I always got a chuckle when Stargate went meta. They had a planet called Kelowna (a real BC city) and a country called Langara (I was for a time a faculty member at Langara College). At one point, they visit an Oregon town called Steveston, with the location being the Steveston district of Richmond BC.

Of course, nothing can beat the thrill of waking up every morning and looking out my bedroom building at the office building that was taken over by an evil computer on X-Files.

Its really amazing how most planets in the galaxy look exactly like the Pacific northwest.

Shooting on location halfway across the galaxy definitely seems like it would strain the union's rate schedule. If you can take a Stargate so that you could be back home on the same day so you only have to pay local rates would be amazing.

Having a street shut down for filming in New York or San Francisco is probably beyond the budget of most directors.