Holy Matrimony Murdoch

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address:  56 Queen Street East
Date: May 2018
Website:  www.metunited.org

  When William Murdoch and Dr. Julia Ogden finally got married, we were there. Well not really, since they are from the fictional television show Murdoch Mysteries that takes place in the early 1900s. What we did do was visit the place where the wedding episode (season 8 episode 4) was filmed. That's about as good as we can get.

 Murdoch and Julia were married at the Metropolitan United Church in Toronto.  We visited the church during Doors Open Toronto 2018.  It is located at the corner of Queen Street East and Church Street.

  According to a plaque outside the church it is designed in a High Victorian Gothic style.  The cornerstone was laid in 1870 and the church was dedicated in 1872. The plaque also lists other important dates for the church including a fire in 1928 which required the church to be rebuilt. Most of the walls, tower, stained glass and narthex are original. A narthex is a long narrow enclosed porch usually along the west entrance of a church, but you already knew that.

   According to one fan's calculations, Murdoch and Dr Ogden married in May of 1902.  That was well before the fire.  Let's take a look at some of the scenes from the episode.

  There is a reception tent set up just beside this thin pathway on the east side of the church (photo above).  Mrs. Brackenreid is trying to get everything to run smoothly.

  When Dr. Ogden arrives in her horse drawn carriage, she comes around this little curved brick path.   Murdoch is quickly ushered in through the front doors of the church so he does not get an early glimpse of his bride on their wedding day.

  When Julia does finally enter the church she proceeds down the aisle. Inspector Brackenreid is the one who gives her away.

  She heads down the aisle towards Murdoch who is waiting up at the altar.

  The church is filled with their guests. 

The Brackenreids are up front on the right.

  Despite wanting to leave to try and solve a case, William and Julia do finally get married and head through these glass doors.  The couple above obviously is not from the early 1900s.  William and Julia were also dressed at their best.

  During Doors Open we also got a glimpse of the actual gown that Julia wore at her wedding.

  Shaftesbury is the company that produces Murdoch Mysteries.  At their offices they had Julia's gown on display along with other costumes and props from the show.

  Shaftesbury's offices are located on Logan Avenue.  We found it amusing that another show they produced, The Listener, has a main character called Toby Logan.  "Hmm, I like the name Toby, but he needs a good last name."  "I'm going to go outside for a smoke."  "I've got it!  Logan!  It just came to me."

   During the Murdoch Experience 2014 we even signed a guest book for the happy couple and were given some special Murdoch Mysteries cookies.  This was before the episode aired. Now we have also been inside the church.  Congratulations again to Julia and William on your marriage.  We wish you many more seasons together. Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us.

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Map of Our World
Metropolitan United Church
Shaftesbury

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Post # 217

The Rick Mercer Report

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address:  250 Front Street West
Date: Nov 2013
Website: http://www.cbc.ca/mercerreport/

  Rick Mercer first appeared on television in the satirical news show, This Hour Has 22 Minutes.  After leaving 22 Minutes he went on to star in Rick Mercer's Monday Report which eventually was renamed The Rick Mercer Report.  After about 15 years, Rick Mercer has decided to retire the show.   We were lucky enough to see a taping at CBC Studios in Toronto.  After Rick welcomes you to the "Mercer Report" the camera always does a quick awkward pan from one side of a pillar to the other.  We were sitting in the seats just below where the camera ends up after it pans.
  As part of the show Rick travels somewhere in Canada to attend an event.  The show we watched took Rick behind the scenes on the set of Murdoch Mysteries and to the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.  He didn't have to go very far as both of these events also take place in Toronto, Ontario.  We have also been lucky enough to visit the fair and the set of Murdoch Mysteries.  We can't quite compete with Rick who has also been to every province and territory in Canada to film his show.
  Rick's show is also known for its commercial parodies and his rant.  Rick's rant is where he discusses a topic he feels strongly about usually while walking through a graffitti covered alley.  It is also known for sticking to a very rigid script between segments.  Rick basically says the same things each week such as "All that and so much more, but first please take a look at this", "And now it's time for The Front Page" or "I'm Rick Mercer, see you next Tuesday". 
  We will miss The Rick Mercer Report as it was as much a Canadian travel show as it was a comedy.  Thanks Rick!

