10 TV Shows You Didn’t Know Were Filmed in Vancouver

This CW show centres around Oliver Queen, or Green Arrow, and stars Canada’s own Stephen Amell in the title role. Oliver Queen is a billionaire playboy who, after being shipwrecked on an island for 5 years (flashback scenes are filmed in Vancouver’s Whytecliff Park area), is rescued and comes home to fight crime as a masked vigilante. His weapon of choice is of course, a bow and arrow. Scenes are shot all over Vancouver, including at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

There aren’t many Canadians out there who grew up in the 90’s who don’t remember YTV’s teen comedy-drama series, Breaker High. The show followed a group of kids who attended high school on a cruise ship. According to the plot, the ship travels to a variety of exotic locations, but the series was actually filmed entirely in Burnaby B.C which is just east of Vancouver. You might also remember Breaker High as one of current A-lister, Ryan Gosling’s earliest roles.

Although it only aired for two seasons, Dark Angel is known for giving Jessica Alba her start. Created by James Cameron, the show followed Max Guevara (Alba), a genetically-enhanced super soldier who escaped from a government military facility as a child. The show is set in Seattle but was film in Lions Gate Studios in Vancouver. Locations included Buntzen Lake in Anmore, the Vancouver Art Gallery, and Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam.

Showtime’s The L Word aired for 6 seasons until 2009, and followed a group of lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and their friends and family. It was shot mostly in Vancouver’s Coast Mountain Films Studios, but the series was set in the West Hollywood neighbourhood of Los Angeles. Some Vancouver locations included the Orpheum Theatre, The Fairmont Chateau in Whistler, and the Vancouver International Airport.

Starring Joshua Jackson, Fringe followed members of the fictional Fringe Division of the FBI based in Boston, Massachusetts as they investigated a series of unexplained occurrences related to theories surrounding a parallel universe. The series was described as a hybrid of The X-Files, Altered States, and The Twilight Zone. It aired for 5 seasons, was produced by J.J Abrams, and was primarily filmed in Vancouver from the second season on. The University of British Columbia served as a stand in for Harvard, and New Westminster was often used as the set for parallel universe scenes.

ABC’s Once Upon A Time starring Ginnifer Goodwin, is set in the fictional town of Storybooke, Maine, but is filmed mostly in British Columbia. The residents of Storybrooke are various fairy tale character who have been transported to the “real world” and robbed of their memories by a powerful curse. The small town of Steveston, B.C., which is now part of Richmond, was chosen because it had a “stuck in time” quality, and some actual Steveston businesses are seen in episodes, including Sara’s Ice Cream.

Before Arrow, there was Smallville, the story of how Clark Kent became Superman. Production was initially planned for Australia, but B.C was chosen instead because it had more of a “middle America landscape” that was perfect for the fictional setting of Smallville, Kansas. Nearby Vancouver could also be transformed into the fictional city of Metropolis. Exterior shots of Lex Luther’s mansion were filmed at Hartley Castle in Victoria, and interiors were filmed at Shannon Mews in Vancouver.

Another CW show, which is going on its 11th season, Supernatural, has been primarily filmed in Vancouver and the surrounding area. Brothers Sam and Dean are supposed to be traveling around America investigating supernatural phenomenon, so a lot of scenes are filmed on an old abandoned military base where the crew can build sets. Other locations have included Buntzen Lake, Cleveland Damn, and Riverview Hospital.

The original 21 Jump Street TV show, starring Johnny Depp was filmed primarily in North Vancouver. It helped to establish Vancouver as a viable option for film production, and aired from 1987 until 1991. The show was set in an anonymous American city, and various Vancouver area high schools were used as key filming locations. Local teens were often cast as extras, and sometimes even one-episode guest stars. The Skytrain can be seen in the credits as well.

The first 5 seasons of The X-Files were filmed in Vancouver, before moving to Los Angeles because of stars, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson’s request to return to the U.S. The show filmed in B.C originally because of the lower costs of production, and more opportunity for on-location filming for scenes that required forests. Some B.C locations included the Grouse Mountain Skyride in North Vancouver, the Commodore Ballroom, and the popular Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam.