MBTA in other media (ex-MBTA in the movies)

[jbn7474]

Heres a link to that site if anyone wants to check out any of the episodes. I linked the first episode of the trip over the longfellow. http://www.slashcontrol.com/free-tv-sho ... mised-land

[Ricky Smith]

Being in the filming industry it annoys me when people dont pay careful attention to the details. When I shoot something I aim to be able to have everyone believe it's real. I try and focus on the smallest details down to the plugs and switches used inside of hospital rooms and the such when we build out sets.

[BostonUrbEx]

South Station looked so pathetic in that. At least the cars aren't that bad.

On a non-rail related note: If that whole show is like that one episode, that is one crazyyyy show. I was expecting something more like Bones, but that was just insane. Also, I found it funny the John Hancock was the "Federal Building"

[diburning]

I don't think T logo is trademarked. Metro-Transit in Minnesota uses the same logo. Pittsburgh Light Rail uses a similar (but not identical) T logo (and is also called "The T")

[RailBus63]

On a non-rail related note: If that whole show is like that one episode, that is one crazyyyy show. I was expecting something more like Bones, but that was just insane. Also, I found it funny the John Hancock was the "Federal Building"

Fringe is a science-fiction show, much like The X-Files. If you don't mind inaccuracies like the John Hancock Building being the 'Federal building' and Albany Street being relocated to Cambridge, it's actually very good.

Spenser for Hire was great to look at, but they were just as loose with the facts. I remember a scene that was filmed on Somerville Ave. in Cambridge supposedly being ‘South Boston’ on the show, and later seasons featured a new MBTA RTS bus on Charles Street in Beacon Hill – going the wrong way, BTW! – in the opening credits. And don’t get me started about Cheers (probably the fakest Boston show ever).

Hands down, the best ‘Boston’ television show was St. Elsewhere. The dialogue was great – as a former Quincy resident, I loved how Dr. Craig would come to work grumbling about the traffic on the Southeast Expressway!

[jbn7474]

St. Elsewhere was a good show too. I think that out of most of the shows filmed with a Boston theme that Spencer was pretty much filmed entirely on location and had the most street footage.

[R36 Combine Coach]

In other Boston TV programs, did Ally McBeal have transit scenes?

[StevieC48]

Besides the orange line in the begining of St Elsewhere they rarely shot the show on location in Boston. I know that Spencer for Hire was always somewhere on location in Boston and surrounding cities and towns, including many MBTA yards and shops as well as the abandon Washington St El stations. I am sure one 3rdRail got some details working on location with the show. I am sure he has stories from when he worked. I can remember they had a scene of a mob meet at the former Dudley Sta on the Inbound Platform. Cabot yards and bus shops were used a few scenes too. However after the show was cancled, 3 TV movies were shot with the Spencer for Hire title, they moved the production and scene locations to Canada, where it is/was cheaper to produce TV and Movies.
I also remember there was a movie called THE FUZZ with Burt Reynolds, who was a detective for the Boston Police Dept out of Charlestown (City Sq) they had numerous shots and story line on the Charlestown EL with 01100"s in the begining of the movie. I hope that the info for the movie THE FUZZ is correct, if not please correct me. So we can all learn.

[3rdrail]

The Spencer for Hire crew liked to go down to the old Army Base when they wanted to shoot either a desolate warehouse area meet scene or a car jumping in the Reserved Channel off a pier. There were a lot of freight tracks down there even in the 80's, and I recall seeing some freight moves in the area. I don't know if "Spencer" ever caught any of that in the show. When there was RR activity, it amazed me that those diesels could remain on track as there were rail gaps of up to 8" along with amazing differences in rail height and gauge. I used to like to go down to the end of the pier in the wee hours between radio calls when it was very foggy and watch the runway aircraft guiding sequential blue lights pulsating accross the Harbor from the airport.

[AutisticPsycho]

Sorry to bump up a bit of an old topic but anywho...

Surrogates part of which was filmed in downtown Lynn (standing in for parts of Boston ) included a smashed and wrecked RTS being placed there for filming. I believe it was transported over from the Everett garage.

Anyways, train related movie stuff... The script for The Departed said that when then the Italian mobsters from RI were found on the Saugus marsh by the Lynne Police, I'm guessing there would have been a shot of the CR in the background.

To quote the script:

EXT. LYNN MARSHLAND. DAWN
SEAGULLS squabble over unusual food. POWER PLANT IN THE
DISTANCE, the MTA-train going by. TWO BODIES lie in a tidal
ditch in the salt-marsh. They are the Italians who Billy
fought in the restaurant. Hands taped together behind their
backs. Two in the head each. COLIN is with the LYNN POLICE
and the State Police forensics people. COLIN gets down and
lifts a soaking lapel. Revealed is the tag of a men's shop in
Providence.

Argh.... MTA!?

[3rdrail]

Argh.... MTA!?

I didn't see the Departed (It's like watching doctor shows if you're an M.D.- you notice that it's usually all wrong !), so I don't know what period in time it was supposed to be. However, in Boston, the height of the so-called "Gangland War", where such a scene as you describe was fairly common involving battles over encroached territories and subsequent double-crosses as well as increased law enforcement infiltration spawning informants, was in the 50's- the age of Boston's MTA. The "El" was a common unwitting "co-conspirator" as there were locations under it that offered safe havens for "hits". A mobster would be shot execution-style at the precise moment that an elevated train hammered accross the steel and wood structure above. The shot would never be heard.

[danib62]

The trailer of Boston Med which debuts tonight on ABC had a shot of the red line crossing the longfellow bridge.

[AutisticPsycho]

Argh.... MTA!?

I didn't see the Departed (It's like watching doctor shows if you're an M.D.- you notice that it's usually all wrong !), so I don't know what period in time it was supposed to be. However, in Boston, the height of the so-called "Gangland War", where such a scene as you describe was fairly common involving battles over encroached territories and subsequent double-crosses as well as increased law enforcement infiltration spawning informants, was in the 50's- the age of Boston's MTA. The "El" was a common unwitting "co-conspirator" as there were locations under it that offered safe havens for "hits". A mobster would be shot execution-style at the precise moment that an elevated train hammered accross the steel and wood structure above. The shot would never be heard.

No, it's set in modern times, with a beginning set in the late 70s, early 80s. Anyways, it was never actually featured in the movie that portion so it's not bugging me that bad. And it was most likely just put there by the scriptwriter.

But if they did a remake of the Brinks Job, I'd better see PCCs with the blue egg and traction orange.

[AutisticPsycho]

Well, just saw Ben Affleck's The Town last night which stars Ben Affleck and Jeremy Renner and two others as a armored car/bank robbing gang from none other than good ole' Charlestown.

Anyways, at the end of the movie everything goes south and Ben Affleck is the only man left standing, Affleck leaves Boston, however, he has the FBI and Boston PD on his back. Using a relative's MBTA uniform he goes to the Charlestown Garage and takes a bus and deadheads it to I believe Southampton Garage.

From there, the scene jumps to Commuter Rail stop (don't know which but it looks like a suburban one) with an Amtrak P42DC pulling Amcans which he boards.

[sery2831]

The Amtrak scene used Downeaster equipment during it's layover time in Boston, and they filmed at Anderson. They had a bunch of T buses in the parking lot while they were doing the filming.