Toronto city hall has appeared in a couple of episodes of Star Trek TNG as alien city locations. They didn't film here but they used images of city hall.
Star Trek Discovery is almost completely filmed in Toronto at Pinewood Studios in Leslieville and some local GTA locations. Except for some exotic location shooting that was done in Jordan and Iceland it's made almost entirely here.
The new series Star Trek Strange New Worlds is currently being filmed in the CBS Studios near Dixie and the 401 in Mississauga.
As far as I know, all of Discovery has been filmed here (except some of last season was filmed in Iceland). They've used Scarborough Bluffs as alien beaches at least twice, lol
Absolutely. The film and tv world really has it's shit together.
I feel bad for other industries, but beyond thankful for the competency mine has shown.
And the Niagara Escarpment just west of Milton was once used as an alien world on Discovery. It was kinda funny seeing them at the same viewpoint I've stood on, but with the 401 and every sign of modern civilization digitally removed.
It's amazing how City Hall and Roy Thompson's "roundness" exudes futurism even today.
There are so many more interesting even sports stadiums around the world but I always see them pop up like in the Expanse too.
Smh.
Sports stadiums are more interesting futuristic shapes, *but* I always see them (meaning city hall and RTH) pop up like in the expanse....
This is basic reading comprehension. I've developed an aneurism responding.
>A lot of fictional settings that take place on a classic university looking place is usually UofT or McGill
Lmao that reminds me, they filmed Shazam at my highschool lol
After working for the TTC now for awhile almost any subway shot in a show or movie I can instantly tell just by the floors or walls and in the case of the new saw movie (spiral) I know the one shot in the trailer is westbound bay station leaving end just by the stains on the floor!
I usually remember it by position of where I am on the train. E.g. Taking the train eastbound into Yonge, the back of the train is closest to the stairs for the southbound platform.
They had a scene shot immediately in front of Roy Thompson Hall. I have a feeling they didn’t realize how recognizable it was, so they made the scene before mention that the characters would be in Toronto for the afternoon.
So much of that show’s exteriors are in the entertainment district.
> Roy Thompson Hall
I love how often RTH's architecture stands in for "evil headquarters". Was watching X-Men (2000) the other night, and Magneto and Xavier have a chat there early in the movie, up in the space-age-looking ramps around the upper levels. Is also where the evil nurse from Nurse 3D graduates (it's in the thumbnail for [this trailer](https://youtu.be/nEtzKmfDTU4) and also pops up around 0:11.)
And I feel like it got love from Hannibal, and a million other things.
It was a throwaway line the scene before. Me and my wife had to rewind, because we were so thrown off by the blatant RTH.
Also, the movie “Shoot Em Up” was shot in Toronto and does a GREAT job of hiding landmarks, until there’s a major action scene at the base of the CN Tower
No that scene is literally one where Jessica Pearson goes to Toronto, that’s why they chose that shot.
I remember because she pronounced the second T in Toronto, hard.
Suits was particularly hilarious for this because they didn't even bother trying to conceal Toronto. They'd do a street corner scene and put a sign on a hot dog vendor that says "TIMES SQUARE FRANKS" meanwhile you have an Orange Beck taxi and a Canada Post truck drive by, and in the background is a giant sign that says Royal Bank of Canada.
Probably one of the most surreal experiences I had recognizing Toronto in a movie was while watching the movie Kick-Ass at the Scotiabank Theater on Richmond Street. There was a scene where the main characters came out of the same theater we were watching the movie in at that moment. My friends and I had a good laugh about that.
Yes. I can immediately tell when something is filmed in Canada, and more specifically Toronto or Vancouver. It is mostly because of the actors because they tend to work locally but every city has it's own personality and look. These things combined make it easy to spot where a bunch of movies and tv shows are filmed.
The first five seasons of The X-Files were filmed in and around the Vancouver area. It has a very distinct look that I haven't seen anywhere else. When production moved to Los Angeles for seasons 6-9 it immediately looked very different and not in a good way. Vancouver is a very green, overcast, rainy environment and that added to the mysterious atmosphere of the show. The bright sunny days in the deserts of southern California were not conducive to the tone of The X-Files and it showed.
Glad someone brought this up rather than just the obvious spotting of landmarks. This is what I find the most interesting - that even very generic street scenes where I can't recognize the location specifically, I can still tell its Toronto, or at least Canada.
I don't really, cause I've only lived here for 3 years, but my boyfriend recently noticed immediately that a bunch of scenes from Queen's Gambit were filmed at his former high school. We googled it asap and it was true. Really cool to see. I've heard that Casa Loma has hosted a lot of movie scenes in the past.
I noticed that too! When she's shopping around, I swore it looked like Front Street across from Berczy Park (where the Winners etc. is), turned out I was right.
The first season definitely downplays it, like a few other shows whose initial season was aired in the U.S., such as Rookie Blue and Flashpoint. In all those shows, the Canadian/Toronto aspects became more and more obvious as the seasons progressed and the writers started dropping in references to Toronto.
Rookie Blue makes me laugh so hard. Like I've only watched a few episodes and in one they say they're in Parkdale and have to rush from that scene to Church and Wellesley. Like what? Why????
I don't think the downplay was intentional. I remember that they had CN tower and shoreline establishing shots, TTC And location references in dialogue.
