Filming Locations

[TJP]

# 1.14 "The Trial":

Does anyone know where the British Consulate in Los Angeles is where Roger and Frankie now reside?
In a later scene, we see that the street number is 9938.


The Los Angeles County Music (and Conny) is the actual Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at 135 North Grand Avenue in downtown L.A.


The establishing shot of the flight to Tucson, AZ is stock footage that had been used for all sorts of flights on "Dynasty" also. However, in one of the longer segments of the same footage, the jetliner was apparently identified as one with a British registration, and the scenery looks definitely European, so it was a very poor choice in post-production.


I'm not sure about the establishing clip of Tucson, AZ. Can't tell if the stock shot is really from there because I'm not familiar with the city.

Not sure where the scene where Jason runs into Zach is supposed to take place. In Los Angeles? Really? This building is too famous to sell it to the audience as something else. It's the New York County Supreme Court at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY.
I'm not sure about the interiors, but they might be in the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in L.A. (see below).


The establishing shot of Washington, D.C. is a pan from the Capitol towards the Russell Senate Office Building (2 Constitution Avenue NE, Washington, D.C.):


The exterior shot (stock, I think) of the Los Angeles County Courthouse is stock footage of the real building. That structure is known as the Stanley Mosk Courthouse located at 111 North Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA.


Not sure about the courthouse interiors. Is this a redressed set from elsewhere? It's not GMT Studios in Culver City. I think it looks bigger than the courtroom set at Warner Hollywood Studios, which was shared between "Dynasty" and "Matt Houston". Any experts on this here? Gilles maybe?

 

[TJP]

# 1.15 "Burden of Proof":

Strangely enough, the exteriors of the Los Angeles County Courthouse have changed. The exterior scenes were filmed at the Sunkist Building at 14130 Riverside Drive, Sherman Oaks, CA, with appropriate set dressing (sign above the entrance).


Jeff and Frankie at the lookout was filmed on Western Canyon Road in Griffith Park. The approximate geocoordinates are 34°07'29.0"N 118°18'16.8"W.
Miles passes by the same spot, driving in the opposite direction shortly before his car accident.


I think the beach scene with Fallon and Jeff is from Point Dume / Pirates Cove.


This time, we finally see the front of the Colbys' beach retreat (28980 Cliffside Drive, Malibu, CA):

 

[TJP]

# 1.16 "My Father's House":

The restaurant scene with Jason and Monica is established by a stock shot of The Chronicle at 2640 Main Street in Santa Monica. The entrance is not on Main, but on the northwestern side of the building. It's still there, but slightly updated and difficult to see due to the trees that have grown so much.
The actual scene, which is supposed to be outside on the patio, is nothing but an embarrassment. I've hardly seen any scene with worse lighting. It's so blatantly fake. Why unnecessarily create an "exterior" scene if they were unable to do proper lighting at the studio? An interior scene would have been better (although most interiors on "The Colbys" look flat and dimly lit, too).


Awkward: One of the establishing shots for Zach's condo suddenly shows an unknown building. The other clips in this episode show the usual one (The Longford). Apparently a post-production mistake.


Wayne Masterson's home was filmed at 5838 Bonsall Drive in Malibu, CA:

 

[GillesDenver]

# 1.10 "The Turning Point":

The rooftop restaurant of the St. Gregory is a set that was regularly used for the "Hotel" series. "The Colbys" went from Paramount to The Burbank Studios (Warner Bros. Studios nowadays) to shoot that scene; it was a standing set there on sound stage 14.
View attachment 35625

The scene in the hotel room was also shot at Burbank.

Not sure about the courthouse interiors. Is this a redressed set from elsewhere? It's not GMT Studios in Culver City. I think it looks bigger than the courtroom set at Warner Hollywood Studios, which was shared between "Dynasty" and "Matt Houston". Any experts on this here? Gilles maybe?

To me it looks like the courthouse interiors of Warner Hollywood Studios.

 

[TJP]

# 1.17 "The Outcast":

The van parked surveilling the Colby Collection was filmed in front of 436 North Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills — you can see the Pierre Deux lettering on the awnings of that building. Pierre Deux has since moved to a different location on Rodeo Drive. The 436 building as well as the neighboring building at 438 were demolished in the early 2000's as far as I remember; the buildings look completely different now.


Jeff and Frankie are having lunch at Pastel, which was a real restaurant at that time in the Rodeo Collection (421 North Rodeo Drive) in Beverly Hills, CA.

