This is a screenshot from the recent NCIS episode that used a Capital Bikeshare station as a prop to make it look real. But, of course, this scene screams California to me. Maybe it's the trees. Are those eucalyptus in the back?
Anyway, my mother-in-law watches this show so it always cracks me up when they're in "Anacostia" and there are mountains in the background or something.
But the biggest giveaway is that the station isn't in the kind of place where they would put one. In the middle of the park? Or worse, in the shade?
Did they ship a station out there for the shoot? CaBi goes Hollywood. I bet the other stations are sick of hearing about the trip.
"Secret Station II"
Posted by: darren | December 02, 2011 at 01:11 PM
Undoubtedly CGI. If dinosaurs & transformers, why not CaBi?
Posted by: Walsh44 | December 02, 2011 at 02:23 PM
It's an unanticipated benefit for Bixi of their bikes being chosen for for DC's system. DC is portrayed in film & TV all the time, and to make the mis-en-scen authentic, the producers will have to place bikeshare stations/bikes in the shot to portray DC post-September 2010. I'd bet some prop house has purchased at least a few bikes, if not bikes+real docking station.
Posted by: Will | December 02, 2011 at 03:17 PM
Yeah, the scenery always irritates me. But when they use maps, it's even worse.
There was one episode where they were tracking someone's cell phone. And on the map, the phone was on West Virginia Avenue in the vicinity of the DC impound. And they were all, "he's Downtown, let's go."
And then you see them in "downtown", which has high-rises.
Very frustrating.
But it is cool that they have bikeshare stations as props now!
Posted by: Matt' Johnson | December 02, 2011 at 03:20 PM
The bikes are real. The production company purchased a few. The station is fabricated, but they actually did a very nice job and you cannot tell the difference from a distance. Stay on the look out for future appearances...
Posted by: Chris Eatough | December 02, 2011 at 03:23 PM
Matt, we watched The Event for a while and the DC scenes cracked us up. For example, Chinatown actually looked Chinese, and the Metro was clearly LA. There were high-rises and mountains...just a mess. Not as bad as the script, but a mess.
Posted by: washcycle | December 02, 2011 at 03:32 PM
Chris, that is a nice mock-up. they even got the solar panel. I totally bought it.
Posted by: washcycle | December 02, 2011 at 03:34 PM
We knew they'd make it big some day. All that time waiting tables and working in community theater really paid off.
Posted by: Eric | December 02, 2011 at 03:38 PM
I always wondered why Korea looked so much like Soutehrn California in MASH. Now I know.
In Salt, Angelina Jolie jumps off the L'Enfant Promenade bridge onto a truck on I295 and ends up in downtown Albany NY.
The best one is the escape of Kevin Costner from the bad guys by running through the Georgetown metro station.
Posted by: Rootchopper | December 02, 2011 at 03:48 PM
That is a nice touch.
For those of you who find it amusing to see out of place things in places that are supposed to be DC, imagine living in LA and actually recognizing all the buildings, all the time, in most shows.
Posted by: JJJJJ | December 02, 2011 at 03:53 PM
I took that screenshot after reading about the episode in advance on TheWashCycle.
Two "fake" DC scenes that I think about sometimes are those in the Ah-nold movie "True Lies" and one of the many in The X-Files. "True Lies" was confusing because they seemed to have filmed some scenes in and around the Georgetown Park mall. (The scene where someone tries to attack Arnold from behind when he's using a urinal. The two proceed to destroy the bathroom. The fight heads out into the mall. One of them smashes through a store window and runs out onto the alley next to the Dean and Deluca store.
But then the action gets weird, and so does the scenery. Arnold ends up on a horse and high-rise buildings magically appear in Georgetown or Foggy Bottom.
In The X-Files, some nondescript federal agency (Selective Service? Census Bureau? - I don't remember) was the secret storage location for alien-hybrid files or something like that. All of these records were kept in Crystal City. I've been searching for that warehouse in Crystal City ever since. I know that the truth is out there, somewhere...
Posted by: Michael H. | December 03, 2011 at 02:07 AM
Scranton, PA looks very similar to Washington, DC too.
Posted by: Max | December 03, 2011 at 06:34 PM
On the other hand, "Covert Affairs" seems to get a lot of external scenery right. However during a recent episode, the internals of the Smithsonian were rather interesting.
Posted by: Ubuntourist | December 04, 2011 at 12:01 PM
What alternately makes me laugh and scream is how quickly they can get from the Navy Yard to Norfolk. My brothers live in Fairfax County and my parents near Newport News: that's a 2.5 hour drive on a good day.
Posted by: Joe D | December 05, 2011 at 09:56 AM
There was this show called Houston Knights that lasted half a season when I was a kid. Growing up in the area, I found it funny when they would drive across the border to Mexico. Which would take about 10 hours. I think you're closer to Memphis in Houston than you are Mexico.
Posted by: washcycle | December 05, 2011 at 10:28 AM
Two "fake" DC scenes that I think about
My favorite is "No Way Out" where Kevin Kostner jumps off the Whitehurst Freeway, lands outside the Georgetown Metro station, jumps on a train, and comes up at the Old Post Office Pavillion.
Awesome!
Posted by: oboe | December 05, 2011 at 11:05 AM
I went to college in Dark City, so when that movie came out I kept on thinking, "the post office isn't next to the train station - at least not this week it isn't."
Posted by: washcycle | December 05, 2011 at 12:07 PM