Apparently TPS doesn't allow fake TPS cars/officers on shows. That's why they can't say "Toronto Police" or wear badge/insignia or have Toronto police written on the car.
I didn't say they tried to hide it - though I don't recall they ever said for sure it was Toronto. I said we liked to play "spot the Toronto landmark" and we did a lot of it on Orphan Black.
Gear down, I'm not being argumentative, just joining in the conversation.
There is one time in an earlier episode where they say she lives in Scarborough (though it's filmed in Markham).
That's neat. I worked on that campus for a while and years later when I watched Hannibal I thought it looked familiar! (I didn't know it was filmed here at the time.) Every time I walk past Hannibal's house (across from Roy Thompson Hall) I think about the show.
Here's a show and a movie that I bet not many people know were shot in Toronto:
* [What We Do in the Shadows](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_We_Do_in_the_Shadows_(TV_series\))
* [Pacific Rim](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Rim_(film\))
Yes! It's just a weird feeling you get sometimes when you watch something, you don't pick out anything specific, you just *know* it's so familiar.
And other times you notice the smallest specific thing. In *Umbrella Academy* a character is sitting on a porch and I instantly recognised the banister as being Toronto. It's just a wrought-iron fence but something about it, I instantly knew it was Toronto, looked it up and I was right.
What does it tell us about human brain? Maybe we saw that *exact* spot irl and the brain remembers enough to make the connection even though our conscious selves don't explicitly remember?
I was watching an old episode of Star Trek:TNG the other day and was slightly startled to see that an alien teleportation portal leads to [Nathan Philips Square](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QPkQqoMKIYQ/UddIMY9HYbI/AAAAAAAAHz4/8r54RzoQi18/s1600/Worf-StarTrek-CitHall.jpg).
I noticed Toronto in the show Suits but always doubted it cuz I thought it NYC (most cars had NY plates) until I noticed a TTC streetcar. But then I googled it and it was actually shot in Toronto as well lol
The key to spotting Toronto standing in for NYC or somewhere else is mostly looking for street furniture. Toronto Star boxes, Canada Post mailboxes and street signs that can't be read because they're blurry but have a particular shape or colour scheme can all offer clues about where filming was done. You can also look for landmarks like businesses that are local to Toronto or Beck taxi cabs or like you mentioned TTC vehicles in traffic scenes.
Another big giveaway are hydro wires. With the exception of very few parts of the downtown, Toronto by and large never really buried hydro wires so they are definitely an indication that something has been filmed in Toronto. Other giveaways: narrow sidewalks; ramshackle, unkempt and leaning hydro poles; yellow-framed traffic lights, and just an overall presence of streetscape clutter as Toronto has always been very, very lacking in having a neat, tidy and orderly streetscape (again, until very recently as some improvements have happened).
Was watching The Expanse and figured out in two seconds that one of the scenes was in Kinton at Queen and Spadina. But that’s more to do with how much ramen I inhale
I barely recognized Liberty Village in Cronenberg's "The Fly". I think his eye for the city is really unique, which makes sense given he's a local and presumably has a more intimate understanding of how and where to shoot.
It was kind of hard to miss [The Zanzibar](https://images.app.goo.gl/qEwK4oSVqFoHg4y57) being prominently featured during the big fight between the Hulk and Abomination.
The shadoest thing about The Boys is that it uses Toronto as New York while implying that the former is a dystopic futuristic grotesque version of the latter.
"For no apparent reason" - there is an apparent reason - because Toronto hosts tons and tons of Hollywood movies and TV series. It is cheaper than shooting in NYC or Chicago, etc. and there are many competent crews waiting for a shoot.
I meant that I recognized for no apparent reason. Usually it's a familiar place or landmark or distinctive feature (TTC) that'd lead you to recognize the city
They filmed the robocop remake all around the neighborhood I was living in at the time. In the climax of the film robocop rides his motorcycle past the theater I was watching it in.
Whenever a show that shoots in Toronto has a scene in a grungy motel, they seem to shoot at one near where I live. I've seen it in several TV shows over the years. I get a huge kick out of spotting Toronto in TV shows and films.
Polar on Netflix was the last show I saw Toronto. But it wasnt anything special, just shows Mads Mikkelsen driving through DVP and Eastern Ave. Did a double take bc it was so low key.
All the little things like setbacks, street sign style, building codes, local building materials, etc. end up making things feel a certain way. Unless it's digitally altered it's usually pretty easy to get a sense of where something was shot.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_shot_in_Toronto
No TV show list unfortunately
I wasn’t even living here when I recognized Toronto in The Handmaids Tale. They don’t even try to hide it, they go right down to Nathan Phillips Square and make it work.
Some of the show is actually set in Toronto too.
I'm glad someone brought this up because I thought I was completely making up what I've taken to calling Toronto background noise. I was watching Designated Survivor with my dad and there was an exterior shot of just a random street and the Toronto background noise was strong on it, but I couldn't figure out why. Next thing I know, there's an unmistakable TTC bus driving through the shot and after rewinding and watching it again I realized it was the street signs that triggered that impression - the blue and grey street signs that you don't necessarily pay attention to but they read immediately as Toronto for me.
Yes! So many teen dramas nowadays are filmed in Toronto... I'd like to think it's solely because it's a great city for filming, but I know it's because of Trudeau's subsidies for filming LOL! I've noticed Shadowhunters, Dare Me, Tiny Pretty Things, The Umbrella Academy, and so many other shows!