 

[TJP]

# 1.18 "The Wedding":

The police station is the old Highland Park Police Station at 6045 York Boulevard, L.A., CA. It was closed in 1983, but the building houses the Los Angeles Police Museum now. The prop sign above the entrance reads: "Police - Hollywood Division". It's stock footage, but I don't know what the original production was.


Off topic, but interesting (I hope, at least): The catering service's van has a lettering saying "Chasen's Catering". The font is different from the real Chasen's logo, but Chasen's was an iconic restaurant at 9039 Beverly Boulevard in West Hollywood, CA. It was oftentimes a hangout of people from the entertainment industry, and many production companies held had functions like publicity junkets or production wrap parties there.

No idea why they did this since parts of this episode were filmed at the Paley Residence (1060 Brooklawn Drive, Beverly Hills), but the limo at the Cobys' gate was actually filmed at The Chateau (782 West Potrero Road, Thousand Oaks, CA) — probably during earlier filming there since it was previously used as a location. The mismatch is apparent because the limo entering the gate is a different model from the one arriving in front of The Belvedere after the cut. What a strange montage. As if the Paley Residence didn't have a gate...

 

[GillesDenver]

# 1.18 "The Wedding":

The police station is the old Highland Park Police Station at 6045 York Boulevard, L.A., CA. It was closed in 1983, but the building houses the Los Angeles Police Museum now. The prop sign above the entrance reads: "Police - Hollywood Division". It's stock footage, but I don't know what the original production was.
View attachment 35687

It's from "Hollywood Beat" (1985). The set for the police station (next episode) is also from this show : see "the honeymoon" entry at http://dynastie.wifeo.com/detailsc12.php

 

[TJP]

# 1.19 "The Honeymoon":

The establishing shot of the County of Los Angeles Central Jail is stock footage from an older production. That facility at 441 Bauchet Street, Los Angeles, CA is now known as Men's Central Jail.


The scene when Jason and Garrett visit Miles in jail is established by a night shot of the Los Angeles City Hall (stock) at 200 North Spring Street. The same goes for the later scene when Jason and Garrett see D.A. John Moretti in his office.


No idea about the establishing shot (stock footage) of the Tavern in the scene with Bliss and Sean.

Nor do I now where the stock shot of what is supposed to be Jamaica comes from.
I don't recognize the Jamaican hotel (the nightly establishing shot later in the episode) either.

The actual honeymoon scene with Jeff and Fallon on the beach was shot at Paradise Cove if I'm not mistaken.


The establishing shot for Bliss and Sean's motel (another stock shot) comes from the Paradise Motel (it's the real name, indeed) at 1116 West Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA.


Gilles — I think you are right. They did use the courthouse interior sets at Warner Hollywood for this season of "The Colbys":

 

[TJP]

It's from "Hollywood Beat" (1985). The set for the police station (next episode) is also from this show : see "the honeymoon" entry at http://dynastie.wifeo.com/detailsc12.php

The website you referenced is really great. I certainly have to read it in depth episode by episode as soon as I have a bit more time. it seems to be full of interesting discoveries.

 

[TJP]

# 1.20 "Double Jeopardy":

The scene with Sable and Miles was filmed on the elevated plaza of the former ABC Entertainment Center, which used to be located at 2000 Avenue of the Stars in Century City, CA — with the two twin highrises known as the Century Plaza Towers (2029 and 2049 Century Park East) in the background. ABC Entertainment Center was replaced by a new highrise since filming.


The exteriors of Neil's apartment building look so familiar to me, but I can't remember where they are.


The Colby Collection's invitation gives away its address: 6800 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, CA 90212. It's a fictional address, of course. Street number 6800 would be approximately at the intersection of Wilshire and San Vicente Boulevards.
Parts of Zach's address are legible on the envelope. The condo complex's name seems to be "Rest...", and the street number is 10499.

The establishing shot of Acapulco / Mexico seems to be from said city, indeed. It is stock footage, of course.


The establishing clip of the hotel in Acapulco (stock) is from the Fairmont Acapulco Princess (Costera de las Palmas, s/n Fraccionamiento Granjas del Marquez, Acapulco, Guerrero / Mexico):


I don't know where they filmed the exterior hotel scene with Frankie in Acapulco.

IMDb lists both Westfield and the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City as filming locations for this episode, but unless the hotel scene with Frankie was filmed outside the Century Plaza, I wouldn't know which scenes they are referring to.

