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KF:TLC LocalesNightlife settings in KF:TLC include the Agrippa Club on Chestnut (first season), and the Gold Star ("Initiation", "Blind Eye"). Tyler Smith (Marla Schaffel) performed regularly at the Agrippa Club, which was also a police hangout. The bartender at the Agrippa was named Terry (Matt Trueman), who also appeared at the wedding reception in "Sunday at the Hotel with George," moonlighted at the Ambrosia Club in "Dragon's Daughter," and now works at Chandler's the current favorite after-work spot for the precinct. The Chandler's exterior is Bemelman's in real life, located on Bloor West, just past Yonge Street. The interior is El Mocambo, three blocks north of the old kwoon on Spadina, but in "Return of the Shadow Assassin," the bar Yuk Yuk's on Yonge, north of Bloor, was used, as well as for the comedy club in the same episode. Peter and Kira Blakemore had dinner together at the Teula, an upscale restaurant, in "Shadow Assassin." The Shot Glass Bar was a dive in which Peter attracted the attention of Tan's people in "Initiation." It's also mentioned in "Plague" as the place where Donny Double D overhears hints about the source of the plague. Everett Cooper performed standup at the Comedy Club on Magnolia. Peter's highrise is next to the Toronto Star Building. The 91 bus travels from Cap's (Sam Malkin) hot dog stand to the 101st precinct, which is 12 blocks away. The warehouse in "Plague" was located at 87 Rice Avenue, near the reservoir. The roller rink where Matt played roller hockey in "May I Walk With You" was located on the east side. The abandoned church in that episode was located on Harvey, just south of the projects. Karen hid out in an abandoned hotel on Clark Street, around the corner from the daycare center. Other locations include the junkyard on 87th and DeSoto Streets, Delilo's Gym (no address given, but reputed to be a very macho place), Echo Lake (all in "Force of Habit"), the water treatment facility ("Secret Place") and the Park Ridge woods north of the city ("Dragon's Eye"). Caine and Lo Si fight the Shadow Assassins in the caves at Castlemere Lake. There is an art institute in the area, where Helen Patterson ("The Possessed") teaches. William Two-Feathers' address is given as Mississagua Community Center, 425 Orchard Avenue, Carlton Heights, 51025, possibly placing the series in the Midwest, in Minnesota, Wisconsin or possibly Michigan. The inclusion of this address was actually a nod to the location of Warner Brothers' Canadian operation, in Mississagua, Ontario. The local mall in KF:TLC is known as the Galleria. It is variably the Woodbine Mall in Etobicoke, or Eaton Center in Downtown Toronto, depending on the episode. Kung Fu is filmed in and around Toronto, but is set in "any major metropolitan US city." Fortunately, Toronto looks generic enough, except for the CN Tower, which is successfully blocked wherever possible by lightpoles and smokestacks. Mention is made of several other US cities, such as Seattle, Baltimore, Chicago, and others, eliminating them as possible locations for the series. In "Manhunt," the city is apparently close enough to Niagara Falls to be within driving distance, possibly placing it in Upstate New York. Many fans simply refer to the unknown location of KF:TLC as "Sloanville." To increase the US veracity, you'll see the occasional US flag or US mailbox on streets. On the other hand, Peter has been known to hand Donny Canadian money. Chinatown Toronto is used extensively for the Chinatown location shots, particularly Spadina and Dundas streets. Caine's kwoon (kung fu academy) is located on Spadina Street near Nashua Street. The building is still there, and is now occupied by a Chinese gift shop. The exterior decorations on the building are still intact. The restaurant where the community meeting was held in the pilot is just down the street from the kwoon on Spadina, now also for sale and closed. Whenever a street scene shows a wide street with angled parking, that's Spadina. Whenever the scene shows a narrow, very congested street, that's probably Dundas. Yonge is used for "wild night out" shots. The coroner's building, shown clearly in the pilot and shown in other episodes as well, is the actually Toronto coroner's office, at 26 Grenville Street, just like the sign says. (The same address is also used in Forever Knight for Natalie Lambert's office.) Gooderham and Worts, an old distillery by the lake, is the location for "Dragonswing." The Sutton Place Hotel, featured in "Sunday in the Hotel With George," is a real hotel in Toronto, one which is used extensively by the film industry in the city, to house guest stars and the like. During the first season, the hotel received a "special thanks" credit during the ending credits. Hans Gerhardt, the manager, mentioned in "Sunday at the Hotel with George," was the actual manager of the hotel at the time. Other hotels mentioned in the series include the Starlight, which is closed, but where Valerie Mitchell once worked. Also the Regency, which, according to Steadman, serves the best eggs benedict in the city. The award given to Jason Torrence was presented at the Meridien. Fights in the pilot in a parking lot took place behind the 7-11 at the corner of Broadview and Queen East. Across the street from the 7-11 (and partially visible in the fight scene) is Jilly's, a strip club. In "The Warlord" some of the warlord's retinue try to pick up hookers outside of Jilly's. Casa Loma has been used at least three times. First in "Illusion," it was the stable where Chang Lu Ma and his drug contacts meet, while Caine is talking to Connie and petting the horse. Second in "Tournament" as Li Sung's stately island home. And in "Enter the Tiger," the room where Caine fights Bon Bon Hai is in Casa Loma, while the rest of the party was filmed elsewhere. The Spanish castle is located on Spadina, several blocks north of Bloor. Old City Hall, located on Queen street, west of Yonge, was used in "The Innocent," "Aspects of the Soul" and "Manhunt." It is now a courthouse. New City Hall, located one block west of Old City Hall, was used in "Citizen Caine." BCE building was used in "Sing Wah" for the mall locations and final fight scene.
Go To Caine Family Tree Return to KF:TLC Index Page, Locales Kung Fu: The Legend Continues Frequently Asked Questions / KFTLC-L / debwalsh@aol.com |
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