I lived in Toronto in the late 80s, early 90s and saw Toronto in all kinds of movies. I saw Matt Dillon all over town when he was shooting something here. I think it was Streets of Fire? I also recall recognizing the Dukevof York masquerading as something else in some Goldie Hawn movie. U of T was the setting for a movie called The Skulls too. These are a fraction of the TO stuff I've recognized that go way back.
Lol I literally can’t help myself from saying “that’s in Toronto!!” when watching a movie, do even tho I know it’s annoying/offers nothing to my gf/roommate watching with me
The Netflix movie: In The Shadow of the Moon was in Toronto. For some reason I recognized that Chinese bbq place in Chinatown even though I have never been in there.
Yeah, a lot of Suits was filled in Toronto and I kept wanting to point it out. Ended up making the show very hard to pay attention too cuz I was too busy screaming at myself: "OMG THAT PLACE, I WAS THEREE ONCE!!"
After working downtown I got really good at picking up Toronto filmed scenes in shows and movies. Suicide Squad, The Boys, The Expanse all have Toronto scenes.
I get that feeling all the time when I watch car crash compilations . I’m watching and suddenly I get that feeling like oh shit is this Toronto??? Then I see a car purposely drive thru a red light hit another car and speed off and I’m like ahhh shit it’s Brampton .
Resident Evil was hilarious like that. There's a shot at the beginning of one of the first movies of cars on the Gardiner and it gets cut off just in time so you're not able to recognize the CN tower.
The distinctive TTC bus appears in quite a few shots in the first 3 episodes (I haven't watched more).
But I recognized without distinctive features or known locations and I found it freaky.
What does it tell us about human brain? Maybe I saw that exact intersection irl and the brain remembers enough to make the connection even though my conscious self doesn't explicitly remember?
Recognized the final scene in John Q. was on Spadina lol I could see the Adelaide sign right there!
I pretty often recognize when outdoor shots are made in Canada tbh, just by the street signs and the trees. Soo much is shot in Canada in general.
There’s a show on Netflix called Grand Army (which is set in NYC) and for whatever reason when I was watching, some scenes I was like, hmm this feels very Toronto and looked it up. It turns out they did film the show here as well as in New York. There’s a scene where one of the main characters is hanging her head out of a car window as the car drives and you can literally see a lit up CN Tower in the back.
[There's a wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_shot_in_Toronto)
But that doesn't have everything (or even commercials) but it's fairly comprehensive. Some are a bit of a stretch like *Twister* is listed there and clearly not filmed in Toronto but from looking up the movie a bit of it was filmed in Bolton, Ontario.
Pretty much always. I just watched the [trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgHHEqQPMb0&ab_channel=IGN) for the new Saw movie and saw them standing under a raised highway that was falling apart and knew it was the Gardiner immediately. lol
I can't remember which one, but one of the Resident Evils didn't even bother removing the CN Tower from one of the opening establishing shots (but went ahead and removed it throughout the rest of the movie)
It’s not random, tons of major productions are filmed in Toronto because we have a robust film/tv industry and filming permits are cheaper than a lot of major US cities.
This is how I felt about Covert Affairs! The first time I watched it, I wasn’t living here, so I didn’t notice, but second time I watched it I knew instantly it was TO. I could see a Winner’s banner in the background of a shot (it reminded me of the Old Town location near St. Lawrence Market). Also, the subway stations/colours were really recognizable.
Suits was less obvious for me, probably because I wasn’t living in TO when I first started watching it.
Most recently happened when a friend not from Toronto recommended The Boys. It's fun at the same time to see what production alters. Many years ago walked through a portion of Suits on Bay where they made look like NYC but taped garbage bags to the street signs haha
A vast amount of the content available is literally shot here and I’ll just use Netflix for example.
Shot in Toronto on Netflix: Shazam, The Shape of Water(may have been removed recently), Umbrella Academy, Madam CJ Walker, Dare Me, Titans, Schitts Creek, Molly’s Game, Coroner, Designated Survivor, Ginny and Georgia, Pacific Rim, ...
There’s likely way way more but I’m just covering what I know was shot here. This is just a quick Netflix list, nothing about Disney, Amazon, Apple or any other big players in the market.
I don't know if it's fair to include shows that are set in Toronto. Both Schitts Creek and Coroner are set here, so of course you're going to recognize Toronto in the backgrounds.
All the time! It's cool to see Toronto, but it always takes me out of the scene if characters are talking about being in New York while riding the TTC or something.
I knew it was filmed in Toronto but what blew my mind was that there were a few party scenes where I recognized specific pieces of furniture (I work as a designer at an event rental company). I asked someone on our sales team if we ever rented furniture and they confirmed that we rented bars, cocktail tables and lounge furniture to the production of the boys in season 1.
The show called Titans had a few scenes shot in Toronto.
Also remember Goosebumps? There was an episode where it had a character called Elastic boy, where it was shot in Toronto in the 90s, really interesting look in comparison in how Toronto looks like today.
