All the city’s a stage: Jason Segel’s new TV show gifts Philly a mural of itself

On the eve of its premiere, the new AMC show created and starring Jason Segel gives thanks to Philadelphia.

“Dispatches From Elsewhere” stars Eve Lindley (right) and Jason Segel (left) pose with local street artist Jimmy McMenamin's new mural at the Comcast Center. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)

“Dispatches From Elsewhere” stars Eve Lindley (right) and Jason Segel (left) pose with local street artist Jimmy McMenamin's new mural at the Comcast Center. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)

This weekend, a new TV show set in Philadelphia will debut. “Dispatches from Elsewhere,” on AMC, involves four main characters who get caught up in solving a mysterious puzzle that takes them around the city looking for clues.

The show was created by Jason Segel, who also stars in it and is the executive producer. He was often seen around town last summer, shooting the show and praising Philadelphia as a great place to film.

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On the eve of the show’s debut, Segel put in one last appearance at the Comcast Technology Center, where Comcast and AMC installed a public mural in gratitude to the city.

The mural is in two parts — they face each other across the building’s lower concourse. Segel and the show’s producers hired local street artist Jimmy McMenamin, who goes by Glossblack, to create an homage to Philadelphia.

The “Dispatches From Elsewhere” mural at the Comcast Center. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)

“This is a quilt, or a collage, of imagery from Philadelphia represented in the series,” said Glossblack.

Some of the imagery is iconic: the Melrose Diner sign in South Philadelphia, the giant Fishtown mural in Fishtown, and marquee letters from the Tower Theater in Upper Darby.

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Other items are cryptic: a spiraling nautilus shell, and snatches of affirmational phrases such as, “You are meant for more.”

The “Dispatches From Elsewhere” mural at the Comcast Center. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)

“I’m more into letters,” said Glossblack, whose lettering adorns the many hallways of the Comcast Technology Center. “A lot of other things, like the nautilus shell, [are] pulled from the show. The color palette is pulled from the show.”

The two-section mural is painted on cloth and hung in glass cases in the concourse. At some point after the premiere of “Dispatches from Elsewhere,” the mural sections will be removed, likely in a month or so, according to Glossblack. Then, he said, they will be gifted to the city.

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