I saw Teresa Murray's story about Monk's SF location shooting on the 17th. I was in San Francisco on business Thursday and Friday. My hotel was just north of Union Square, and on Thursday, I noticed a film crew in Union Square. I actually walked through the set somewhere between 1 and 3pm, but couldn't tell it was a Monk site -- none of the show's stars were on-site, and I guess they may have been shooting extra filler shots.

Thursday night, I walked back from the Embarcadero past Washington Square, up Filbert to Coit Tower (past the locations used in "Mr. Monk and the Candidate"), then down Kearney (including the Peter Macchiarini Steps) almost back to my hotel.

Friday afternoon, I headed out Columbus, but as I got up into North Beach, I could see up Kearney where there was a film crew. I had no idea what they were shooting, but I had time to kill, and my newish digital SLR with a reasonable zoom lens, so I decided to wait it out. They were aimed up the same stairs I had come down Thursday night.

Next thing I knew, down ran Traylor Howard, followed by Tony Shalhoub, followed by a stuntman on a Harley-Davidson. I wasn't quite up to Broadway for that take, so I set up on the far corner and waited for the next take.

There I was with my trusty d70 and a 28-200, and a clear view of the action. A few minutes later, Shalhoub and Howard headed back up to the alley from which they had appeared, and I started shooting.

Looked like the scene was Monk and Natalie being chased out of the alley and down the stairs. Part way down, either Monk has to go back for a step he's missed, or he sees a clue and goes back to check it out, which brings the motorcyclist chasing them right past him.