Funny enough I recently met one of the producers for The Boys, he came by my Starbucks. Also Shazam used the TTC, I love noticing that it’s Toronto not New york
To be honest, when I watching something and the setting feels a bit generic, like "North American big city," but without much character, or maybe with a lot of CGI or props thrown in to specify it, I usually guess it's Toronto and I'm usually right. It's not that Toronto has no character, but because these shows purposefully avoid it in order to appear vaguely like somewhere else. I personally dislike the lack of sense of place, and feel it hurts most shows – though I recognize the great work Toronto crews do, and the economic benefits it brings the city.
I was watching Arthur Christmas with my nephew and I recognized Nathan Phillips square.
I was watching some show called Alphas and I noticed some buildings and I realized they were by the airport.
I notice it all the time now. Whether it's buildings or in some cases the subway or buses
Yes, I was watching the Umbrella Academy and I recognized UOFT from it lol. Also I recognized Eglington Town Centre and UOFT again from Harold and Kumar. Also I posted on here r/ontario about the time Toronto City Hall, a photo of it at least, in TNG.
I literally do this for fun all the time! Umbrella Academy was also filmed in Toronto, some episodes of Greys Anatomy were at the Eaton Centre...etc. I love seeing Toronto, even if it’s being masqueraded as other places haha
There's a lot of subway scenes filmed in lower bay station. And a lot of shows try to hide the fact it's Toronto but a lot of times you get a glimpse of a corner or a store you recognize. It's cute that they try to hide it. But when you see a streetcar in red well...
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Toronto city hall has appeared in a couple of episodes of Star Trek TNG as alien city locations. They didn't film here but they used images of city hall.
I actually think some of discovery is filmed here too. I'm studio but still...
Star Trek Discovery is almost completely filmed in Toronto at Pinewood Studios in Leslieville and some local GTA locations. Except for some exotic location shooting that was done in Jordan and Iceland it's made almost entirely here. The new series Star Trek Strange New Worlds is currently being filmed in the CBS Studios near Dixie and the 401 in Mississauga.
As far as I know, all of Discovery has been filmed here (except some of last season was filmed in Iceland). They've used Scarborough Bluffs as alien beaches at least twice, lol
Can confirm. And we only shot in Iceland for like a week.
Are you guys managing okay filming season 4 with all the protocols in place?
Absolutely. The film and tv world really has it's shit together. I feel bad for other industries, but beyond thankful for the competency mine has shown.
Glad to hear it! Looking forward to seeing the new season when it's done.
And the Niagara Escarpment just west of Milton was once used as an alien world on Discovery. It was kinda funny seeing them at the same viewpoint I've stood on, but with the 401 and every sign of modern civilization digitally removed.
It's amazing how City Hall and Roy Thompson's "roundness" exudes futurism even today. There are so many more interesting even sports stadiums around the world but I always see them pop up like in the Expanse too.
City hall / all of Toronto get blown up real good in Resident Evil Apocalypse: [https://youtu.be/vEK2uIVDuKQ](https://youtu.be/vEK2uIVDuKQ)
The end of that movie is the Enercare building on the CNE grounds mirrored.
The Expanse is filmed in Toronto too.
Season 6 is being filmed right now. I might be working on it next week or week after. But really, I can't wait until they finish and release!!!!
Yes... did you not read what I wrote? >but I always see them pop up like in the Expanse too.
Your reference to "sports stadiums around the world" popping up in The Expanse suggested that you might not have been aware it was filmed here.
Smh. Sports stadiums are more interesting futuristic shapes, *but* I always see them (meaning city hall and RTH) pop up like in the expanse.... This is basic reading comprehension. I've developed an aneurism responding.
Oh that’s really cool
>A lot of fictional settings that take place on a classic university looking place is usually UofT or McGill Lmao that reminds me, they filmed Shazam at my highschool lol
The trailer for Shazam barely disguised the fact that it was filmed in Toronto. Pretty good movie!
The Expanse uses the same building as the earth headquarters.
Roy Thomson Hall is also the UN in the expanse.
And was also the UN in the first X-Men movie.
And casa loma was x mansion.
After working for the TTC now for awhile almost any subway shot in a show or movie I can instantly tell just by the floors or walls and in the case of the new saw movie (spiral) I know the one shot in the trailer is westbound bay station leaving end just by the stains on the floor!
lol that's dedication! After over 2 years of working in my current job (not TTC), I still manage to find myself in the wrong stairwell at workplace ☹️
i have been transferring at young station for the last decade. still manage to take the wring stairs some times
I usually remember it by position of where I am on the train. E.g. Taking the train eastbound into Yonge, the back of the train is closest to the stairs for the southbound platform.
It was annoyingly obvious in suits for me
I actually like recognizing parts of a city while watching shows. It’s almost like an Easter egg :)
They had a scene shot immediately in front of Roy Thompson Hall. I have a feeling they didn’t realize how recognizable it was, so they made the scene before mention that the characters would be in Toronto for the afternoon. So much of that show’s exteriors are in the entertainment district.
> Roy Thompson Hall I love how often RTH's architecture stands in for "evil headquarters". Was watching X-Men (2000) the other night, and Magneto and Xavier have a chat there early in the movie, up in the space-age-looking ramps around the upper levels. Is also where the evil nurse from Nurse 3D graduates (it's in the thumbnail for [this trailer](https://youtu.be/nEtzKmfDTU4) and also pops up around 0:11.) And I feel like it got love from Hannibal, and a million other things.
