Daniel Benavides · CC BY 2.0
MiddleditchRichard
Daniel Benavides · CC BY 2.0
WoodsJared
Steve Jurvetson · CC BY 2.0
StarrGilfoyle
PunkToad · CC BY 2.0
NanjianiDinesh
Daniel Benavides · CC BY 2.0
BrenerBig Head

Silicon Valley

HBO · 2014–2019 · set in Palo Alto · made mostly in Los Angeles

A show about a compression algorithm. So every place here is a file you can squeeze. Start middle-out

Dies: the cast at SXSW, March 2016 (Daniel Benavides, CC BY 2.0), Martin Starr in June 2016 (Steve Jurvetson, CC BY 2.0) and Kumail Nanjiani at Sundance, January 2017 (PunkToad, CC BY 2.0).

The algorithm

Middle-out.

Pied Piper is a start-up built on a compression algorithm, so here every place is a file holding every sourced line about it. Squeeze one from the middle outwards and it gives up the history first; what survives at the two ends is what you need to go: where it is, and how to get in.

An empty downtown street of low shopfronts and trees — University Avenue at Waverley Street, Palo Alto, April 2020, empty during the lockdown. Brian Sterling · CC BY-SA 2.0

University Avenue548 B of 548 B

University Avenue between Waverley and Webster Streets, downtown Palo Alto
On Tuesday 12 March 2013 the pilot filmed on University Avenue between Waverley and Webster Streets from 4 to 8pm, mostly on the pavement, with lane closures possible from 5.30 to 7.30pm.
HBO took out the city’s permits as the Untitled Silicon Valley Project. The shops downtown stayed open.
Palo Alto’s economic development manager said the crew filmed at several sites round the city that day.
Downtown Palo Alto’s main street: shops, cafés and pavements. Walk it.

5 lines, 548 bytes. Squeeze from the middle.

Whole Valley: 4.3 kB of 4.3 kB.

Cleared sources

About the score. A real Weissman score also needs the time the squeeze took, set against a standard compressor; this tray counts bytes only. The score itself was made up for the show at Stanford, and it is one of the files above.

Cleared sources

Tuesday 12 March 2013 · Palo Alto

One day in Palo Alto.

The pilot came to Palo Alto for a single Tuesday under a permit name, Untitled Silicon Valley Project, and worked its way across town from the Stanford Research Park to University Avenue.

9am–noonPage Mill Road and El Camino Real
2–3pmEast Charleston Road, Alma to Middlefield
4–8pmUniversity Avenue, Waverley to Webster

Cleared sources

The three stops and their times on 12 March 2013, and the permit name.
NBC Bay Area: HBO shoot shuts down Palo Alto’s University Ave (12 March 2013)
Filming at several sites round the city, confirmed by Palo Alto’s economic development manager.
Mountain View Voice: Office Space director films in Palo Alto (13 March 2013)

University Avenue at Waverley Street, Palo Alto, April 2020, empty during the lockdown. Brian Sterling · CC BY-SA 2.0
University Avenue between Waverley and Webster Streets, downtown Palo Alto
University Avenue
On Tuesday 12 March 2013 the pilot filmed on University Avenue between Waverley and Webster Streets from 4 to 8pm, mostly on the pavement, with lane closures possible from 5.30 to 7.30pm.
HBO took out the city’s permits as the Untitled Silicon Valley Project. The shops downtown stayed open.
Palo Alto’s economic development manager said the crew filmed at several sites round the city that day.
Downtown Palo Alto’s main street: shops, cafés and pavements. Walk it.
Cleared sources
Page Mill Road heading down towards Hanover Street and El Camino Real, Palo Alto, April 2022. Dicklyon · CC BY-SA 4.0
Page Mill Road between El Camino Real and Peter Coutts Road, Palo Alto
Page Mill Road and El Camino Real
The pilot’s day began here, 9am to noon: Page Mill Road between El Camino Real and Peter Coutts Road, and El Camino Real between Embarcadero and Page Mill Roads.
From 2 to 3pm the crew moved to East Charleston Road, between Alma Street and Middlefield Road.
The closures roved with the cameras, and the police expected little backup.
Busy public roads at the edge of the Stanford Research Park. See them from the pavement.
Cleared sources

El Prado Hotel

El Prado Hotel, Palo Alto

Palo Alto

A boutique hotel of 62 rooms and suites at 520 Cowper Street in downtown Palo Alto, a short walk from the stretch of University Avenue where the pilot filmed.

Check availability

The source material

The real Valley.

What the show was sending up is all within a short drive: the garage the Valley calls its birthplace, 1 km (0 miles) from the pilot’s street; the campus where its compression score was invented; the giant Hooli was read as; and the start-up Mike Judge walked out of in 1987.

