Tag: desilu-t-v

What’s New Pussycat ?-Desilu

Phantom of the BacklotLeave a comment
A collage of black and white and color images featuring women in various poses and outfits, showcasing vintage styles and themes, including swimwear, casual attire, and playful cat-inspired looks.

Catwoman-The original recipe…

Scene featuring a tiger and a person in a dark costume with the caption 'BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME' in bold yellow text.

Cat, scratch fever time…

A tiger walking out of a dimly lit doorway, showcasing its distinctive fur and piercing eyes.
A scene showing Batman facing a tiger in a dramatic confrontation.

A stealthy, sleek feline wants to have it’s way with this Caped Crusader

A room featuring a woman in a black outfit and two men dressed in tiger-striped suits, sitting on a rug while watching a television displaying a tiger. Decorative animal sculptures and a vintage style table are also visible.

A Caged Bat fighting a Big Cat –on T.V no-less. A chemistry exists between this gorgeous, graceful feline and this debonair crime fighter in the battle of- TIGHT FITTING COSTUMES.

Batman and Robin stand in a dimly lit room, with Batman in a gray suit and Robin in a red and green costume. A villain in stripes can be seen peeking out from a small opening in the background.
A close-up shot of two pairs of shoes, one green suede boot with a unique design and one black leather boot, alongside a pair of bare legs. The background features a dimly lit stage.
A figure in a dark cape approaches a transparent containment chamber holding a suspended character in an orange outfit, set against a stark industrial background.
Batman stands heroically with his arms outstretched in a dramatic pose, while Robin kneels on the ground in front of him, suggesting a tense scene.

Catwoman is no- push over-she plays very hard to get!-Don’t let her purring fool you!

A woman in a black catsuit and mask, striking a dynamic pose on the hood of a vintage convertible car, set against a natural landscape.

She can lick you – to DEATH. Not a bad way to go I suppose…

Behind-the-scenes image of a woman dressed as a cat-themed character being styled by two assistants, surrounded by greenery.

The Line is -“Come and Get Me Batman.” Lorenzo Semple Jr. would go on to write – King Kong 2–1976. Wardrobe and make up time on this backroad with a quick script read…

A woman dressed in a shiny black catsuit with a cat mask, styled hair, and a gold belt, posing with a playful gesture in a grassy outdoor setting.
“Come and Get Me- BATMAN“
A faded photograph of a dirt pathway bordered by tall grass and shrubs, with scattered trees in the background.

Same muddy road

A woman dressed in a black catsuit and mask kneels on the hood of a classic car, posing dramatically with one hand raised. The background features grass and shrubbery, suggesting an outdoor setting.
A woman in a black catsuit poses dramatically on the hood of a classic convertible car, pointing a weapon at a passing blue vehicle on a rural road with lush greenery in the background.

A Feline Car fit for the most seductive villain ever created-A Jaguar Commercial if I ever saw one.

A vintage photograph featuring tall pampas grass swaying in a soft, blurred background of greenery and trees under a pale sky.
A woman in a black catsuit and mask is sitting on the hood of a car, with her hair flowing and the sky blue in the background.
A woman in a black leather outfit stands on a dirt road, facing away from a vintage blue delivery van parked nearby, with tall grass in the background.
A man dressed in a tiger-striped outfit stands next to a blue van against a backdrop of lush greenery and blue sky.

A Feral cat has just arrived…

Close-up of a striped cat with its mouth wide open, showcasing sharp teeth and an expressive face.
Woman wearing a black cat mask and costume, with flowing hair, expressing a fierce appearance against a blue background.

Hissing and hawing is a backlot warning…

Batman in a classic gray and black costume sitting on the hood of a retro Batmobile, surrounded by greenery.

“I’ve picked up your cat nip scent-CATWOMAM…Wanna race cars?”

A woman with wavy blonde hair and a red ribbon, wearing bold red lipstick and a black outfit, posing for the camera.
Like a fine wine, every feline quality still presents itself gracefully as if – time skipped over her. “HANDS OFF BATMAN!”
A serene landscape view featuring lush greenery, trees, and soft sunlight filtering through the foliage.

Cats really live in this stranger than life Animal Kingdom.

A light blue van parked in a narrow alleyway, partially obstructed by walls on either side. A sign reading 'GATO & CHAT FUR CO. WHOLESALE & RETAIL' is visible in the background. The ground shows tire tracks leading into the alley.
A street scene featuring a sleek, black car with bright red accents parked in an alleyway. A sign on the wall reads 'GATO & CHAT FUR CO. WHOLESALE & RETAIL'.
A sleek blue and black futuristic car parked in a narrow alleyway, with a sign reading 'Gato & Chat Fur Wholesale & Retail' visible in the background.
A yellow-coated figure and a dark-clad figure walk towards a warehouse marked 'GATO & CHAT FUR Co' on a brick wall. An iconic black vehicle is parked in the foreground.

