The Hit TV Show The Americans Films in Forest Hills

Thanks to Pat Lannan for these great shots from last night's filming in Station Square of the FX show The Americans:

And thanks to Jayne for sending in this photo taken earlier in the day:

And to Josh for sending in this one as they started to set up earlier in the evening:

Some Law & Order for Parkway Hospital

Maybe not the kind of publicity our neighborhood would desire, but as they say, 'there's no such thing as bad!' Anyway, Forest Hills' abandoned Parkway Hospital was used as the location for the secret lair in a recent episode of the hit show Law & Order SVU (I do so resist writing Law & Order SUV every single time, which would be an interesting show indeed.)
Thanks to Andy for sending in the pic!

Live Long and Prosper Mr. Spock

I am so sad to hear about the passing of Leonard Nimoy, such a part of my childhood and a hero of mine throughout my life, not only because of his iconic character, but because of how he lived his own life. In recent years, as he struggled with COPD, he tried his hardest to get the message out about the dangers of smoking.  An actor who embodied intellect, and a truly great man who will be missed.

Live long and prosper Mr. Spock ...

Girls Does Not Like Forest Hills

Not sure how many readers noticed in this past Sunday's episode of the HBO show Girls, but they finally realized there's more to the city than Brooklyn, mentioning Forest Hils specifically — only then to trash talk it. Thanks Shoshanna!

The horrifying incident occurred when Ray asks Shosh to accompany him to a "department store" in Forest Hills —whaaaaaa? since when do we have department stores here? — where he goes to buy his underwear.

"Wait, why are we going to Forest Hills?' Shoshanna asks, her face squinting in obvious pain at the thought of leaving Brooklyn to venture to that most un-hip of neighborhoods.

"I get my boxers and my t-shirts at a specific department store, and that's where it's located," Ray replies.

"That's literally the saddest thing I ever heard in my life," is her reply. ... "No, I'm putting my foot down, we are not going to Forest Hills."

A little later in the episode, just to dig it in a bit more, Shosh reminds Ray: "Friends do not let other friends buy underwear in Forest Hills."

So, I'm assuming Lena Dunham, the show's creator, had to think up the most un-hip nearby nabe that these two characters could get to from Brooklyn, and what did she think of?

Of course, Ms. Dunham is probably not all that up on the big changes that have been taking place in our 'hood. But to be fair, things are happening so fast here that our neighborhood still does widely have that Old Grannie reputation where it would be decidedly un-hip for a young Brooklynite to come to get some underwear—even if we did have department stores here.

Roosevelt in The Gardens

The new Ken Burns PBS documentary The Roosevelts has taken the country by storm, with more than 9 million viewers. One of the blog's readers, @EdJQuigley, tweeted me this cool photo from the documentary of Teddy Roosevelt during his visit to Forest Hills Gardens. The scene is in Part 3, about 25 minutes in. I believe he's overlooking Station Square, where the Long Island Railroad is.

James Spader Show The Blacklist Filming in Forest Hills Tomorrow

CNN Ponders What's News

Huh? Am I missing something? CNN covers the news? Um, since when? If that's what's considered news today we're seriously screwed as a nation..( I resisted using a much stronger word there because of my Uncle who apparently reads this blog out there in Los Angeles and doesn't like when I curse I hear).

Zucker plans massive change at CNN
Anyway, this is from a new website called 'Capital' about New York City politics. Worth checking out. But they're not off to a great start by the peculiar point of view they seem to hold in this particular story! When I read the headline I thought to myself, "Finally! He gets it! When we turn on CNN we want to watch the news! You know, like they used to do, when they had reporters and they went out into the world and like covered the news and shit?"

And then I read the article... crap....

Oh, and by the way, while I'm on the subject of TV, I'm still mighty pissed about this...(is 'pissed' a curse?)

The End of the Suburbs - This Weekend on Book TV

Those of you who read this blog regularly, know that one of my least favorite things in this world is suburbia. ... Well, maybe you don't know that, but there, I just told you. So, this kinda caught my eye:

     

Saturday 10 pm,

Sunday 9 pm & Midnight ET

 Weekly interview of a nonfiction author by a guest host who shares an area of expertise or interest.

Leigh Gallagher, The End of the Suburbs: Where the American Dream is Moving, interviewed by Rich Benjamin, author ofSearching for Whitopia

Fortune assistant managing editor Leigh Gallagher argues that the recession and crash of the housing market have produced a permanent change in America's landscape: the rapid disappearance of the suburbs. The decline in marriage and birthrates, the rise of gasoline prices and liveliness of city life for young singles have all combined to push more of the population to make their homes inside the city limits. Ms. Gallagher discusses this growing trend with the author of Searching for Whitopia, Rich Benjamin. 

You can watch it online, if you can't find it on your TV, or if Time Warner decided to go up and ban that channel too:

Watch Book TV Online!	Did you know you can watch Book TV streaming all weekend long on BookTV.org? You can also search our archives for footage of your favorite authors and events.
www.BookTV.org

New Show "Hostages" Filming in Forest Hills

A reader sent in these shots of the filming of the new TV show "Hostages" yesterday around Queens Blvd/Jewel/Yellowstone/70th. The photos are of some of the trailers last night on Jewel and Yellowstone.

