I thought I would never write about reality TV again, then came Discovery’s “Undercover Billionaire.”

I saw a Facebook post from the Erie Times-News about the show’s production and upcoming airing on Discovery and the show didn’t pull me too much at first. Yes, I was interested because I lived in Erie for about three months and interned on the Erie Times-News’ features desk 13 years ago.

However, the thought that of all things a billionaire would do to invest a million dollars in Erie would be a barbecue joint to lift the spirits and inspire the city sounded hokey. Let’s all hold our sauce-slathered hands in unity, shall we?

I forgot about the show until my sisters mentioned it Labor Day weekend, so I decided to binge watch. I was captivated. Glenn Stearns’ story of having the cards stacked against him as a teenaged dad who battles dyslexia, then become a billionaire is inspiring. The challenge of turning $100 into a one million dollar business in 90 days without much help? Suspect.

During the second episode, the car flipping scene kept bothering me as I continued with other episodes. I kept seeing a sign for F&M Trust. I knew Erie never had that bank. Growing up in Hagerstown, Md., I would see that sign all the time going into Franklin County, Pa. And as a kid, F&M Trust confused me because there was a much different F&M Bank in Maryland before the bank was bought out and eventually became Susquehanna Bank (now BB&T, soon, Truist). Farmers and Mechanics obviously need to keep their money away from other farmers and mechanics.

Anyway, after watching a YouTube video and reading through the comments about suspicious aspects of the show, I thought I’d rewatch the second episode “Start Up or Die Trying.” One commenter said how the apartment building was a few hours away.

That commenter was right and as it appears, the car flipping was staged five hours and 300 miles southeast of Erie in Chambersburg along U.S. 11.

Here is Glenn’s approach to F&M Trust, 2405 Philadelphia Ave., Chambersburg:

And here is the Google Map Street View:

The sign beyond F&M Trust is North Pointe Business Center, home to the Orrstown Bank Operations Center.

The dealership that went out of business was Millennium Motors, 1905 Philadelphia Ave., Chambersburg. Here’s the Discovery shot:

Again, here is Millennium Motors from a June 2018 Google Street View:

Glenn’s “Lucky Corner” that he parked the Civic at? He pulls into a seasonal produce stand beside bus stop shelter with an ad for S&A Homes. The sign reads “Country Creek Produce Farm” with the phone and address conveniently blurred. The actual farm is down the road, which made it hard to pinpoint this stand.

Here is an up-close shot of the same stand across from the McDonald’s at 2891 Philadelphia Ave., Chambersburg. Couldn’t get a wider angle or else the Street View clicked over to a different year and appearance.

Thankfully, another shot showed the U.S. Inn & Apartments, which turns out is behind it at 2375 Philadelphia Ave., Chambersburg. That’s the location that helped pull everything else together. All of this is north of downtown Chambersburg

Here’s the hotel’s sign in the background of the show:

And here is the Street View:

His “lucky” car flipping all took place about a mile north of the now-shuttered car dealership. At least that’s the only real part of the storyline: Millennium Motors is out of business. (Did it go under before the show? I don’t know.)

The significance of the car deal was that Glenn needed to get enough money to put $4,000 down on a house he needs to flip to put seed money into the business. (After watching the latest episode, the house flipping appears to be suspect as well. The house is at least in Erie, but the transactions that led to the house selling looks fishy.) The viewer is under the pretense that Glenn can do this in 90 days but if something goes wrong and he can’t hit the 90-day deadline, he loses his bet. It didn’t work out, so the flipping process appears to accelerate the storyline to illustrate that it’s kind of possible to do.

My sisters brought up a good point of why it may have been staged there: Franklin County is home to the Mason-Dixon Auto Auction in Greencastle. It would be easy to find a car and flip it either to an individual during the public auction nights or a dealer. Or the other way, bought it at the auction himself and flipped it.

A quick look at Google while writing this and it looks like others have found it out, too. Someone edited the Undercover Billionaire Wikipedia page with an uncited entry that the cars were sold in Chambersburg.

The person’s entry was too adamant and personal (and well, lacking a published source) for Wikipedia’s standards:

There you have it.

I really hoped this time I wouldn’t be deceived by another Discovery reality unscripted show. TLC arrived in Sarasota when I lived there, and residents weren’t too fond of “Breaking Amish.”

I’m still going to watch the rest of the series and see Erie get some screen time. It’s a great city that deserves praise and a chance. If you ever visit, go see an Erie Otters hockey game, or if it’s summer time, the SeaWolves are a good show. Grab a drink at Voodoo Brewing, imbibe at The Plymouth and Calamari’s. Dabble in some beach volleyball and fishing at Presque Isle State Park.

And go buy a copy of the Erie Times-News to see what’s new.