Portions of the Island were transformed into a TV set Friday as work began on a reality show set to debut this summer. Film crews and cast members of the ABC Family show The Vineyard were spotted Friday morning filming on State Beach in Oak Bluffs before moving later in the day to Vineyard Haven, near the Black Dog Tavern and Steamship Authority.

The show has been billed as a "docu-soap" that follows the lives of a group of 18 to 24 year olds working together during a Vineyard summer. Some of the cast members will be filmed working at the Black Dog Tavern.

On Tuesday executive producer David Broome met with the Tisbury selectmen to discuss the show's filming schedule and presence on the Island. Mr. Broome said producers will be working at a breakneck pace to meet a midsummer debut, with filming set to conclude "well before" the start of the high summer season on July 4. The show is expected to debut on the ABC Family network on July 23.

"We will be a very small operation," Mr. Broome told selectmen. "I'm quite sure that most people on the Island will not even know where we are. Aside from one scene in the opening sequence with the cast coming off the ferry, "everything will be down in the Black Dog area," he said.

For more photos of the cast and crew filming on location, see our gallery: Reality Show Filming Gets Underway.