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Real Alcatraz: People Breaking In, Not Breaking Out

Fox television show has fans looking for fictional secret rooms

Millions of people watched Jorge Garcia sidestep his way into areas of Alcatraz that are closed to the public. But then again, this is a fictional show called "Alcatraz," and real-life visitors to the San Francisco tourist attraction should remember that when they get to The Rock.

The National Park Service, which now welcomes hundreds of thousands of sightseers to the island each year, wants to make it clear that what they see in J.J. Abrams' new Fox series is much different from what is real. So going into restricted areas will only take them into unsafe areas or bird sanctuaries, not to any secret rooms where a task force is trying to capture prisoners that escaped into the future.

Believe it or not, that's fiction.

In fact, to help curb some of the wandering visitors, the Park Service has posted a new sign that people getting off the ferry from Pier 33 can now see: "The TV show 'Alcatraz' is fictional, many areas it depicts are not real. Closed areas protect you, historic structures and nesting birds."

The biggest attraction for "Alcatraz" fans is hope of discovering the "bat cave" like control room that in the show was built underneath the prison facility. While most fans (hopefully) understand that such a room does not exist in reality, they could be looking for sets and such from the show.

The only problem is that many of the interior Alcatraz scenes are filmed on a soundstage, not the island itself. And if you decide to look around San Francisco for those sound stages, you're not far enough north. "Alcatraz" is actually filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia.

"Alcatraz" airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on Fox.

About the Author

Michael Hinman is the founder and editor-in-chief for Airlock Alpha and the entire GenreNexus. He owns Nexus Media Group Inc., the parent corporation of the GenreNexus and is a veteran print journalist. He lives in Tampa, Fla.
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