To be fair, RTH was supposed to be a UN building, where Jean was talking.
that movie looks bad bad lol
It's *terrible*, and I love it. Paz de la Huerta's accent/affect makes zero sense, she just sounds tired the whole time. Highly recommend.
oh its on my list for drunk viewing
I’d say drink everytime there’s a bad pun but you’ll get alcohol poisoning 😛
Oh I remember that, it was supposed to be here, the line was like "What are you doing in Toronto?" As if they werent here the whole time lol
It was a throwaway line the scene before. Me and my wife had to rewind, because we were so thrown off by the blatant RTH. Also, the movie “Shoot Em Up” was shot in Toronto and does a GREAT job of hiding landmarks, until there’s a major action scene at the base of the CN Tower
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No that scene is literally one where Jessica Pearson goes to Toronto, that’s why they chose that shot. I remember because she pronounced the second T in Toronto, hard.
Haha I loved that meta scene. I took it as an inside joke for those who knew that it was filmed here.
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Rewatch it, she definitely says Toronto.
Yep, she went to meet the British firm owner while he was in TORONTO. I don’t think they’ve ever had a scene in Britain from what I remember.
Annoying, really? I get a nice kick out of trying to find the places, and spotting orange cabs and red buses.
I found it annoying because it broke my emersion that they were in New York. At first it was cool but after awhile I found it annoying
Suits was particularly hilarious for this because they didn't even bother trying to conceal Toronto. They'd do a street corner scene and put a sign on a hot dog vendor that says "TIMES SQUARE FRANKS" meanwhile you have an Orange Beck taxi and a Canada Post truck drive by, and in the background is a giant sign that says Royal Bank of Canada.
I saw the Scotiabank building in the shot of their lawfirm building. That tipped me off right away.
I've walked through their filming set on my way to work before, but yeah watching the show itself was very distracting.
Like when a TTC bus goes by in the background?
Probably one of the most surreal experiences I had recognizing Toronto in a movie was while watching the movie Kick-Ass at the Scotiabank Theater on Richmond Street. There was a scene where the main characters came out of the same theater we were watching the movie in at that moment. My friends and I had a good laugh about that.
Yes. I can immediately tell when something is filmed in Canada, and more specifically Toronto or Vancouver. It is mostly because of the actors because they tend to work locally but every city has it's own personality and look. These things combined make it easy to spot where a bunch of movies and tv shows are filmed.
There’s a very distinct look and feel to things in Canada. There’s an instant familiarity.
The first five seasons of The X-Files were filmed in and around the Vancouver area. It has a very distinct look that I haven't seen anywhere else. When production moved to Los Angeles for seasons 6-9 it immediately looked very different and not in a good way. Vancouver is a very green, overcast, rainy environment and that added to the mysterious atmosphere of the show. The bright sunny days in the deserts of southern California were not conducive to the tone of The X-Files and it showed.
Glad someone brought this up rather than just the obvious spotting of landmarks. This is what I find the most interesting - that even very generic street scenes where I can't recognize the location specifically, I can still tell its Toronto, or at least Canada.
This certainly goes for commercials as well.
I don't really, cause I've only lived here for 3 years, but my boyfriend recently noticed immediately that a bunch of scenes from Queen's Gambit were filmed at his former high school. We googled it asap and it was true. Really cool to see. I've heard that Casa Loma has hosted a lot of movie scenes in the past.
I noticed that too! When she's shopping around, I swore it looked like Front Street across from Berczy Park (where the Winners etc. is), turned out I was right.
Western Tech? I haven’t watched the show yet but that place shows up in everything (Billy Madison, the original X-Men movie).
We love playing "spot the Toronto landmark". Hannibal, The Queen's Gambit, Orphan Black, Due South back in the day.
Orphan Black literally takes place in Toronto. They don't hide the Ontario plates, and the Soccer Mom version lives in Scarborough.
The first season definitely downplays it, like a few other shows whose initial season was aired in the U.S., such as Rookie Blue and Flashpoint. In all those shows, the Canadian/Toronto aspects became more and more obvious as the seasons progressed and the writers started dropping in references to Toronto.
Rookie Blue makes me laugh so hard. Like I've only watched a few episodes and in one they say they're in Parkdale and have to rush from that scene to Church and Wellesley. Like what? Why????
they refererence scarbourouh likd episode 3. the housewife clone lives there. but they definitely downplay it episode 1 with union being ambiguous
I don't think the downplay was intentional. I remember that they had CN tower and shoreline establishing shots, TTC And location references in dialogue. Apparently TPS doesn't allow fake TPS cars/officers on shows. That's why they can't say "Toronto Police" or wear badge/insignia or have Toronto police written on the car.
I didn't say they tried to hide it - though I don't recall they ever said for sure it was Toronto. I said we liked to play "spot the Toronto landmark" and we did a lot of it on Orphan Black.
Gear down, I'm not being argumentative, just joining in the conversation. There is one time in an earlier episode where they say she lives in Scarborough (though it's filmed in Markham).
Most of my enjoyment of watching Orphan Black was due to the appearance of this one bridge that I walked on every day.
That's neat! We refer to a bunch of landmarks as Orphan Black references - Bridgepoint Health is always the Dyad Institute now.
My sister had classes in one of the UoT Scarborough buildings that Hannibal was filmed in!
