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




Filming locations of TV Shows,
Made-for-TV Movies & Music Videos.

If you're a fan of the NBC show "CHUCK", you'll recognize the Spanish-style apartment courtyard where Chuck lives.  And it's not in Echo Park. You'll actually find that familiar courtyard at 1832 Grace Avenue - at the southeast corner of Franklin & Grace, in Hollywood. Built in 1928 by Cecil B. DeMille, it's known as "El Cabrillo". It was once the home of silent movie stars, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. They built a duplicate of this courtyard as a set at Warner Bros. studio (so they don't have to trek out here all the time), but this is the original - and the red-tiled roof you see in the show's occasional aerial shots of the courtyard. (Here is a Google StreetView of the apartments.)

And speaking of "CHUCK", you're probably wondering where his "Buy More" store is, right ?

Well, it's not in Burbank.  But it IS in the Valley.

Only about 20 miles west of Burbank

The exterior shot (above) that you see on the show is actually an old Mervyn's department store, located in the Fallbrook Center mall, at 6605 Fallbrook Ave, in West Hills (near Canoga Park).

In the shot above, you are looking north, at the south side of the store. As you can see in the aerial photo below, it's a perfect match (except for the fake "Buy More" sign, of course).

Mervyn's stores went out of business in 2009, and the  store space now houses a Sprout's Farmers Market.

So, what about the "Wienerlicious" fast food place
\ where Sarah worked undercover?

Or, for that matter, the "Orange Orange" she worked at later?

They were both the same place.  They used the north side of a small restaurant
building located just 50 yards southeast of the "Buy More" store,
at 6501 Fallbrook Ave, in the parking lot of the same Fallbrook Mall.

In real life, over the years, it's housed "The Fifty" sports bar, the
"Stargazer" restaurant, "Times Square Deli" and "Yankee Doodles".

(The small building has since been replaced by an Olive Garden.)

Here's a 2007 Google StreetView of the place.
(Swing the view to the right, and you can see the Buy More, too)

And do you remember that beautiful stone church where Chuck & Sarah
finally got married (in the 2011 season finale)?

 

The sign outside read "First Church of Saints", but don't believe it.

This is actually the Church of the Angels, at 1100 Avenue 64, in Pasadena, CA.
It's an Episcopal-Anglican church and was built 122 years ago, in 1889.

(Here's a matching Google StreetView of the church.)

So what about Sarah's dream house?

Believe it or not, it's real - right down to the red door & white picket fence.

And better yet, it's actually in Burbank!

You'll find it at 4247 Warner Blvd, Burbank (near Toluca Lake),
north of Universal Studios and west of Warner Bros. studios.

(Here's a matching Google StreetView of the house.)

[ Warning: this is a private home.  Do not trespass on their property,
knock on their door, or do anything to disturb the residents.]

The very final, poignant scene from "Chuck" has Chuck & Sarah sitting on a beach,
sharing a kiss that might (or might not) have restored her lost memory.

This final scene was shot on Cabrillo Beach, in San Pedro, CA.

But not the main beach.  It was shot on a small stretch of beach on a jetty
between the historic Cabrillo Beach Bath House and the Cabrillo Pier parking lot.

Google maps that as "Outer Cabrillo Beach" (as opposed to "Inner Cabrillo Beach").

It was a virtual duplicate of a beach scene from the very first pilot episode of "Chuck",
which was shot at the same spot at Cabrillo Beach.

The camera was looking north, as Chuck & Sarah faced the ocean to the south.
The palm trees seen behind them line the road leading to the pier parking lot.

(Here's a matching Google StreetView of that beach.)