“HOLY ALLEY CAT -BATMAN–A FUR BALL FACTORY!”

A woman in a black cat costume and mask stands confidently beside a man dressed in a striped tiger outfit, both surrounded by greenery.
A woman in a black cat costume with a mask and necklace stands confidently, while a man in a tiger-striped outfit looks at her intently, both surrounded by greenery.

“We’ll mine the other backroad, that will – fix him.”

An explosion occurs on a dirt road surrounded by greenery, while a car speeds by.
A classic black car with red accents, resembling a Batmobile, driving down a dirt road surrounded by lush greenery and smoke coming from the vehicle.
An explosion occurring on a dirt road, with bright flames and smoke rising, while a car is visible in the background.
A dirt road surrounded by trees, with a car on fire in the distance.
A classic black and red batmobile driving down a dirt path, emitting smoke in a wooded area.

Two dirt roads surround Gotham City- this one runs alongside the creek- these 6 photos put you there.

A sunlit dirt path surrounded by greenery and tall grasses, leading through a serene landscape.
A classic car driving down a narrow, tree-lined dirt road, surrounded by lush greenery.
A masked female figure in a black outfit sneaks through a cave-like environment, with rocky formations in the background, while a person in a yellow dress and green shoes stands in the foreground.
A woman dressed as a superhero with a black mask and a blue cape, set against a rocky background.
A woman dressed as a cat burglar wearing a black costume and mask, holding a large blue sack, with a dramatic backdrop of a desert landscape.
A scene depicting three characters in a cave setting, two of them wearing brightly colored capes and one dressed in dark attire, with the cave's stalactites and formations visible in the background.
A woman dressed as a cat-themed superhero with a black mask and shiny outfit, looking dramatically to the side against a dark, illuminated background.
Batman and Robin discussing in a cave setting, with Batman wearing a blue costume and Robin in a red and green outfit.

“Don’t jump CATWOMAN-Your cat claw nails can’t dig in to this granite. One final “Cats Meow.”

A classic depiction of Batman and Robin in costume, engaging in conversation. Batman is wearing his iconic blue suit and mask, while Robin is in his red and green outfit. A black cat is visible in the background.

Batman-this cat just came out of no-where…can we keep it

A man holding a black cat smiles while standing next to a woman with curly hair, who looks pleased; both are in a warmly decorated interior.

“See-Cats really do have 9 Lives”

A vintage black and white scene featuring iconic characters including Batman, Robin, Catwoman, and the Penguin in a playful standoff.
Stay Tuned-Same Bat Time, Same Bat Station

Written and Lived by…Donnie Norden

Inside the Enigmatic World of Film Set Adventures

Phantom of the Backlot3 Comments

Your Mission-if you choose to accept, involves slave trade in a foreign land. Follow maps pictured. Mine is the elaborate one involving chases and fires. This village featured today burned to the ground in 1976.

Rather amazingly, this I.M F map looks very akin to my chase map I drew at school one “one- day dreaming afternoon.” I made my map in 1975, having never seen this episode at that time. Me and my merry band of trespassers were “our own” I.M.F force.

A Mosque where women are bought and sold as slaves…

Roof top reconnaissance vantage point, arch entry way. Picture taken 1973

Neighboring sets include the Tara Plantation and a trackless train depot, both built in 1938. This village featured is the oldest set on 40 Acres, built in 1927 by Cecil B. DeMille.

This is a job for Cinnamon Carter…

A deal is being structured in a village where anything can happen…trust me on that!

A roadblock on Freedom Road.This dirt highway actually connects Mayberry to Stalag 13.

“We sure bluffed those guys !”

“A prize potential slave has arrived in our village. Go grab her!”

Dirham and dinar will be offered in abundance is this Islam State for this slave.

More I.M.F has arrived in force for the upheaval to come…

The I.M.F has multiple disguises. Cinnamon is being offered up for slavery. “This where the rubber meats the dirt!”

A Goat is offered as trade. There will be no more human slavery. This decision was made after a brief but powerful meeting with the cleric in charge. The goats name is now…Cinnamon.

A “happy ending” indeed as the I.M.F exits this Desilu Mosque.

Turn your television to 1967…

I’ve spent a lot of time in this middle eastern village. This was the oldest set on the back lot. Built in 1927, and it survived everything this studio could dish out until a fire in 1976.