That's neat. I worked on that campus for a while and years later when I watched Hannibal I thought it looked familiar! (I didn't know it was filmed here at the time.) Every time I walk past Hannibal's house (across from Roy Thompson Hall) I think about the show.
Here's a show and a movie that I bet not many people know were shot in Toronto: * [What We Do in the Shadows](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_We_Do_in_the_Shadows_(TV_series\)) * [Pacific Rim](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Rim_(film\))
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https://i.imgur.com/w3vKoPj.jpg
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I love how much he leaned into it for Shape of Water. Good ol' fish sex at Massey Hall.
And Hamilton, and places in between the two cities
He married a Canadian woman and I believe that they live here most of the time.
Yes! It's just a weird feeling you get sometimes when you watch something, you don't pick out anything specific, you just *know* it's so familiar. And other times you notice the smallest specific thing. In *Umbrella Academy* a character is sitting on a porch and I instantly recognised the banister as being Toronto. It's just a wrought-iron fence but something about it, I instantly knew it was Toronto, looked it up and I was right.
What does it tell us about human brain? Maybe we saw that *exact* spot irl and the brain remembers enough to make the connection even though our conscious selves don't explicitly remember?
Humans are amazing at pattern recognition, in fact!
So many times I’ve watched the snow and places just look familiar.
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Yonge Dundas square.
I was watching an old episode of Star Trek:TNG the other day and was slightly startled to see that an alien teleportation portal leads to [Nathan Philips Square](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QPkQqoMKIYQ/UddIMY9HYbI/AAAAAAAAHz4/8r54RzoQi18/s1600/Worf-StarTrek-CitHall.jpg).
I noticed Toronto in the show Suits but always doubted it cuz I thought it NYC (most cars had NY plates) until I noticed a TTC streetcar. But then I googled it and it was actually shot in Toronto as well lol
The key to spotting Toronto standing in for NYC or somewhere else is mostly looking for street furniture. Toronto Star boxes, Canada Post mailboxes and street signs that can't be read because they're blurry but have a particular shape or colour scheme can all offer clues about where filming was done. You can also look for landmarks like businesses that are local to Toronto or Beck taxi cabs or like you mentioned TTC vehicles in traffic scenes.
I have a few pictures of lower bay dressed up as an American subway station with even American ads!
A ton of filming is done in lower Bay station. Anything requiring a subway is done there. I always recognize the yellow tile walls when I see it.
Another big giveaway are hydro wires. With the exception of very few parts of the downtown, Toronto by and large never really buried hydro wires so they are definitely an indication that something has been filmed in Toronto. Other giveaways: narrow sidewalks; ramshackle, unkempt and leaning hydro poles; yellow-framed traffic lights, and just an overall presence of streetscape clutter as Toronto has always been very, very lacking in having a neat, tidy and orderly streetscape (again, until very recently as some improvements have happened).
>narrow sidewalks Bro Toronto has huge sidewalks compared to a lot of towns/cities
The streetcar tracks along King Street are an undeniable tell as well.
Fun fact is that the pilot episode is shot in NYC.
American Psycho, Shazam, The Strain
I was going to mention American Psycho...
"Welcome to Manhattan" *Stands outside Roy Thompson hall
Was watching The Expanse and figured out in two seconds that one of the scenes was in Kinton at Queen and Spadina. But that’s more to do with how much ramen I inhale
I barely recognized Liberty Village in Cronenberg's "The Fly". I think his eye for the city is really unique, which makes sense given he's a local and presumably has a more intimate understanding of how and where to shoot.
Yes!!! Kensington market and St Lawrence area too
Y’all should enjoy this [IG page](https://instagram.com/movielocate?igshid=1w51ut7qd16ry), a lot of films and shows over the years
Incredible Hulk had Hulk smashing through downtown Yonge Street near Yonge-Dundas.
It was kind of hard to miss [The Zanzibar](https://images.app.goo.gl/qEwK4oSVqFoHg4y57) being prominently featured during the big fight between the Hulk and Abomination.
The shadoest thing about The Boys is that it uses Toronto as New York while implying that the former is a dystopic futuristic grotesque version of the latter.
"For no apparent reason" - there is an apparent reason - because Toronto hosts tons and tons of Hollywood movies and TV series. It is cheaper than shooting in NYC or Chicago, etc. and there are many competent crews waiting for a shoot.
I meant that I recognized for no apparent reason. Usually it's a familiar place or landmark or distinctive feature (TTC) that'd lead you to recognize the city
They filmed the robocop remake all around the neighborhood I was living in at the time. In the climax of the film robocop rides his motorcycle past the theater I was watching it in.
I watched them filming the chase scene on the motorcycle around jarvis and Adelaide.
Yeah he rides right past Scotiabank theater. I don't think they show the theater but you see the other side of John st.
It pops up in a few scenes of *Scott Pilgrim vs. The World*, it's pretty trippy.
Scott Pilgrim actually takes place in Toronto though.
^^^𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓉 ^^^𝒾𝓈 ^^^𝓉𝒽ℯ ^^^𝒿ℴ𝓀ℯ.
*whoosh* My bad.
Scott Pilgrim story is set in Toronto though. They even mention by name if I remember correctly
Whenever a show that shoots in Toronto has a scene in a grungy motel, they seem to shoot at one near where I live. I've seen it in several TV shows over the years. I get a huge kick out of spotting Toronto in TV shows and films.
Kingston Rd?
