A Chinese lunch for our Detectives today. This is a back side entrance into the Main NY Street. You can see out the back of the false front…upstairs.The depth is just enough to have actors walk inside the door and set decorations can be put in picture windows. The back street is a block of…false fronts. No detail on the backsides.
Chinatown in this episode is located on The Universal Studios Backlot. Their Fortune Cookies will forecast the rest of the afternoon. ” You’re in for a Bang”
We just got a tip on the movement of a large amount of explosives located in The Hollywood Hills. Right outside our Studio Precinct. “Let’s go take a Look!”
The Hollywood Freeway, coming up on The Universal Studios exit. “Get your money ready.” 1967
The World Famous…Cahuenga Pass. The Gateway to the San Fernando Valley.
Barham Blvd, bridge over the 101 Hollywood Freeway. Behind you is Universal Studios.
“I gotta call from MGM”…It’s downhill from here, 21 miles, as the crow flies…
Times have changed around here…
This type of Rock and Roll requires…Law Enforcement. Activities in and around L.A in 1967, located near the Cahuenga Pass. A bus ride from The Cow Palace down the 101 will put you in Hollywood in roughly 5 hours.
I’m the Host…Mr. Sam Riddle. Long before Ryan Seacrest hosted everything.
I’m in…For Free!
Careful …these roads are winding with many tight squeezes, The Hollywood Bowl and The Greek Theater are around here…”Is that Columbo’s car over there? Where are they shooting today? Check the call sheets!
This was one of my freeway exits to go to work, this is the Barham Blvd exit off the 101 Hollywood Freeway. In a short distance, you will stop at a red light on Barham. A small quaint flower shop is on the passenger side, and Universal Studios Property line greets you with a Billboard Welcoming You to Hollywood. That’s how far they went on location for these Hollywood Hills shots. The other side of the fence
The Hollywood Hills just turned into Colonial Street. Every home here is …Famous!
Look closely, same home and same angle used in Dragnet.
It’s always fun to adjust those old roof antennas…Part of TV Land people forget.
This is such a great street and a challenge not to complete the obvious, every home is recognizable. But Mayfield probably doesn’t work in Adam-12. The Munsters Home is the neighbor on the left side of the picture.
Eva Longoria “Gabby” presided here for 8 years in the series Desperate Housewives. This is its current location on Colonial. Inside was a functional set, trinkets, family pictures of “Carlos and Gabby,” and furniture graced you once you entered the front door.
Our next clue…they live over there, at the Leave it to Beaver House. “Point us in the right direction”
We all know this iconic TV corner. Detective Joe Friday and Officer Bill Gannon go to investigate the suspicious family just down the street.
“What kinda lunatic would collect this stuff?”… “It’s not the Cleavers, that show’s been cancelled”
“Always trust your fortune cookies”
“Any Luck- finding the whereabouts of this deranged individual -officer?”
“I just made my first TV arrest, suspect is in custody, “says our- no name tag -fresh out of the academy, guest star. “Wonderful job, keep it up and you will land your own TV Series Sonny Boy…We’re looking for someone to cast opposite Martin Milner in a new crime drama next season”…This is where Reed got his foot in the door. Right place, right time. He has that “IT” cop look.
Crime doesn’t Pay!
Fast forward –next TV Season. Same street. Dragnet, Adam-12, Columbo, The Rockford Files all helped keep the crime down in the late sixties at this movie studio. Jack Webb was a producer for this series.
Solving a Crime- Joe Friday and Bill Gannon style:
It’s a bright day in Los Angeles. It’s 1967, things to do range from Disneyland to Busch Gardens. How about the Hollywood Wax Museum- if you want to meet movie stars. A few wisely spent dollars at Hollywood Park can make the day fly by, and Jimi Hendrix is playing at The Fabulous Forum, across from the track. The Hollywood Bowl is perfect for music on summer nights under the stars.
The Rams, USC, UCLA, The Dodgers…You get my point. Sometimes, people get carried away at these activities and venues, “that’s when I go to work; I carry a badge.”
Just a normal afternoon luncheon, away from The L.A. County Courthouse cafeteria for a change, we stop in at The Pagoda Restaurant, at a famous Chinese location. Unknowingly, the cookies left alongside the gratuitous tip would foretell our afternoon. ” You’re in for a Bang” exclaim fortunes inside these tasty cookies.
The exterior of this Chinese Restaurant is located on… Universal’s Backlot. We need to follow up on a lead: A high number of explosives are in the possession of a radical individual. Luckily, the culprit lives very close to the studio. Up in the Hollywood Hills, where several television and film stars reside. Pete Duel and Lindsay Wagner live close to work in their tiny mansions nestled up alongside these curvy roads that barely fit one car alongside each other.
As usual, this TV series will grab some footage around the neighborhood, then mix it into the backlot scenery. This lead becomes a bullseye, and with the help of a uniformed officer, fresh out of the Police Academy, or Actors Guild. With the help of these fine agencies, law and order always prevails, and this villain now lives in San Quentin…This has been a MARK VII PRODUCTION.
Written and lived by…Donnie Norden
Phantom of the Backlots 