
where the castle falls off the truck.

In Season 8, Episode 20, Phil and Jay invest together in a parking lot,
then argue about who they should hire as a parking attendant.

You can watch this scene here.

Although this is a real parking lot, it's not a paid parking lot, so they
had to bring in the prop barriers and toll booth, plus the signs, of course.

In the real world, this is a church parking lot, at
1236 S. Fairfax Ave, in west Los Angeles.

It is on the west side of Fairfax, just north of Pico Blvd.,
next to Korean Western Presbyterian Church of L.A.,
Just over a mile south of Farmers Market & The Grove.