tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post7366723300619206085..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: Location, location, locationBy Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-58762062300485978082013-05-24T14:36:33.038-07:002013-05-24T14:36:33.038-07:00Little bit hard on Route 66, as other commenters h...Little bit hard on Route 66, as other commenters have pointed out. Certainly the dialogue crosses the line into Pretentiousness sometimes, but at its best (which admittedly isn't every single episode) it's really interesting character studies in a much less standardized America.mikenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-25625022746370322262013-05-23T17:26:51.154-07:002013-05-23T17:26:51.154-07:00Actually, THE FLYING NUN lasted three seasons and ...Actually, THE FLYING NUN lasted three seasons and launched a mini-bonanza of tie-in merchandise, including a record album with the same Columbia talent behind it as The Monkees.<br /><br />Not only does GIDGET hold up, but so does THE FLYING NUN, Despite its much-maligned, outlandish premise, it's the only fantasy comedy of the '60s that in which, surprisingly, the premise becomes less outlandish when you actually watch it. <br /><br />Unlike the other fantasy shows, rarely does anyone on the show try frantically to hide Sr. Bertrille's flying -- with the few exceptions of characters whose knowledge of it night threaten the future of the convent. Besides, she's up in the sky, for gosh sakes.<br /><br />There was also the involvement of Bernard Slade in the writing and a cast whose skill transcended the premise.<br /><br />As for locations, I grew up in Miami, so watching the original FLIPPER brings back memories of Channel Four and Skipper Chuck -- and the musical HONEYMOONERS feature familiar local actors of the time.<br /><br />Plus you can count on Vizcaya to be used as a location. Vizcaya is sort of Miami's Cinderella Castle, because it's a representation rather than a real castle built by a millionaire about 100 years ago.<br /><br />I recognized this popular tourist attraction the moment I saw it recently in IRON MAN 3. It was like FLIPPER all over again!Greg Ehrbarhttp://www.cartoonresearch.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-64700264929699247612013-05-23T17:02:36.219-07:002013-05-23T17:02:36.219-07:00Just a friendly tip: the next time you have the u...Just a friendly tip: the next time you have the urge to call a classic like "Route 66" terrible, please think about what you're saying for a moment. Because such seemingly tossed-off comments reflect poorly on you as a TV historian.<br />Jay S.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-34849641301104867702013-05-23T16:48:31.933-07:002013-05-23T16:48:31.933-07:00@Cap'n Bob, I was well aware that the Three St...@Cap'n Bob, I was well aware that the Three Stooges totally ripped off <i>The Music Box</i> on the very same steps, but had chosen not to sully my comment with any mention of The Three Plagiarists. The steps remain Holy depsite their having been soiled by The Stooges.D. McEwannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-66864895205920598792013-05-23T16:23:20.202-07:002013-05-23T16:23:20.202-07:00Ken, Re-view "Kiss Me Deadly" movie for...Ken, Re-view "Kiss Me Deadly" movie for a lot of great shots of West LA and even downtown and Bunker Hill before it was demolished, oops I mean "redeveloped" in the mid 1950s.Ron Rettignoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-74096893479596853002013-05-23T15:33:39.388-07:002013-05-23T15:33:39.388-07:00You'd think with "The Patty Duke Show&quo...<i> You'd think with "The Patty Duke Show" if the opening song makes a big deal about her never getting out of Brooklyn Heights, they would have done some exterior shooting in Brooklyn Heights. But apparently that wasn't in ABC or United Artists' budget)</i><br /><br />I once interviewed William Schallert, who told me they had planned to do some exteriors for an episode...but alas, it rained all day.<br /><br />And like "The Twilight Zone," "Route 66" is a perfect example of early '60s sensibilities captured via CBS. And that Nelson Riddle theme!VP81955https://www.blogger.com/profile/11792390726196611188noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-89735200847666929382013-05-23T04:47:53.499-07:002013-05-23T04:47:53.499-07:00Growing up in Venice in the 70s, my way back machi...Growing up in Venice in the 70s, my way back machine TV show is Starsky and Hutch. We actually watched it being filmed at the time and now it is a way to see Venice before MDR took it over!txutxinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-70341320109285119152013-05-23T00:53:02.159-07:002013-05-23T00:53:02.159-07:00I agree with the general observations of your post...I agree with the general observations of your post Ken, backlots and backgrounds, but not those early Route 66 episodes. They were actually something different when it comes to locations as another commenter pointed out, they had Stirling Silliphant involved, who was thinking how to use the location units to get a lot of different themes going while on the road themselves. It really was location, location, location. <br />It was a smart set-up to let American landscapes play a role, and find a story to wedge in and connect car driving through and location incident. If I had to show just one example, watch the one with a real actor, Walter Matthau, as a gambler in a coal mining town losing its mine. The opening context scenes of the town and mine are practically documentary footage quality. They set the harsher tone of a town going to die. The (irony) solution is they need to raise money for a freeway connection so people will pass through. That's quite a storyline and then on top of that, decide to work with a supposed town gambler (Matthau) to raise the funding, etc… I prefer that story and the acting-style of the time you mention (with limitations) to the 70s acting style and headline-plots of most Norman Lear productions, which have aged far worse because the characters were close to stereotypes and catchphrases. But yes, you're right about the dialog, that was the era. The drivers Milner and Maharis hardly had to do much except keep the different situations connected.<br /><br />Maharis ( the supposed model for GI Joe )… sure… but I think his limits were written for. He was emotional and open to Milner's closed underplaying, slow boil. Neither had time for much reflection. They were reduced, but the opposite of the Jack Webb Robot- Brechtian way that became parody. These guys existed in a simpler world outside the big city, of highways and small towns. Both were driving away from something, Maharis character was understood to be sort of earthy, dumb but kind and honest guy, an orphan who ran away to make his way in the world. Milner's character we learn at points dealing with the death of his father (basically) in fact. Their relationship seemed cobbled from between the recent "On the Road" and "Of Mice and Men". Unfortunately with the better rough edges removed for tv. Today the psychopathic qualities of both sets of pairs would be kept and the rest dumped to the wayside. (Hmm….)<br /><br />What is beautifully shot but never overdone is the center of it all, this car, a beautiful corvette. It doesn't speak, it isn't super-charged, it's not overtly symbolic, it's just their ship that draws in music as it comes to join the storyline. The two guys have no real place to be, some backstory you really don't ever get, and for some reasons unknown, get involved in the plot by making decisions to take an odd-job here or there just to raise enough cash to keep going. The dialog's not the thing because for sure, it's got your "Paddy C." side, but no one cared, because it's the way the locations bring these people together through the new kind of journey. When I think of hammy tv as theater-scripts, I think bad Twilight Zone and Serling, which when lazy, had some universal cosmos/society moral to imply in the form of an O'Henry influenced tale. The Route 66 psychology introduced something new to come, in the car, down-to-earth, different, stranger, more modern, it's just the way things come together in shots, car, location, attitudes and some event that brings them into contact. <br /><br />Webb returned Milner as a policeman in Adam-12, which just dumps everything of Route 66 but two guys in a car with back projections, looking to the society to - what else - police it. A_Homernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-91060067541286175392013-05-22T23:52:51.608-07:002013-05-22T23:52:51.608-07:00Doug: Those same stairs were used in a Three Stoog...Doug: Those same stairs were used in a Three Stooges short. They were icemen trying to get a block of ice to a house at the top.Cap'n Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11783977137812876489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-27937221443287970912013-05-22T22:42:32.488-07:002013-05-22T22:42:32.488-07:00I have been enjoying a Rockford glut, polishing of...I have been enjoying a Rockford glut, polishing off 6 seasons this past year, and though I did not ever live in LA so much of the background area and house shots looks so generic California 1970's that it is nostalgic. And I find myself wondering where they shot something, I have recognized Olive Ave. in Burbank, and I too thought they may have used Burbank Airport for somethings over the seasons. If I knew more about LA I would be able to pick more out.Mister Charliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02740971667961847200noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-80712271598408835682013-05-22T20:07:14.917-07:002013-05-22T20:07:14.917-07:00To be fair to the viewers of the mid-1960s, Gidget...To be fair to the viewers of the mid-1960s, Gidget did last all of one season, or one season less than Sally Field lasted as "The Flying Nun". So it wasn't as if audiences in 1965 found the show a laugh riot while looking at it again reveals the truth; they didn't think much of it during its first run, during a season when just about every comedy on ABC that didn't star Liz Montgomery got wiped out (OK, Liz and Larry Storch...)Johnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-26740746092809816232013-05-22T19:54:38.913-07:002013-05-22T19:54:38.913-07:00PS: I always hated seeing Vietnam war scenes in.....PS: I always hated