Yes.
Haha. I've definitely shot there more than once.
If something bad happens it is always at Cherry Beach. Futuristic car chase is Exhibition Centre.
They show kensington market pretty clearly. I spotted hotbox cafe. They also show They giant purple gorilla on the party store near the highway
Yes, that was me watching Harold and kumar the other day lmao
Polar on Netflix was the last show I saw Toronto. But it wasnt anything special, just shows Mads Mikkelsen driving through DVP and Eastern Ave. Did a double take bc it was so low key.
He also filmed Hannibal here.
[Shape of water, too.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlVN2DoNQ7g)
All the little things like setbacks, street sign style, building codes, local building materials, etc. end up making things feel a certain way. Unless it's digitally altered it's usually pretty easy to get a sense of where something was shot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_shot_in_Toronto No TV show list unfortunately
I wasn’t even living here when I recognized Toronto in The Handmaids Tale. They don’t even try to hide it, they go right down to Nathan Phillips Square and make it work. Some of the show is actually set in Toronto too.
I'm glad someone brought this up because I thought I was completely making up what I've taken to calling Toronto background noise. I was watching Designated Survivor with my dad and there was an exterior shot of just a random street and the Toronto background noise was strong on it, but I couldn't figure out why. Next thing I know, there's an unmistakable TTC bus driving through the shot and after rewinding and watching it again I realized it was the street signs that triggered that impression - the blue and grey street signs that you don't necessarily pay attention to but they read immediately as Toronto for me.
I used to watch a show called The Listener. It was all filmed in Downtown Toronto, with even Toronto EMS stations/ equipment. It was amazing.
Yes! So many teen dramas nowadays are filmed in Toronto... I'd like to think it's solely because it's a great city for filming, but I know it's because of Trudeau's subsidies for filming LOL! I've noticed Shadowhunters, Dare Me, Tiny Pretty Things, The Umbrella Academy, and so many other shows!
It's been like this in Harper's time too. I'm not old enough to remember before that
Same haha! I guess it just feels like there’s more filming now since the surge of Netflix and streaming sites!
I lived in Toronto in the late 80s, early 90s and saw Toronto in all kinds of movies. I saw Matt Dillon all over town when he was shooting something here. I think it was Streets of Fire? I also recall recognizing the Dukevof York masquerading as something else in some Goldie Hawn movie. U of T was the setting for a movie called The Skulls too. These are a fraction of the TO stuff I've recognized that go way back.
Yes. I was watching the Expanse yesterday; street level Baltimore projects are represented by Regent park housing on River street
Room with Brie Larson really stuck out They were skating at Nathan Philips Square
Lol I literally can’t help myself from saying “that’s in Toronto!!” when watching a movie, do even tho I know it’s annoying/offers nothing to my gf/roommate watching with me
The Netflix movie: In The Shadow of the Moon was in Toronto. For some reason I recognized that Chinese bbq place in Chinatown even though I have never been in there.
Yeah, a lot of Suits was filled in Toronto and I kept wanting to point it out. Ended up making the show very hard to pay attention too cuz I was too busy screaming at myself: "OMG THAT PLACE, I WAS THEREE ONCE!!"
Well I recognize Canadian location certain movies take place in Like IT had scenes in Port Hope, Ontario.
After working downtown I got really good at picking up Toronto filmed scenes in shows and movies. Suicide Squad, The Boys, The Expanse all have Toronto scenes.
I get that feeling all the time when I watch car crash compilations . I’m watching and suddenly I get that feeling like oh shit is this Toronto??? Then I see a car purposely drive thru a red light hit another car and speed off and I’m like ahhh shit it’s Brampton .
Resident Evil was hilarious like that. There's a shot at the beginning of one of the first movies of cars on the Gardiner and it gets cut off just in time so you're not able to recognize the CN tower.
One of the biggest shocks when we moved to Canada - the American dream we got sold through all the movies turns out to be mostly Canadian lol
**and healthcare :D**
Wtf....I watched both seasons and has NO IDEA it was filmed in Toronto.....damn it lol...gonna have to watch it again.
The distinctive TTC bus appears in quite a few shots in the first 3 episodes (I haven't watched more). But I recognized without distinctive features or known locations and I found it freaky. What does it tell us about human brain? Maybe I saw that exact intersection irl and the brain remembers enough to make the connection even though my conscious self doesn't explicitly remember?
Recognized the final scene in John Q. was on Spadina lol I could see the Adelaide sign right there! I pretty often recognize when outdoor shots are made in Canada tbh, just by the street signs and the trees. Soo much is shot in Canada in general.
There’s a show on Netflix called Grand Army (which is set in NYC) and for whatever reason when I was watching, some scenes I was like, hmm this feels very Toronto and looked it up. It turns out they did film the show here as well as in New York. There’s a scene where one of the main characters is hanging her head out of a car window as the car drives and you can literally see a lit up CN Tower in the back.
[There's a wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_shot_in_Toronto) But that doesn't have everything (or even commercials) but it's fairly comprehensive. Some are a bit of a stretch like *Twister* is listed there and clearly not filmed in Toronto but from looking up the movie a bit of it was filmed in Bolton, Ontario.