A land of Kings, Wayfarers, and Gypsies proceeded the even more turbulent 1970’s. Marines, Trespassers, and scantly clad Winches walked in the same footprints in exactly the same fashion. The last film ever made in this section was an “adult movie.” I stumbled across it one afternoon while ditching school. I was pleasantly flabbergasted. Women were topless as they pulled buckets of water out of a fountain positioned center of town.went Provocative hunter-gatherers lined every awning and doorway in this outside Bazaar.

The deal orchestrated by the I.M.F no longer was in place in 1976. The haram has changed in this topless village, now void of rules involving body cover. “Allah” would punish this village only two months later with a devastating fire that obliterated this ancient village. It spread to another famous set-Goobers Gas Station, as fire and ash reigned supreme. I was there as wood crackled in an orange blaze before collapsing in a volcano of sparks.

I could not help to shed some tears. My upstairs fort collapsed in a plume- gracing the night sky. It was once used by Elvis Presley in Harum Scarum. Millions of sparks became airborne, blowing in every direction, like translucent orange butterflies. The challenge for the fire department was limiting this blaze to just backlot and not surrounding hillside and neighborhoods.

The end of a kingdom that stood fifty years was taking place this evening. This was the hub of this backlot, it stood in the skyline for every classic film ever filmed here. This set was a close as could be for the Burning of Atlanta sequence in Gone With the Wind. Fire equipment was everywhere on the backlot and the Baldwin Hills that look down from above. This village was so close during the filming of that iconic moment that fire and effects were stationed here. The heat spread intensely like a solar flare. Everyone involved could feel it while capturing Hollywood’s most legendary night, December 10, 1938 to film.

In 1938, this scene was filmed. The village in our story lies directly behind this special effects fire. One of the first scenes filmed in the classic film. This was a harbinger of the future involving this studio. No studio in Hollywood had more fires. Almost every set burned here. The backlot was similar to a war zone in the civil war, especially in the 70’s.

Being so old, rooftops became perilous, friends of mine have fallen through through to the floors below. Perils exist everywhere. This village, even when not being used in a particular show, was a cornerstone of R.K.O / Desilu history. It was also the longest lasting fort on this backlot built in the oldest set of all.

We lived among...Spirits in the Night

This area could not be more pitch black at night. No city lights, no studio lights here, just…50 Shades of Black. Briefly, we could see our images. Navigate by moonlight, like owls. We flicked our Bic lighters while we smoked hashish. We were in a land very much akin to where this Moroccan waterbased hash was compressed for export. After ignition, we took a deep inhalation from our Hookah pipes. Our images transformed into figures from films of the past. Coming alive all but briefly, yet eternal, as to never leave.

Like we possessed the keys to this ancient kingdom. We became teenagers from the past living in the future.

I spend more time on these backlots then I do at school. This is fine because I’m getting a specialized education in film history. A class not offered in my schools. I was my own professor of movie making, my students were required to trespass, risking, capture, incarceration, and worse…injury. No guarantees on how “class” would finish once you’re inside. We have no clocks, just never ending blowing sand. Your here until your not…

We didn’t have books, We had T.V’s…

Reruns were scriptures of the events that took place before us. Dial in those “rabbit ears” to distant decades. The Outer Limits is reachable here. Like being an electron inside an atom. Anything is possible. Look about the landscape, things still exist and those that don’t…reappear. Powerful stuff-TV’s become “Time Machines.” We transport ourselves with help from a rotary channel changer and a rooftop antenna. Channels 2-13 and many in between, constantly replayed Desilu’s glorious past.

We all grew up here, I was just became the caretaker, or steward if you prefer. You didn’t need to set foot in here because your penetrated this backlot with episodes and images of your childhood. A fascinating place for kids to stumble into. We actually live …our T.V sets in ways unimaginable. In someways, it’s like finding out there is no Santa Clause and the North Pole is just a set!

We progressed. We started taking the most beat up television you have ever seen into sets on the backlot. These sets had “utility convenience outlets” for powering up our Time Machine. An extension cord was like an umbilical cord. Creating one dimensional life in a three dimensional setting. Channels changing required a pair of pliers. The antennas were broken also, you carried it with one hand, like football. We had to climb fences with this five pound box full of transistors and tubes. Always being on guard for “guards.” This magic-portal resembled a football helmet with dings all over it. It never refused to pull in a picture…

Time for Rod Serling wisdom; “You’re about to enter another dimension. It is a dimension not only of sight and sound, but also of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination.You’re moving into a land of both Shadows and substance of things. And ideas- you have just crossed over into the Twilight Zone”

No truer words, put out your cigarette Rod, this a place best known for fires.

Televised segments from long ago, sparks from the past so to speak. In then sets they were created at years and decades before. Even Rod would have appreciated the extent we went to journeying …Back to the Past.

Written and lived by…Donnie Norden