Did the TV show "Hannibal" recently film in Trenton? (appointed, motel)

[Badfish740]

I posted this over in the TV forum but figured it would be worth posting here as well. I have not watched this show yet but last night during a commercial break I saw a preview of an upcoming episode that featured police cars from the city of Trenton surrounding what looked like a small motel. These were definitely actual current police cars (not just painted up for the show) as the city just changed their logo in the past couple of years and it is the new one. I suppose it could be some kind of CGI effect, but it looks to me as if they either did some filming in the city or brought some cars up to where they were filming. The motel did not look familiar to me. Is there some kind of storyline that ties into New Jersey somehow? Does anyone know if they are filming here? I checked the show's Wikipedia page and it looks like the majority of filming is done in Toronto. Here's a screencap of the preview:



That's not a great shot, but you can definitely make out the Jersey plates and those who have seen Trenton police cars before will recognize the logo. On the TV commercial there is a much wider shot and in HD the logo comes up clear as day. This episode is airing tonight so I'm going to watch just for the heck of it. Usually this kind of stuff makes the news when a TV show comes to town but I don't remember reading/seeing anything about it.

[Docendo discimus]

I watch this show.

FYI, the season was filmed SUMMER 2012, so if they were ever filming in or around TRENTON, it was not recent. But I don't think they ever filmed in NJ. The whole reason shows film in Canada is because it's cheaper (tax incentives, cheaper labor). I can't imagine they'd pick up the whole production and travel 500 miles to Trenton just to film 1 episode. I also highly doubt that Trenton PD would allow their vehicles to be driven 500 miles/8 hours one way to Canada for filming. Although, if they had NJ State Troopers driving them in a Death Race II caravan, they could probably make it in 4 hours.

Anyway, the license plates are probably stick ons. TV shows do this all the time. I'm betting the Trenton PD logos are stick ons too. Something like that is not that hard to reproduce. Especially for a special effects team like the one employed by this show.

As far as any hope of seeing NEW JERSEY locations (real or faked) in any of the storylines, NO, NJ definitely is not the location of a main storyline. If you're only watching tonight's episode in hopes of catching NEW JERSEY on the screen, you're gonna be disappointed.

There is a main plot running through all episodes so far (probably will run through to at least the end of this season). This main plot centers around a key serial killer out of MINNESOTA. A couple of the episodes so far have focused solely on this main plot. Other episodes are centered on a 'killer-of-the-week' subplot. It looks like tonight's episode is one of those, and so far it is the first mention of NEW JERSEY anywhere (I'm guessing probably also the last).

Other than that, the show is anchored in the D.C./VA/MD area (Georgetown U, Quantico FBI Academy, FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit, etc. etc.).

Personally, I would wait to watch it until after viewing Episodes 1-3, and also the 4th episode "Ceuf" that was pulled off the air at the last minute because of what happened in Boston and Connecticut ('webisode' snippets of this pulled episode are available on the NBC website). A lot of major, foundational plot and character stuff has been laid down. At the very least, you're not gonna know what's going on when they mention things from the main plot. If you haven't DVRed Episodes 1-3, they are available to watch online on the NBC website. The episode airing tonight will also be posted in the next few days, so you don't have to worry about missing it.

However, if you're gonna jump in and start watching in the middle of a season, a 'killer-of-the-week' subplot episode would be the place to jump in, I suppose. But like I said, NJ and TRENTON are not major elements to the story.


As far as TV shows and movies that HAVE been filmed in NJ, here are some links:

NJ Motion Picture & Television Commission
https://www.facebook.com/NJFilmCommission

Television and film in New Jersey - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[nybbler]

I'm pretty sure that wasn't filmed in summer, because even in Canada there are leaves on the trees in summer. The farmhouse at the end (looked like Pennsylvania, was probably Ontario) appeared to have been filmed in late fall, but the way these things are shot out of sequence, that means little.

[Badfish740]

Originally Posted by Docendo discimus

Personally, I would wait to watch it until after viewing Episodes 1-3, and also the 4th episode "Ceuf" that was pulled off the air at the last minute because of what happened in Boston and Connecticut ('webisode' snippets of this pulled episode are available on the NBC website). A lot of major, foundational plot and character stuff has been laid down. At the very least, you're not gonna know what's going on when they mention things from the main plot. If you haven't DVRed Episodes 1-3, they are available to watch online on the NBC website. The episode airing tonight will also be posted in the next few days, so you don't have to worry about missing it.

However, if you're gonna jump in and start watching in the middle of a season, a 'killer-of-the-week' subplot episode would be the place to jump in, I suppose. But like I said, NJ and TRENTON are not major elements to the story.

I didn't think they were, and I'm really not all that interested in the show itself (outdoor programs are more my speed), it just caught my eye. I did watch the first ten minutes or so and if those weren't actual Trenton PD cars, the set designers/prop department did a hell of a job even down to the Trenton PD arm patches on the officers' jackets.