seeing Vietnam war scenes in...Viet-fucking-nam!Darrell Don Porternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-91034938935404217692013-05-22T19:51:47.939-07:002013-05-22T19:51:47.939-07:00I too enjoy Route 66 now and again, tho I can'...I too enjoy Route 66 now and again, tho I can't sit thru an entire hour of it. I love the song (instrumental only) and the car. Of course it's dated, so what? I enjoy it and would like to see Then Came Bronson again, but that doesn't seem likely. Michael Parks was so cool. Parks, now in his 70s, is still doing at least 1 flick/year, and was in both Argo and Django. He's still cool! As for the Gidget theme, I too like it, the end credit version, except for the guitar riff, but I understand why it's there. And Gidget's eternally young and cute. Just what we all want to be!!Darrell Don Porternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-6221059189878946352013-05-22T19:35:22.713-07:002013-05-22T19:35:22.713-07:00I always hated seeing Viet Nam war scenes filmed i...I always hated seeing Viet Nam war scenes filmed in Californis, it's just so wrong. And I do love those old shows, especially Adam-12, Batman and Columbotbnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-39564193954031718892013-05-22T16:35:18.160-07:002013-05-22T16:35:18.160-07:00There are a lot of old shows to make fun of, but R...There are a lot of old shows to make fun of, but Route 66 isn't one of them. They actually *did* film on location around the U.S. (I know because they filmed an episode in my hometown).Bob S.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-43021090579572934572013-05-22T16:01:31.904-07:002013-05-22T16:01:31.904-07:00AlaskaRay: It's a myth that the airport scenes...AlaskaRay: It's a myth that the airport scenes in Casablanca were shot at Burbank Airport. Van Nuys Airport was used for Major Strasser's arrival; I think everything else was shot on soundstages at Warner Bros. in Burbank (maybe that's where the confusion started). jbryantnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-66496488806407120102013-05-22T15:36:12.555-07:002013-05-22T15:36:12.555-07:00Yes, I think of Anntennae TV and ME TV as "Th...Yes, I think of Anntennae TV and ME TV as "The Old Folks Channels," because all the ads are for retirement homes, catheters, health insurance, osteoperosis treatments, ungrateful grandchildren who never call, etc. Why do they think that fans of 50 and 60 year old shows are all elderly? --- Oh. I see. I keep forgetting that <i><b>I'M</b></i> elderly.<br /><br />On ME TV, <i>Burke's Law</i> has just made its bewildering transition into a third-rate spy series, <i>Amos Burke, Secret Agent</i>. It went off the DVR season pass then.<br /><br />There's an episode of <i>Mission: Impossible</i> where they have to break into an eastern-European prison through the roof. You'd recognize the location in an instant, since they're on top of a Paramount soundstage, <i>and the friggin' Griffith Park Observatory is unmissable in the background!</i> Of course, on <i>The Adventures of Superman</i> with George Reeves, the Griffith Observatory is Jor-El's home on Krypton.<br /><br />I must seek out the <i>Route 66</i> at Marineland. I grew up living two miles down the road from Marineland and used to ride my bike there. (You know I treasure the <i>Route 66</i> episode with Karloff, Chaney and Lorre. Idiotic but glorious fun.)<br /><br />On <i>Burke's Law</i>, every time Burke's Rolls pulls into Parker Center, the exact same motorcycle passes it going the other way. It's one shot that's in every friggin' episode.<br /><br /><i>Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade</i> used a big, unmistakable shot of the Burbank Airport (I refuse to call it by the vile new name it was given a couple years back) for an airport in Berlin. They have it draped in <i><b>HUGE</b></i> Nazi Swastika Banners and bunting. That must have beena fun day in Burbank. (In <i>The Lost World: Jurassic Park II</i>, when the tyrannasaur is rampaging through downtown San Diego, it's really rampaging through downtown Burbank.<br /><br />Love the shot in MGM's <i>The Three Muskateers</i> with Gene Kelly and Vincent Price where the muskateers arrive on the north coast of France and you can see England across the channel in the background, only "England" is clearly Santa Catalina Island, and they're thundering about on horses below the cliffs on which sat Marineland.<br /><br />The DVD set of Buster Keaton's silent shorts (which are like the best films ever made) includes as extras a lot of the <i>Silent Echoes</i> stuff, where the author of the book takes you to each location, and you get before-and-after shots of the locations. Just fascinating. There's a book of Laurel & Hardy lcoations by the same guy. It was what led me to the Vendome stairs that Laurel & Hardy carried the piano up and down in <i>The Music Box.</i> Climbing those steps, I genuinely felt like I was treading on Holy Ground. Well, Holy Concrete.