Here's some info about the show from Wikipedia:
Hostages is an upcoming American drama television series that is expected to air on CBS on Monday, September 23, 2013, as part of the 2013–14 American television season.^[1][2][3] The series is based on a similar Israeli series created by Alon Aranya, Omri Givon, and Rotem Shamir, which was never produced.^[4] Jeffrey Nachmanoff wrote the pilot episode for the American version. The series will premiere on September 23, 2013.^[5]

Time Warner May Drop CBS Thursday

Sorry, but I find this whole thing laughable. I saw a commercial the other day from Time Warner trying to rile up viewers in its dispute with CBS. Time Warner is threatening to drop CBS here in NYC over some compensation dispute—who really gives a shit what it is, both companies have more money than God—and the commercial was trying to get viewers to support Time Warner, to understand why it may drop CBS, to get us to put pressure on CBS somehow for Time Warner. Poor, poor Time Warner! As if we don't have enough problems of our own, we're supposed to go to bat for them? Puhleease! They have got to be kidding.

Update: The current contract has been extended through 5 p.m. Monday.

Good Day NY Visits Forest Hills

Our three new gastropubs continue to get a huge amount of attention:

New York News | NYC Breaking News

Mike Colameco Visits La Boulangerie

"A wonderful little bake shop right in the middle of Forest Hills" kicks off this episode of Mike Colameco's Real Food. Congratulations to La Boulangerie! They certainly deserve the coverage. "I had no idea the neighborhood would be so receptive of an artisanal bread bakery," Francois tells Mike at the end. Yes, there is indeed quite a need here in FoHi for quality places like this.

Love this subway poster....

Tea Time

Yikes, I feel like my posts today have been kind of angry. What can I do? Can't help it! On a lighter note, I am absolutely loving Downton Abbey more and more. Not sure if you heard that PBS saw its biggest ratings since the Ken Burns Civil War miniseries with this past Sunday night's Season 3 premiere. Deservedly so. A jolly good show! I just wish they'd stop making poor Mr. Bates and his lovely wife Anna suffer so much. Can't they catch a break? (Now I'm getting mad again...)

TV

Wow there's shit on TV these days, isn't there?

By the way, there's a lot of hype about this new show on NBC, Revolution. I've been watching it and I don't exactly know why I continue to except that there is so little on TV to watch, and I am soooo starved for anything like sci-fi that I still watch it. But honestly, here's the show in a nutshell: They get cornered, fight their way out, get cornered again, fight their way out, get cornered, fight their way out... pretty much it. Oh wait. They get cornered AND threatened by someone who looks scary, fight their way out...Oh, wait, they get cornered again, threatened by someone scary, shot at by someone who has just terrible aim or is maybe partially blind and hits the wall instead, and then they fight their way out.... repeat...

I have been really, really liking the new webisodes of the Battlestar Galactica spinoff prequel, Blood & Chrome, that has been showing on Youtube. Now that's some awesome shit. Here's the first episode for ya'all...



Oh, and I was either dreaming or I actually read somewhere that NBC is planning a new TV drama about, drumroll please, George Washington, to debut sometime next year I think. WHAAAT??? Now that is an amazing idea if I ever heard one. I've been waiting for them to do an historical drama of some type. Seems like we haven't had it on network TV like, I don't know, maybe since I was born?? I think AMC is also readying some other period dramas as well that look really interesting... So, I guess TV sucks big-time now, but maybe thinks are picking up...
Oh, and there's always The Walking Dead. That show continues to kick ass. I also always have my DVD collection of the entire Star Trek TNG series. That always comes in handy in a pinch. Engage!

More Pics of Zero Hour TV Shoot

A reader sent me these late today. In case you missed my earlier posts, this was for a new ABC show called Zero Hour. They filmed in Station Square yesterday, transforming the Jade restaurant and surroundings into early 20th Century Germany.

More on Zero Hour Filming

The Forest Hills Patch website has some really good photos of the shoot yesterday for the new ABC show Zero Hour. 

ABC Drama Turns Back the Clock in Forest Hills

I couldn't believe how many trailers they had lining up on Austin yesterday afternoon. We were transformed into a mini Hollywood for a day. Unfortunately, I had a dinner appointment I had to make in Manhattan so I didn't have time to stop and take my own pics as I was racing to get to the subway. But I came thiiis close! It's sometimes very hard to put down the blogger hat, even when running late for dinner.

As Patch reports, they were mostly using Station Square for the backdrop of the show which went back in time to early 20th Century Germany. Is that cool or what?

New ABC Show Filming on Austin St.

A reader sent me this shot of the new TV show Zero Hour filming on Austin today.

Here's the description of the show from the website:
"To find his wife, one man will have to unravel one of the greatest conspiracies of all time. The countdown has begun!"

Project Runway Contestant Lives in Kew Gardens

Despite his success, Budhu plans on staying in Kew Gardens, where he moved a few years ago. "I'm a more reserved guy," he said, "and I like a place that is more quiet and serene."

Read the story here: Queens Designer Ven Budhu Turning Heads on 'Project Runway'

Mad Men and Pizza

• Forest Hills, specifically the Tennis Stadium, found itself center-stage in last night's episode of Mad Men. A good chunk of the episode was set at the Stadium as they tried to pitch a Heinz commercial to the Rolling Stones who were performing there.* Gothamist has a nice write-up about it, along with a bunch of photos and a couple of related videos:  As Seen On Mad Men: 14 Photos Of The Rolling Stones At Forest Hills Stadium In 1966
• Good news for all you pizza lovers! Gloria Pizza opens tomorrow at 11 a.m.!
• I was told Bareburger may start home deliveries some time this week. They will also start serving craft beer in the next couple of weeks or so.

*Just a side note: Those really looked like White Castle burgers they were eating afterwards. Lord did those look good.