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Map of Our World
CBC Studios

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Post # 212

Meet Joe Black At Mike's PAPAYA

Location: New York City, New York, USA
Address:  132 E 23rd Street
Date: Nov 2014

  One of the most memorable scenes in Meet Joe Black is how Joe Black actually became Joe Black.  Susan (Claire Forlani) meets a young man (Brad Pitt) at a coffee shop and they are both smitten.  As they walk away each of them turns several times to say something but they never do.

 
  Brad stops once more in the middle of a busy intersection.  This is East 23rd Street in Manhattan.  He would be crossing in the far right crosswalk of the photo above. A car almost hits his bag and he steps back.  He bounces off a van and then again over a yellow New York City cab.   You will have to watch the whole movie to see if he survived.

  At the time of filming this scene, there was a pizza place we think was called the Gramercy Eatery.  For filming purposes it looks like they put up a brown banner to cover over the restaurant name. When we arrived to take our photos it was now Mike's PAPAYA and there was a slightly different green pizza sign mounted on the building.  This is now another lost filming location as the whole building has been torn down and replaced.

 
  The middle of the road where all the action took place is still there.  This is where Brad Pitt, a dummy and some CGI all worked to bring this scene together.  The building you can see down the street is the Metropolitan Life Tower located beside Madison Park. While you are visiting New York be very careful and never stop in the middle of a busy street.  Even if you thought you saw Brad Pitt, wait until you are safely on the curb before looking back.

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Map of Our World
Mike's PAPAYA

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Post # 211

The Freshman At Woodbine Centre

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address:  500 Rexdale Blvd.
Date: Nov 2014
Website: www.woodbinecentre.ca

  In the movie The Freshman, Matthew Broderick plays Clark Kellog (like the cereal) a college student who ends up working for a local mobster.  Marlon Brando plays almost the exact same role he played in The Godfather, but this time for comedic effect.  The first job for Clark is to pick up a package from the airport.  He brings his roommate (Frank Whaley) to help him out.

  It turns out that the package is actually an endangered komodo dragon.  The komodo dragon is the largest lizard in the world and is known for its strength and saliva.  The dragon in the picture (bottom above) is from the Toronto Zoo.  The other lizard above is a Malayan water monitor also from the Toronto Zoo.  As everything in Hollywood is not as it seems, this is the lizard type that played the role of the komodo dragon.  It is smaller and safer for actors and crew to handle, but according to interviews it was still a handful.  Actually it took several monitors to play the role.

  After securing the lizard in the car, it throws up and the smell is so bad that they decide to stop at a gas station to clean up.  The filming location is a gas station at the corner of the Woodbine Centre parking lot in Toronto.

  The mall is located across the street from Woodbine race track which is a popular location for its casino and horse races.

  The lizard gets out of the car and runs from the gas station and into the parking lot.  Clark and his roommate are in hot pursuit as they look for the lizard under the parked cars.

  The lizard makes its way into the mall and causes a panic.  The mall entrance is easily identifiable by its curved design with circles that still remains today.

The reptile gets itself into the elevator and goes up to the second level.  By this point crowds are running around in a panic.

  Clark and his roommate see the panicked people fleeing the mall and realize where their komodo has gone.  Woodbine Centre has an amusement park inside it called Fantasy Fair.  They enter the mall near the ferris wheel.

  They also run right over the Woodbine Centre logo making it fairly obvious where these scenes were filmed.