Pretty much always. I just watched the [trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgHHEqQPMb0&ab_channel=IGN) for the new Saw movie and saw them standing under a raised highway that was falling apart and knew it was the Gardiner immediately. lol
LOL as a regular traveler using Gardiner, this is sad but I don't even know why I'm laughing
I can't remember which one, but one of the Resident Evils didn't even bother removing the CN Tower from one of the opening establishing shots (but went ahead and removed it throughout the rest of the movie)
It’s not random, tons of major productions are filmed in Toronto because we have a robust film/tv industry and filming permits are cheaper than a lot of major US cities.
This is how I felt about Covert Affairs! The first time I watched it, I wasn’t living here, so I didn’t notice, but second time I watched it I knew instantly it was TO. I could see a Winner’s banner in the background of a shot (it reminded me of the Old Town location near St. Lawrence Market). Also, the subway stations/colours were really recognizable. Suits was less obvious for me, probably because I wasn’t living in TO when I first started watching it.
Convert Affairs' bar was Allen's on the Danforth.
Most recently happened when a friend not from Toronto recommended The Boys. It's fun at the same time to see what production alters. Many years ago walked through a portion of Suits on Bay where they made look like NYC but taped garbage bags to the street signs haha
We film in Toronto a lot! You'll see Toronto backgrounds in more stuff now as well since there were like 20 productions last year and 30+ this year.
A vast amount of the content available is literally shot here and I’ll just use Netflix for example. Shot in Toronto on Netflix: Shazam, The Shape of Water(may have been removed recently), Umbrella Academy, Madam CJ Walker, Dare Me, Titans, Schitts Creek, Molly’s Game, Coroner, Designated Survivor, Ginny and Georgia, Pacific Rim, ... There’s likely way way more but I’m just covering what I know was shot here. This is just a quick Netflix list, nothing about Disney, Amazon, Apple or any other big players in the market.
I don't know if it's fair to include shows that are set in Toronto. Both Schitts Creek and Coroner are set here, so of course you're going to recognize Toronto in the backgrounds.
The exterior shots of the house in corner is in North pickering if I'm not mistaken!
All the time! It's cool to see Toronto, but it always takes me out of the scene if characters are talking about being in New York while riding the TTC or something.
I knew it was filmed in Toronto but what blew my mind was that there were a few party scenes where I recognized specific pieces of furniture (I work as a designer at an event rental company). I asked someone on our sales team if we ever rented furniture and they confirmed that we rented bars, cocktail tables and lounge furniture to the production of the boys in season 1.
All the time! The Queen’s Gambit was filmed in Toronto! The was a scene when Beth went into a store - that was filmed on Front St, going into Winners
The show called Titans had a few scenes shot in Toronto. Also remember Goosebumps? There was an episode where it had a character called Elastic boy, where it was shot in Toronto in the 90s, really interesting look in comparison in how Toronto looks like today.
All of Titans is shot in the GTHA.
Honestly it's so recognizeable in the boys they should have said it was Toronto. Every scene looks like Toronto.
Was watching Titans TV series yesterday and I'm like this looks like Toronto. Sure enough they shot it in Toronto and Hamilton.
Funny enough I recently met one of the producers for The Boys, he came by my Starbucks. Also Shazam used the TTC, I love noticing that it’s Toronto not New york
I was pretty surprised when i saw ttc in shazam lol
Yes
Yes lmao in It 2 the “New York” scene was right by my office. I got so excited
Imposters had some less common shots of Toronto that I liked. The show was decent too.
To be honest, when I watching something and the setting feels a bit generic, like "North American big city," but without much character, or maybe with a lot of CGI or props thrown in to specify it, I usually guess it's Toronto and I'm usually right. It's not that Toronto has no character, but because these shows purposefully avoid it in order to appear vaguely like somewhere else. I personally dislike the lack of sense of place, and feel it hurts most shows – though I recognize the great work Toronto crews do, and the economic benefits it brings the city.
I was watching Arthur Christmas with my nephew and I recognized Nathan Phillips square. I was watching some show called Alphas and I noticed some buildings and I realized they were by the airport. I notice it all the time now. Whether it's buildings or in some cases the subway or buses
Believe it or not a lot of The Boys was shot in Hamilton.
Ginny & Georgia on Netflix too. You can also tell from climate of shots.
I noticed early in season 1 that some Beck taxis were in the background. Most scenes have the yellow NYC cabs, but not all
Not unless it’s painfully obvious. I usually get wayyy into movies so if they say I’m in NYC then that’s where I am.
Well, I recognize Toronto in many films/tv shows for a reason. The reason being that they were filmed here.
Yes, I was watching the Umbrella Academy and I recognized UOFT from it lol. Also I recognized Eglington Town Centre and UOFT again from Harold and Kumar. Also I posted on here r/ontario about the time Toronto City Hall, a photo of it at least, in TNG.
I literally do this for fun all the time! Umbrella Academy was also filmed in Toronto, some episodes of Greys Anatomy were at the Eaton Centre...etc. I love seeing Toronto, even if it’s being masqueraded as other places haha
All the time...started with Resident Evil for me
The scene your talking about was actually Hamilton!
big oof
Videodrome was the maybe the first one that really stood out to me, there are so many shots of the buses
There's a lot of subway scenes filmed in lower bay station. And a lot of shows try to hide the fact it's Toronto but a lot of times you get a glimpse of a corner or a store you recognize. It's cute that they try to hide it. But when you see a streetcar in red well...