After I got my new position of Activity Coordinator at CDA, I sat down with the residents and asked them what activities they would like to do. I told them to dream big, and I would do my best to make them happen. Well even their big dreams to me seemed pretty attainable, one of which was to see a taping of a TV show. My thought was to write Ellen or try to find tickets to a game show. I talked to Terry, the HR director, and she gave me some contact info and I started emailing one of our resident's dad. And about 5 months later we went and toured the sets of Parenthood and watched them film a few scenes for their season finale!!!
I am sorry to report there will be no pictures in this blog, due to them saying it would be frowned upon. So if you only came to see pics of us with actors I'm sorry there are none, I think they were actually pretty relieved to not have to take a million pictures.
So I've always been told that I should watch the show, but had only seen a couple of random episode and just had not become a big fan for reasons I that will not get into here. But since I was going to the set I decided I needed to watch as many episodes as I could, thank goodness for Hulu. So that I watched the 6 shows that were available to me and at least know what had recently been going on, and I can now say that I am a HUGE fan and think the show is incredible, espcially since the cast that we did meet were so sweet to my residents. I can also now watch the show and honestly say that I have been through every single one of the houses & rooms that you see on TV.
The director, Lawrence Trilling's, assistant, Jennifer was our tour guide. She was fabulous as a guide and with getting to know our residents and what they were interested in. RG, who has an obsession with bathrooms, wanted to see every restroom on set and it became the joke of the day. We started by watching the crew set up for a shot at the shoe factory, which is actually very small about 2 rows of shoes, a break room, and an office. On the other side of the wall is Crosby & Jasmine's apt. So we watched them set up the scene do a quick run through and then due to space restraints had to move on before the taping began. Since it is not taped in front of an audience all the sets are set up as though they are an apt or office, ect so it is pretty tight quarters, which makes 6 extra people and be a big deal. So we went around the corner to Crosby & Jasmines. It was so cool to get to walk throught their apt and look at all the details. All the pics on the wall are them, they ask permission from the actors to use their photos, or they have a company that their whole purpose is to find look alikes for actors at any age. I did ask if the pictures during the opening credits were the actors and the still pics are, but the video footage is not. The residents really wanted to know if all the appliances really worked, which they do, but only when they are going to be used during an episode, then special effects comes in and rigs them to work enough for the shots, but they are all real working appliances. Outside all the windows there are huge blown up pictures of neighborhoods or trees. They have shots for daytime and night time and they are not always of the same thing, which I thought was interesting. They do so much stuff with CGI that we probably don't even notice.
Also for each set they only build what is absolutely needed or has been written in to be shot. So at Zeek & Camille's there is not a master bedroom built because they have never shot a scene there. Now there is a bathroom and a door that could one day lead to a bed room, but not a bedroom. Oh and Zeek & Camille's downstairs is on one stage, the upstairs is on another, and the outside of the house along with Camille's room, and all the outside surrounding patio areas are about a 2 block drive away. So lets say they wanted to shoot Amber coming out of her room and running over to Camille's little house they would have to shoot it in 3 different locations. All because they built it as they needed it and as space could be found. Now since space is so limited on the Universal Studios lot they have to be creative, they turned an old snack shack into the outside of Zeek & Camilles, so that is why it is tucked away, plus they needed to create that long drive way. Oh other random fact the stove, oven, diswasher, and fridge in their house are all really old brands that no longer exsist and the set designer found somewhere. So I asked if my grandma's house has some really old appliances that are originals, which it does, would we be able to sell them to movie production studios. The answer was YES and they could actually be worth some good $$ especially if they work enough to seem like they do work. Also since they are aqua along with her counters IF they were needed on some TV show that needed an unrenovated house all could bring in some $$. All that to say its chancey and could take some work to find someone who would want them, but it also could be worth it.
The house that Joel & Julia live in is on Elm Street, and the answer to the question you are thinking is yes that Elm Street. Anyway, that house is the same house that was built and used for the movie Hancock that got all sorts of blown up... all CGI, but it's the same house. That house is a working set, meaning the outside & as well as the inside is set up and used for filming. *Random fact all of the houses for Desperate Housewives are set up that way, makes filming easier, Wistria Lane is an actual street in Universal City. One house I forget whose cause I dont' watch the show, was the Munster's house and another is the Leave It To Beaver house. * Ok back to talking about a good show.