 

[TJP]

# 1.21 "A Family Affair":

The airport scene at the end of the episode was filmed at Burbank Airport (the distinct shape of the tower gives it away), nowadays called Hollywood Burbank Airport, 2627 North Hollywood Way, Burbank, CA:

 

[TJP]

# 1.22 "The Reckoning":

I'm sure the stock shot of Athens to establish the scene with Sable, Jason and Frankie is from Athens / Greece, but I'm not too familiar with the city, so I don't recognize the exact street.

The hotel in Athens is the former Park Plaza at 607 Park View Street across from MacArthur Park in L.A. It's been used in hundreds of productions, but may be best remembered for its probably longest-running use as the New Globe from "Falcon Crest".
The restaurant / café interiors were shot there, too.
The Park Plaza was not a functioning hotel any more at the time of filming, but was usually rented out as a reception venue and to movie studios for filming. It was only in recent year that it was converted back to a hotel when it was reopened as The MacArthur.



I have no idea where the stock shot of the Athenian shopping street comes from — the establishing clip for the rug / antiques / furniture store (Sable and Frankie). The store interiors are all Greek to me, too... Sorry for the pun, but I couldn't resist...

The establishing shots of Athens (stock footage) feature
(1) the Piraeus Port of Athens;
(2) the Hellenic Parlament located in the Old Royal Palace, overlooking Syntagma Square.


The interiors of the Parliament or whatever the building is supposed to be on the show (scene with Jason and the Greek guys) are from the Park Plaza (now MacArthur):


While Building 136 of The Burbank Studios served as Connie's hospital (Cedars - Sinai, as per later establishing clips) in # 1.10, the same shot is now re-used to establish the Parris Clinic.

 

[TJP]

# 1.23 "Anniversary Waltz":

The establishing shot pof the car wrecking company / junkyard comes from what used to be Gastner's Auto Wrecking Yard back in the day. It was a heavily filmed location, and I think Spelling had previously used it for an episode of "Charlie's Angels"; I can't remember which episode it was, but I'm pretty sure the footage was recycled from there or another Spelling show. Gastner's was located at 555 North Mission Road, Los Angeles. In the second screen grab, you can see the distinct pylons (not sure if that's the correct technical term for a bridge of that kind though) of the Cesar Chavez Bridge, which confirms my location ID.


Bliss and Spiro: Santa Monica State Beach:


No idea about the establishing clip of Fowler Ranch, but my bets are on somewhere near the 5838 Bonsall Drive estate, which poses as Wayne Masterson's home again. I also think the scene with Miles' old Ferrari was shot somwehere in this area (Malibu / Malibu Canyon).
Gilles, do you know more details on that location?



IMDb lists Dock 52 at Fiji Way, Marina Del Rey, CA. I think this is actually true for where Zach's yacht is berthed.

 

[TJP]

# 1.24 "Checkmate":

The nightly establishing shot of the hospital with the chopper is too dark for me to recognize the building unfortunately.

I'm not 100 % sure, but the interiors of Sable's hospital look like hallways and rooms at what used to be the L.A. Design Center at 433 South Spring Street in downtown L.A. The building is historically (and now again) known as the Title Exchange Building. Between the 1980's and 2010's, lots of floors in this building were exclusively rented to movie an TV productions for filming.


The establishing shot for Sable's hospital at the beginning of act 2 comes from the Glendale Memorial Hospital (1420 South Central Avenue in Glendale, CA). It is actually the entrance on South Central. The structure has gotten a facelift since filming, but the basic architecture is still intact an recognizable.

The airport scene (Monica) was, again, shot at Burbank Airport (now Hollywood Burbank Airport).


Not really sure where the aerials from Monica's flight are from. If I had to guess, I'd say Malibu Creek State Park might be a strong candidate, but I can't prove it.

Reston Medical Center: I've been unable to identify that location when I checked "Dynasty". Miraculously, that medical center made its way from Denver to Los Angeles (unless Fallon is hallucinating, of course), but I still don't know where it is although I feel as if I had seen the building in real life before.

 

[TJP]

# 2.01 "The Gathering Storm":

While the actual opening scene, picking up where last season's cliffhanger left off, is again filmed at Hollywood Burbank Airport, the establishing shot is — for some crazy reason — a stock shot of Los Angeles International Airport, which is clearly recognizable by the part of the Theme Building on the far right of the final frame before it cuts to the actual scene.


Does anyone know where The Penthouse Club is located? The nightly establishing shot is too dark to tell.


Thanks to Gilles, we already know that The Penthouse Club is the redressed set of the second (middle) floor of Alexis' triplex from "Dynasty", which was dismantled at Warner Hollywood Studios and brought over to Paramount Studios for this season.


