The End of the Beginning

Quite awhile back I tracked down some locations of the first episode of Walker, Texas Ranger in Dallas.  I thought we could have a look at some Fort Worth locations of that episode and end with a bang (ha! Get it?  Because there's an explos...oh never mind).

But I found myself stymied but the ever changing nature of downtown Fort Worth.  For example, in the climax of the first episode, the bank robbery scene took place at what was the offices of the Fort Worth Star Telegram which they made up to look like this:

A few years back, when I was taking pictures, it looked like this:

The newspaper moved their offices a block over and we are left with a location that just doesn't match up with a screen grab from a 20 year old TV show episode.  There's just no justice in the real world.

However, in TV world there's plenty of justice delivered from the gun barrel and boot heel of Mr. Chuck Norris.  In the episode he starts of across the street from the "bank."  That side of the road was also completely unrecognizable from the episode but if you look behind Chuck there's a definitive "marker" that can still be seen today:

The Texas Historical Marker commemorates the Neil P. Anderson Building which has an interesting history, the highlights of which include being a cotton exchange and being featured in the background of an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger.

My problems with documenting the shooting locations of this episode continued with the attempt to capture the parking garage behind the exploding truck:

This was the best I could do but I'm assuming this building has been through some changes as well since the windows don't seem to quite match up with the shot from the episode:

 

So the bad guys then try to make their getaway along Taylor St. but I'm confident the Rangers got 'em.

You can see that there has been some cosmetic changes to the buildings in the background but the same basic architecture is still in place:

Change eventually comes to every man and every street corner but thankfully freeze framing old movies and TV shows will never go out of style. 

J.R. Jr. on the Town in Big D

Previously:

TNT'S Dallas Episodes 12-14  - -  TNT's Dallas Episode 15

TNT's Dallas Episodes 16-18

TNT's Dallas remake from a few years back was a great continuation of the legendary franchise.   Unfortunately, the series just couldn't recover from the death of its star Larry Hagman.  But it was fun while it lasted and while it lasted it made great use of several Dallas filming locations.

Episode 2 showed off a few different places in Big D.  Let's jump in starting with the Ewing cousins favorite hangout: The Cedars Social:

This bar and restaurant on the south side of Dallas is where Christopher hangs out to drown his sorrows.  The producers must have liked this location because John Ross returns in a future episode.  It's also right next door to the South Side apartments where both John Ross and Rebecca (respectively) live and it's next door to the Jack Evans Police Headquarters which was featured in a couple of other episodes.

I haven't eaten here yet so I don't have any meal recommendations but they were very nice to me when I showed up to take pictures and as the saying goes "If it's good enough for the Ewings..."

Later in the episode the Ewing clan heads to the Cattle Baron's Ball which is being hosted at the American Airlines Center (where the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars play):

Interested in the AAC's unique architecture?  You better say "yes" because our resident, award winning geologist Devin Dennie is going to break it down for you:

Remember in the first episode when John Ross had his "secret meeting" on the 50 yard line of Cowboy's Stadium?  Well in this episode he picks an even less subtle for his secret meeting...the State Fair of Texas:

The actual State Fair begins in a few weeks and Big Tex will be debuting new boots and a new outfit.  Here is a little bit about the old man:

Bar Necessities

The 1991 film "Necessary Roughness" was a part of a wave of "ragtag misfits come together" sports movies that were hugely popular in the 80s and early 90s.  It fit right in with movies like "Major League" or "Wildcats" and works for our purposes because it was filmed in Texas.

The majority of the movie was shot at the University of Texas in Denton which filled in for the fictional Texas State University (go Armadillos!) and there are are few other north Texas locations, but what brings us all here today is a bar room brawl at the World's Largest Honky Tonk.

Scott Bakula, Sinbad and the rest of the gang decide to blow off some steam at Billy Bob's Texas in the Fort Worth Stockyards.  Billy Bob's is a world famous bar and entertainment venue that attracts some of the biggest musical acts in the world.  So of course, I had to stop by and see if I could find some of the specific areas where they filmed.

The problem, of course, being that the movie is a couple of decades old and the bar has been remodeled a few times since then.  Gotta get the saw dust off the floors and keep it fresh!  So consider this an exercise in seeing how the place has changed and updated over the years.  For example, you can see that the light fixtures over the pool tables are different.

Seems like some of the neon has been moved around or replaced too.  Normally I try to match up shots as closely as I can but I had to settle for just getting close on this trip.  There are a few other shots in Billy Bob's rodeo area and out front but the main action happened where the drinking gets done.