The HP garage at 367 Addison Avenue, Palo Alto, from the drive, March 2009. BrokenSphere · CC BY-SA 3.0
367 Addison Avenue, Palo Alto
The HP Garage
Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard began using the one-car garage in 1938 and formed their partnership in 1939. The HP 200A audio oscillator was built in it.
It is called the birthplace of Silicon Valley: California Historical Landmark No. 976 since 1987, and on the National Register of Historic Places since 20 April 2007.
It is not open for public tours, but it can be seen from the pavement and the drive.
A private museum, not open for tours. See it from the pavement and the drive.
Cleared sources
Wallenberg Hall on Stanford’s Main Quad, May 2011. King of Hearts · CC BY-SA 3.0
Main Quad, Jane Stanford Way, Stanford
Stanford University
The Weissman score the show uses to rate compression did not exist before it. The Stanford professor Tsachy Weissman and the graduate student Vinith Misra made it at the producers’ request.
Misra’s formula combines the compression ratio with the log of the compression time, measured against a standard compressor for the same kind of data, such as FLAC for music.
Once the show moved on, a few professors began testing the score in papers and classes.
The Visitor Center is at 295 Galvez Street, open 9am to 5pm on weekdays, and anyone may visit the campus on their own.
An open campus. The Visitor Center at 295 Galvez Street is open 9am to 5pm on weekdays.
Cleared sources
The Googleplex, Mountain View, July 2016. Asoundd · CC BY-SA 4.0
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View
The Googleplex
Fortune called the show’s giant, Hooli, part Facebook and part Google: after Richard turns its chief executive down, it copies his product.
Google leased the former Silicon Graphics buildings from 2003 and bought them in June 2006 for $319 million.
The Google Visitor Experience at Gradient Canopy is free to visit, with a Google Store, a café and a plaza; parking is free.
The offices are for staff. The Google Visitor Experience next door at 2000 North Shoreline Boulevard is free and open daily.
Cleared sources
Santa Clara, the city: Mission Santa Clara de Asís on the university campus, June 2008. No address is published for Parallax Graphics. JaGa · CC BY-SA 3.0
Santa Clara, Santa Clara County
Parallax Graphics, Santa Clara
In 1987 Mike Judge, a physics graduate of UC San Diego, took an engineering job at Parallax Graphics, a Santa Clara start-up of about 40 people that made video cards.
He quit in less than three months; he disliked the culture and compared his colleagues to the Stepford Wives. The job later fed the show.
No address is published for the company, so it is not on the map. Santa Clara is a public city.
Cleared sources

Google

Google Visitor Experience

Mountain View · Free

Free to visit at Gradient Canopy, 2000 North Shoreline Boulevard, Mountain View: a Google Store, café, pop-up shop, plaza and art. The store opens 9am to 7pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 6pm on Sunday; parking is free.

Plan a visit

Stanford Visitor Center

Visit Stanford on your own

Stanford · Free

The Visitor Center at 295 Galvez Street is open 9am to 5pm on weekdays; the campus is open to anyone walking round on their own.

Plan a visit

Season 1 · 2013

The conference was a stage in Culver City. The trophy was real.

Most of the show was made in Los Angeles, 520 km (320 miles) south of the pilot’s street. For the first season HBO rebuilt TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2013 on a sound stage there, and the real Disrupt Cup was shipped in for it.

A corner commercial building with arched windows in Culver City — Culver City, the town: the Washington Building, December 2009. The studio where the show was shot is not named in the report. Eli Pousson · CC BY-SA 2.0

Culver City, Los Angeles County

A sound stage in Culver City

For the first season HBO rebuilt TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2013 on a sound stage in Culver City, with Startup Alley and the Battlefield stage.

The real Disrupt Cup was shipped in. TechCrunch’s own printer made the signs, its registration firm built the desk, and about 15 real start-ups showed beside some 45 made-up ones.

A replica of the Pied Piper house was built there too, down to dishes in the sink.

Most of the series was shot in Los Angeles, with a couple of trips north for outside shots.

A working studio, not named in the report, so it is not on the map. Culver City’s streets are public.

Cleared sources

A modern concrete laboratory building among trees — The Moore Laboratory of Engineering at Caltech, Pasadena, May 2013. Antony-22 · CC BY-SA 3.0

Moore Walk and Holliston Avenue, Caltech, Pasadena

Caltech

On Tuesday 21 February 2017 about 175 cast and crew filmed an episode on campus, from 4am to midnight.

The day moved from the service road behind the Annenberg Center and the Moore Laboratory, to Holliston Avenue, to the Gates Annex, and in the evening to Noyes 153, the Sturdivant Lecture Hall.

Caltech’s notice says the crew was returning to campus.

An open campus; walk in. The lecture halls are for classes.