While the court exteriors feature one of the usual stock shots of the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in L.A., the interiors are not the usual set this time, but a real courtroom at Alhambra Municipal Court (150 West Commonwealth Avenue, Alhambra, CA).
Just as a side note, the court reporter is — like in probably around 80 % of all courtroom scenes from the 1980's — Gail Frank, who worked almost every courtroom scene on "Falcon Crest", too. She was every extras casting director's favorite because she brought her own steno machine!


I'm not sure, but I think the Angels Point Ranger Station at Angeles National Forest (scene with Monica) might be from a real station by the same name (exteriors and interiors).


What's happening with Zach's apartment building? His condo used to be established by shots of The Longford. This is the second time some other highrise is used. I don't know this one.


The next to last card of season 2's end credits read: "Location Facilities Provided by THE CENTURY PLAZA HOTEL".
What does that mean exactly? No scene of this episode was filmed at the Century Plaza as far as I can tell.

 

[GillesDenver]

The Century Plaza Hotel (actually the Westin Century Plaza Tower, also known as the St. Regis Hotel) will be credited throughout the 2nd season. It's the location for Zach's hotel which hosts the Penthouse Club. Zach purchases the hotel in the 3rd episode of the season.
I don't know why in this episode they did not use an establishing shot of the Century Plaza Hotel.

 

[TJP]

# 2.02 "No Exit":

This time, The Penthouse Club is established, as Gilles stated in the post above already, by a shot of the former St. Regis (previously the Westin Century Plaza Tower) at the corner of Avenue of the Stars and West Century Drive in Century City, CA. It was demolished and replaced by The Century, a condo highrise, in 2009.
I think we will realize in later episodes that this building portrays The Excelsior, so The Penthouse Club is on the top level of this hotel.


Monica and Sable: The former ABC Entertainment Center at 2040 Avenue of the Stars, Century City, CA, now replaced by a new highrise.


The scene with Miles and Fallon having lunch is established by an aerial view of Century City, CA.
The scene itself was filmed on the plaza of the ABC Entertainment Center, the Century Plaza Towers visible in the background.


The mystery about Zach's condo continues since this episode presents the same establishing shot as the previous episode (different from the original shots of The Longford).

 

[Spooky Owl!]

God, THE COLBYS looked so much better than DYNASTY...

 

[TJP]

# 2.04 "The Matchmaker":

The proposed building site in the scene with Jason and Frankie was filmed on one of the hills south of Valley Vista Boulevard, probably not the one right next to the 405, but the next one farther east. From that hill, you can see the former American Savings highrise, which is nowadays known as the Valley Executive Tower located at 15260 Ventura Boulevard, Sherman Oaks, CA. I can't pinpoint the exact lot where the scene was filmed though.


I'm not entirely sure because there's not much to see, but I have a feeling Miles and Sable's lunch was filmed on the patio of the Rive Gauche Café at The Patio Center, 14106 Ventura Boulevard, Sherman Oaks, CA. These low brick walls on the patio and the color and casements of the windows seem to be a match. Does anyone have the shooting schedule to confirm?


The ballet studio is established by a stock shot of the War Memorial Opera House at 401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA:


The night shot with Miles and Channing in his convertible was filmed on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. In the screen capture, Sunset Boulevard is photographed in western direction. You can see the Sunset Plaza mall (street number 8623) on the right of the frame.


The carousel in the scene with Channing and Miles is the Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round (4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, CA), a heavily filmed location in the movie industry.

 

[TJP]

# 2.05 "Something Old, Something New":

The establishing shot for Las Vegas features The Dunes (among other places), which used to be a hotel at 3600 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas, NV. The same stock footage was used in "Dynasty" # 7.10.


Miles and Channing's hotel in Las Vegas is established by stock footage of the former MGM Grand, 3645 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas, NV. This place was also used on "Dynasty" several times.


The later establishing shot of Las Vegas is stock footage of Las Vegas Boulevard. In the foreground, the sign of the former Riviera Hotel and Casino (2901 South Las Vegas Boulevard) is visible.


The establishing shot of Hollywood features Mount Lee with the famous letters:


The movie palace is actually Grauman's Chinese Theatre on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The address is 6925 Hollywood Boulevard.


The establishing of San Pedro features a view over the Port of Los Angeles / Terminal Island:


No idea on Mrs. Mahoney's place unfortunately.

This time, by the way, Zach's condo is established by the usual shot of The Longford again.

Does anyone know where they shot Jason's press conference? The hills look like somewhere in the San Fernando Valley, I think.