There's a lot to see in the bar, like the concrete hand imprints of the musicians who have performed there and several celebrities who have visited.  But there's also an interesting prop from a forgotten movie above the dance floor.

The duded-out saddle from the movie "Rhinestone" serves as the disco ball above Billy Bob's dance floor.  The movie stars Dolly Parton as a singer who makes a bet that she can turn Sylvester Stallone into a country music sensation...which sounds like a totally made up movie parody but it was real...and the proof is in Fort Worth!

Theater Scene

Welcome to Anarene, TX, home of the melancholy and the wistful.  It's the setting of the movie "The Last Picture Show," based on the novel by author and Texas literary icon Larry McMurtry.  The film's setting is in the town of Anarene, based loosely on McMurtry's own small Texas hometown of Archer City (near Wichita Falls).

Archer City has embraced their favorite son and the film that was filmed there so it's still easy to find some of the locations, most notably the downtown movie theater.

The Royal Theater plays a semi-prominent role in the story and ends up going out of business at the end of the movie.  But the real deal is still alive and kicking.  It doesn't show movies anymore but hosts musicians and theater productions instead.

It's on the town square, where most of the action in the movie takes place, and directly across from the courthouse.  For some reason there's very few good shots of the courthouse in the film but I got a pic of it for your viewing pleasure:

The entire film was shot in the small town and parts of the surrounding areas so there's plenty of more filming locations to discover.  Which is what I'll do the next time I'm in the area.  Until then, we'll have to get by on the town's sense of nostalgia:

Good to Go Part 1

"The Good Guys" was a short lived 2010 Fox comedy cop show about two Dallas detectives that starred Bradley Whitford and Colin Hank.  It's a shame that it was cancelled because it was a lot of fun and it really took advantage of the north Texas scenery.

It was during a mini golden era of TV shows filming in DFW including Prison Break, Chase and TNT's Dallas continuation.   So today we take a look back and some of the location highlights of the show starting in Deep Ellum:

Behind our heroes Dan (Whitford) and Jack (Hanks), you can see St. Pete's Dancing Marlin (I recommend the Cobb Salad, it's awesome...and HUGE) with the big American flag painted on it and the Angry Dog (get the hot dog...hold the onions). You can also see part of the downtown skyline.



In this episode the boys investigate a pawn shop and shortly before it explodes, they hit the street. Now, the bulk of this section of the street is vacant but the windows with the blue trim belong to Buzz Brews (I haven't eaten there yet so I don't have any recommendations. Although they serve breakfast and I definitely like that).



In episode 8 the boys run afoul of some psuedo-mobsters and wacky hi-jinks ensue. The episode starts off at "The Thirsty Coyote" which is just a re-dress of the Dancing Marlin again. (They didn't even bother to take down the giant marlin from the sign.)



So later in the episode we see that the pseudo-mobsters hang out at "Mama Mia's Italian Restaurant" which in real life is "Mama Mia's Italian Restaurant." Convenient, huh? They didn't even need to change the sign. I've never eaten there and it seems like a good thing because a quick Google search did not reveal very positive information about the establishment.



So when Jack has to stake out the restaurant he parks his car across the street at "Rudolph's Meat Market" which in real life is, you guessed it, "Rudolph's Meat Market." It's a great example of incorporating the actual physical area into the scene/story because this place really is across the street from Mama Mia's.


In another episode the guys are on the trail of bank robbers in downtown Dallas. Jack and Dan have the place staked out (Thanksgiving Tower) and as Jack waits in their sweet Trans Am, you can see the Press Box Grill behind him.

A lot of times in TV shows and movies they don't shoot different angles of the same scene in the same location but this place really is across the street from Thanksgiving Tower.




Once the bank robbery is foiled you can notice the unique tiles that are in front of the building:



You can also see that they put up their own signage for the show ("Dallas Trust & Loan") which is, of course, not there in real life:




There are plenty more DFW filming locations used by the show which I'll dive into in Part 2 of our look back at The Good Guys...to be continued!

Pure Country in Cresson

In the movie Pure Country George Strait proved that he had above average acting chops.  He then proceeded by not continuing his acting career.  Was this a taunt to his detractors?  A celebration of restraint?  We may never know.  But at least we can go look up the filming locations.

The scene where he visits a cemetery was shot in Cresson, TX in the aptly named Cresson Cemetery:

That opening shot was easy to find due to the sign.  The other shots were not so easy.  Production crews will install fake tombstones for their shoots so, of course, the grave he visited was not real.  Using the power lines in the background I tried to get close to the location where this shot was filmed:

Additional scenes were shot in Fort Worth and surrounding areas so look for those at some point in the future.