  The lizard meanwhile has taken a swim near the bumper boats as terrified parents grab their children.  Clark and his roommate finally recapture the lizard right next to the "Big Chute" sign hanging from the train tracks.  They manage to sneak it back out of the mall and continue with their delivery.
  You can visit Woodbine Centre and Fantasy Fair and have a fun afternoon.  While you are there remember that once upon a time Ferris Bueller ran around the mall with a monitor lizard pretending it was a komodo dragon.

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Map of Our World
Woodbine Centre , Fantasy Fair

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Post # 206

Murdoch Mysteries Props

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 66 Hymus Road
Date: July 2014
Website: sullivanmovies.com

  In 2014 we attended a two day event called The Murdoch Experience.  The event was designed for fans of the Murdoch Mysteries television show and the first day featured a tour of Sullivan Studios in Scarborough.  The second day was an event at The Old Mill where cast and crew talked about how the show is made. This blog post focuses on the props department.

  When we first arrived at the studios we were passed by an unusual vehicle.  It was being driven by Craig Grant who is the Property Master for the show (photo at top of post).  This vehicle appeared in the Murdoch Mysteries season five episode called "Who Killed the Electric Carriage?".  In the episode, James Pendrick is accused of murder because he could have used his electric car to travel the distance necessary to commit the crime in the limited time.

 

Pendrick's car wins a race against Henry Ford and Ford's gasoline powered engine.  In the early 1900's the electric car actually became quite popular, but as we all know it was the gasoline driven car that ended up dominating for most of the century.  Out on the Sullivan Studios backlot was a car (above) that looks similar in size to what Ford would have driven.  On closer inspection the vehicle above is just a horse cart as it lacks any steering wheel or motor.  Ford's early vehicles were often advertised as horseless carriages.  Good work Murdoch!

 

  As we entered the studios we were greeted by various prop heads and skulls.  Since each episode tends to involve detective Murdoch solving a murder, these had all appeared on the show at one time or another, most likely on Dr. Ogden's table.

  Soon we were outside on the backlot.  The season two episode called "I Murdoch" featured a giant robot.  Constable Higgins and another constable were posing for photos with the robot and entertaining fans of the show.  We also find it interesting that the role of Higgins is played by an actor named Lachlan Murdoch.

  We walked around the backlot and encountered a few other props.  The episode "Blast of Silence" from season seven featured a man stuck on a pole wearing a sign that read "If the bell tolls the man explodes".  The man had been strapped with a bomb that was sensitive to noise vibrations.  Despite Murdoch's efforts, a backfiring car did end up triggering the bomb.

  There was a sign advertising Barnett's Royal Travelling Circus.  The circus was featured in a season seven epsiode called "Blood & Circuses".  In this episode the tiger trainer named Kitty Walker is found dead and the entire circus is brought in for questioning.  Brackenreid befriends a circus monkey named Athena.

 

  The props department is also responsible for everything you see inside Dr. Ogden's morgue set. This includes a wall of brains in jars or bloody tools.

 And tea service of course.

 

  The next day at the Old Mill, Craig Grant explained how they work hard to be accurate to the time period of Murdoch Mysteries.  Toronto in the early 1900's would have had many rats.   On the table he had many prop rats both dissected and not.  There were also a few severed hands just for good measure.

 

  One popular prop was Mycroft the creepy ventriloquist dummy from the very first season of Murdoch Mysteries.  He appeared in the episode "Belly Speaker".  Craig explained how they found a real antique dummy and then used that to design Mycroft.

  It was interesting to hear how the prop department designs the interesting items used on Murdoch Mysteries.  They try to keep things accurate to the period and also have to consider how they will come across on the television screen.  When it comes to Murdoch's gadgets they use modern techniques to create the illusion that his devices actually work using technology of the time.  The props department plays a big role in every episode of the show.  We were also impressed that a big CBC star like Mycroft stuck around after Craig's speech to spend time with his fans.

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Map of Our World
Sullivan Studios Backlot
Old Mill Toronto

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Post # 196