Cleared sources

Caltech, 21 February 2017

7am–noonService road behind the Annenberg Center and Moore Laboratory
Noon–4pmHolliston Avenue, Del Mar to the circle
3–6pmGates Annex
6–9pmNoyes 153, Sturdivant Lecture Hall

A pale classical building with arched windows behind palms — Gates Annex at Caltech, May 2017, three months after the crew filmed there. Antony-22 · CC BY-SA 4.0

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SXSW · 12 March 2016

Who made it.

Seven men seated in a row on a panel stage with microphones — The Silicon Valley panel at South by Southwest, Austin, 12 March 2016, between the second and third seasons: Steven Leckart, Mike Judge, Alec Berg, Thomas Middleditch, Zach Woods, Martin Starr and Josh Brener. Daniel Benavides · CC BY 2.0

Mike Judge created the show with John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky. It ran on HBO for six seasons and 53 episodes, from April 2014 to December 2019. Thomas Middleditch plays Richard Hendricks, who founds Pied Piper on a compression algorithm, with Zach Woods, Martin Starr, Kumail Nanjiani and, for four seasons, T.J. Miller.

Christopher Evan Welch, who played the investor Peter Gregory, died in December 2013 after filming his scenes for the first five episodes; the producers chose not to recast him.

Cleared sources

Creators, dates, seasons and episodes, cast and characters, Christopher Evan Welch, the Emmy nominations.
Wikipedia: Silicon Valley (TV series)

Programmers argue about whether to indent code with tabs or with spaces; Douglas Crockford singled out the show’s send-up of the fight. Indent the cast list either way.

Pied Piper
Richard Hendricks · Thomas Middleditch
Jared Dunn · Zach Woods
Bertram Gilfoyle · Martin Starr
Dinesh Chugtai · Kumail Nanjiani
Erlich Bachman · T.J. Miller, seasons 1–4
Hooli
Gavin Belson · Matt Ross
Big Head · Josh Brener
Raviga
Peter Gregory · Christopher Evan Welch, season 1
Monica Hall · Amanda Crew
Laurie Bream · Suzanne Cryer

Tabs: 367 bytes. One character per level.

Cleared sources

Douglas Crockford on the show and its tabs-versus-spaces send-up in Bachmanity Insanity.
Wikipedia: Silicon Valley (TV series)

12 Mar 2013The pilot films in Palo Alto
6 Apr 2014First episode on HBO
2014–2018Five Emmy nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series
8 Dec 2019The last of 53 episodes

Go there.

Where it is now

6 places you can visit: 4 in Palo Alto and Stanford, 1 in Mountain View and 1 in Pasadena. The Culver City stage and Parallax Graphics in Santa Clara have no published address, so both are named here and left off the map.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Downtown Palo Alto’s main street: shops, cafés and pavements. Walk it.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Busy public roads at the edge of the Stanford Research Park. See them from the pavement.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A private museum, not open for tours. See it from the pavement and the drive.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. An open campus. The Visitor Center at 295 Galvez Street is open 9am to 5pm on weekdays.

University Avenue at Waverley Street, Palo Alto, April 2020, empty during the lockdown. Brian Sterling · CC BY-SA 2.0
University Avenue between Waverley and Webster Streets, downtown Palo Alto
University Avenue
On Tuesday 12 March 2013 the pilot filmed on University Avenue between Waverley and Webster Streets from 4 to 8pm, mostly on the pavement, with lane closures possible from 5.30 to 7.30pm.
Downtown Palo Alto’s main street: shops, cafés and pavements. Walk it.
Cleared sources
Page Mill Road heading down towards Hanover Street and El Camino Real, Palo Alto, April 2022. Dicklyon · CC BY-SA 4.0
Page Mill Road between El Camino Real and Peter Coutts Road, Palo Alto
Page Mill Road and El Camino Real
The pilot’s day began here, 9am to noon: Page Mill Road between El Camino Real and Peter Coutts Road, and El Camino Real between Embarcadero and Page Mill Roads.
Busy public roads at the edge of the Stanford Research Park. See them from the pavement.
Cleared sources
The HP garage at 367 Addison Avenue, Palo Alto, from the drive, March 2009. BrokenSphere · CC BY-SA 3.0
367 Addison Avenue, Palo Alto
The HP Garage
Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard began using the one-car garage in 1938 and formed their partnership in 1939. The HP 200A audio oscillator was built in it.
A private museum, not open for tours. See it from the pavement and the drive.
Cleared sources
Wallenberg Hall on Stanford’s Main Quad, May 2011. King of Hearts · CC BY-SA 3.0
Main Quad, Jane Stanford Way, Stanford
Stanford University
The Weissman score the show uses to rate compression did not exist before it. The Stanford professor Tsachy Weissman and the graduate student Vinith Misra made it at the producers’ request.
An open campus. The Visitor Center at 295 Galvez Street is open 9am to 5pm on weekdays.
Cleared sources

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