<br /><br />BTW, that wild crane shot that opened <i>Boogie Nights</i>, where the camera pulls out a movie theater, over the street, back across the street again, and into a night club, was shot two blocks from where I live now. The "nightclub" is now used as a church. <br /><br />When TBS was shooting <i>10 Items or Less</i>, they shot it entirely in the supermarket one block from my home where I get all my food. They didn't close during shooting. I'd go in, and they'd encourage you to shop quietly, because the shoot was going on around you. Those aren't extras. They're <i>REAL</i> shoppers! Watching it, it was weird to see scenes being played in front of shelves full of cat food, some of which were now in my cupboard, waiting to be fed to my cats.D. McEwannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-65961071529905746132013-05-22T15:02:13.019-07:002013-05-22T15:02:13.019-07:00Bash away all you want at Route 66, but I've a...Bash away all you want at Route 66, but I've always enjoyed that show, and I never saw an episode of it until sometime in the 90's (it's not a nostalgic echo of my past). It may not have the glitzy production values of whatever live action cop cartoon is currently in vogue, but I'll take Todd and Buzz in a heartbeat over David Caruso whipping off his sunglasses. You may consider it "speechifying"; I think of it more as a writer who was trying to actually say something, as opposed to a writer who was trying to see how many times he could cram the word "vagina" into an episode.Ron Clarknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-1430848067210519622013-05-22T14:25:55.261-07:002013-05-22T14:25:55.261-07:00Hey, Hollywoodaholic: Justified NEVER filmed in Ap...Hey, Hollywoodaholic: Justified NEVER filmed in Appalachia. They've only come to Kentucky to shoot background stuff and get their bearings (sometimes unsuccessfully).<br /><br />I remember watching the movie FARGO when I lived in Minneapolis and enjoying all of the Twin Cities locations they filmed at [hey! there's the top of the parking ramp at the airport! etc.]PatGLexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09096165411868967151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-50993244812301399812013-05-22T14:22:49.573-07:002013-05-22T14:22:49.573-07:00My husband and I, for what it's worth, love wa...My husband and I, for what it's worth, love watching Emergency! on MT TV every night before dinner. It actually holds up quite well, story-wise, despite the 70's clothes and porn-stashes. <br /><br />Then we go laugh at Happy Days on another channel, and then we watch MASH on ME TV at 7. We lead an exciting life. Carolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01202427531137840740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-5322399153116984662013-05-22T13:22:36.798-07:002013-05-22T13:22:36.798-07:00Since GIDGET has been mentioned again, it gives me...Since GIDGET has been mentioned again, it gives me a chance to rehash something that happened a while back when Ken was teasing the next day's post about lame TV theme songs.<br /><br />I stepped on his reveal a little bit by mentioning that I liked the GIDGET theme, which of course turned out to be one of his lame examples. What I was thinking of, though, was the end theme, which I like a lot and has a sort of big band arrangement, not the opening version with the lyrics.<br /><br />No, the show itself doesn't hold up. And if everyone also hates the end version of the theme, I'll just accept that I have bad taste.Mike Schryverhttp://www.otrcomedy.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-85279047000623200722013-05-22T12:42:25.974-07:002013-05-22T12:42:25.974-07:00"Justified" is a great show, but the mom..."Justified" is a great show, but the moment they left shooting in Appalachia and moved the production back to the dry barren hills of L.A., it lost one of its main assets.<br /><br />I watched a "Naked City," last night (another Herbert Leonard show), and like "Route 66" it DOES hold up remarkably well because it's character-oriented, plus it uses a dozen or so New York locations in every episode.Hollywoodaholichttp://www.hollywoodaholic.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-89556512708349166772013-05-22T12:21:09.020-07:002013-05-22T12:21:09.020-07:00In Toronto we are used to seeing yellow "New ...In Toronto we are used to seeing yellow "New York" cabs every once in a while.<br /><br />During the production of the Total Recall remake, I saw a few giant green screens around town, OUTSIDE. Making me wonder why they would bother to shoot outside in the middle of downtown if the whole background is going to be replaced.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-48891077828049545332013-05-22T11:53:35.951-07:002013-05-22T11:53:35.951-07:00Miami is nothing. They used Burbank for the famous...Miami is nothing. They used Burbank for the famous airport scenes in Casablanca.<br />RayAlaskaRaynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-22554767787608124422013-05-22T11:25:41.284-07:002013-05-22T11:25:41.284-07:00I disagree with you about "Route 66" not...I disagree with you about "Route 66" not holding up. Well, I partially disagree. It may not "hold up" in the sense that it is timeless, but it's much better than 95 percent of the crap on network TV today. <br /><br />No argument about "Gidget"...Jake Mabehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01908036270824377919noreply@blogger.com