Adam & Kristina's house has the front built on the set on the stage. That way they don't always have to drive to Pasadena to film quick scenes that take place out front. Also they share the street in Pasadena with True Blood. If you watch some episodes you will notice the front door opens to left, those are shot on the stage, now if the door opens to the right, those shots are done on site in Pasadena. The reason the doors open in different direction, the real house has a wall to the right, on stage no wall and the space is needed for cameras. When we walked into the living room I made a comment that it was really cute and looked like a page out of Pottery Barn... well it is. :) I know my Pottery Barn!
The house boat is next to the upstairs of Zeek & Camille's place. It is not in water and all that is built is the boat and the dock that leads up to it. Everything else is one of those really big pictures and blue/green screens. I am going to go back and watch the episode that has the houseboat to see if I can tell.
Some of the set were packed up due to the season being over. Which basically means all the furinture was moved out and into storage or covered with tarps. Its really weird, I'm sure there is some kind of logic to it, but one room will have furniture covered while another will be completely empty. Some of sets that were used for just a scene or two and not used again are broken down and folded up. All sets can be folded up and transported if need be or if the show gets cancelled, which no fear they will for sure be back next season.
RG was also completely obessed with looking in drawers, cabinets, and fridges. He even had to asked on a few occasions to stop. He also kept asking when we would go by the Kraft Food Services trailer. LB could not remember which show we were at and everytime we changed sets she would ask where we were now.
On to the actors we got to meet! First we briefly met Anthony Carrigan (Cory Smith, the young new boss at the shoe factory) he was waiting for the lighting to be set up. Nice guy, does not look high like he does all during the show, he pretty cute. When we watched recordings later we met Joy Bryant (Jasmine) who is absolutely gorgeous and super bubbly and sweet, she quickly came over and said hello and was very talkative to the residents. She and Sam Jaeger (Joel) were working on a scene together. Joel came by and let me just say he is probably the cutest man I've ever seen. I saw him on the show and thought he was pretty cute but in person, oh geeze. *sigh* girly moment over. Sam was very sweet and charming as well. Got all the residents laughing and talking. Which turned out to be pretty hard, they were either intimidated, star struck, or just really confused - since out of the 5 I brought only 1 actually watched the show. The next scene involved Dax Shepard (Crosby) who is exactly as I pictured him kinda goofy but everyone loves him, he was taking pictures of everyone cause it was his last day of filming. RG asked me why he looked so familiar and I explained that he use to be on Punked to which then RG yell, "Oh I loved that show Punked!" That got Dax's attention and he came by to say hi. After asking about him the whole time we got to meet Max Burkholder (Max Braverman) who plays the boy with Autism. Max does an AMAZING as acting autistic, there are quite a few residents who are on the Autism Spectrum that I work with on a daily basis and what you see with Max is exactly what I see with my residents, the residents are just older and hopefully don't have the full out tantrums (although I can say I have seen my fair share). So we meet Max and he is incredibly mature for his age and asks the residents some questions and they share about CDA and why they live there.
Then we watched another scene, this time we did not get headsets because the content of the scene was secret due to it being the finale. The residents at this point were getting a little antsy to get back to CDA, they have a schedule and when its not followed they get nervous. Plus they were not as interested in the filming part as I was, I could have stayed there all day. On our way out we ran into Peter Krause who was riding his bike. RG goes, "Sweet bike man!" and SC made a comment about how good it is that he rides his bike instead of demanding a golf cart and that it is good exercise. Peter laughed and told us how hair and makeup hate that he rides his bike around. Then we stopped by the Kraft Food Service truck, which made all the residents happy, they got some junk food! Then we were off. Oh wait I almost forgot RG's favorite part outside Sam Jaeger's trailer there was this old dingy yellow taxi and Jennifer told us that it was given to Sam from a movie that he did and that Sam drives it around as his personal vehicle. RG thought that was the funniest thing. It never ceases to amaze me what these guys get stuck on. :)
All in all a pretty great day. Definetely an experience that I won't soon forget. If you have not seen Parenthood I highly recommend you watch it, I think it is wonderful, plus the cast & crew were very personable. It has now become one of my must see favs!
