The new series "Body of Proof" premiered as a mid-season replacement on ABC in the spring of 2011. Dana Delany plays medical examiner Megan Hunt, a character who is a mix of the main characters from "House" and "The Mentalist" as a keen physician whose knack for observation helps her solve crimes. I will say that it is refershing to see a female as a lead as a smart, character-driven role in this sort of show. And if the formula hits its stride and finds an audience (like the aforementioned "House" and "The Mentalist" have), it could have several successful
seasons. However, what you may not realize is that this network show is not being filmed in Philadelphia, despite the fact that the show is set in the city of Brotherly Love.

"Body of Proof" is in fact filmed in Rhode Island. They started shooting in the summer of 2010, and each episode employees about 280 extras, and requires a crew of 175 - all of whom are local hires. That's great news for the people of Rhode Island, since the work is going to them. But it's not so great news for the talented cast and crew in the Philadelphia area would would have been interested and available to work on the show in the very city where the fictional events are supposed to be taking place.

The reason they are filming in Rhode Island instead of Philadelphia? Two words: Tax credits.

Maybe if Pennsylvania had gotten it's budget in order sooner rather than later, Philadelphia would have had a fighting chance of getting the production to call the city home. Tax credits have worked for PA in the past, but when they didn't get renewed right away, it interrupted the pipeline in the film-planning process, forcing production companies to look elsewhere.

Philadelphia has lured several major movie productions to film in the city, most recently "Limitless" and "How Do You Know." And if you don't remember hearing about them when they were filming, it's because their working titles were "Dark Fields" and "The Untitled James L. Brooks Project" respectively.

Films are great opportunities for local cast and crew when they are in town, but they are temporary. After a few months, the production packs up and us locals are suddenly available again for other work... like another film.

However, with no productions slated to come to Philadelphia anytime soon, local actors might consider traveling to Pittsburgh (where the film "Perks of Being a Wallflower" starring Emma Watson is set to shoot) or New York City (which has productions of both movies and TV shows currently in production).

TV shows have the potential to offer continuing work for cast and crew provided they get renewed for another season. When "Hack" was on-air, it lasted for three seasons from 2002- 2004, and unlike "Body of Proof", it was filmed entirely in the city of Philadelphia.

But filming at TV series in the location the story is set is more the exception, rather than the rule. The recently canceled "Cold Case" did most of their filming in Los Angeles and Burbank, but they would bring some of the principals to Philadelphia once or twice a season to shoot some key scenes at the actual Philadelphia locations, rather than relying solely on establishing shots to make the show appear as if the story is taking place in the area. Although, don't let that fool you, either. I remember working on the show as a background player at a shoot that took place at Girard College, but the location in the storyline was supposed to be the University of Pennsylvania. So sometimes, even when the production is shooting on location, they still need to find a substitute.

First Ladies Traveling Exhibit - a review of sorts

Today, I stopped by the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia to see the First Ladies exhibit. I originally thought I'd go down last week, but it didn't officially open until Friday and then I thought it might be crowded today with it being a holiday, but it wasn't all that bad. It was $15, they offered no student discounts (I still carry around my grad school ID) and it included the "Freedom Rising" presentation and admission to their permanent exhibit on the Constitution itself "We the People," which was nice bargain, since you usually have to pay $12 to see just that, but I had already seen it last year - apparently there's no way to get an exhibit only ticket. It didn't appear that I was taking a seat in the theater away from anybody else, but once the woman heard I had been there before she tried to sell me on the membership for $35... I didn't think I'd be back twice more in the next 12 months seeing as this is the first exhibit I'd wanted to see since the place opened, so I said pass... even though they had this cute teapot ornament that said "first ladies" on it when you joined.
I looked in the gift shop, and they didn't have anything like that. They did have expensive china patterns: cups, saucers, mugs, plates... mostly with flowers that were supposed to be the favorites of particular first ladies, but nothing that even resembled the cool official china patterns that you saw in the exhibit. Anyway, the exhibit was smaller than I thought it would be. I had seen most of it as a result of the local news sponsor's teaser show on NBC-10 this weekend. They had some interesting artifacts and personal items I don't remember seeing before and a number of examples of the official china patterns, but I overheard more than one patron say that they expected to see more gowns on display. I guess this is just the traveling exhibit, and the rest must be on permanent display at the Smithsonian... or not, as it seems from their website that the American History museum is under renovations until the Summer of 2008. Realizing that now, I really wished there had been more gowns on display, too.