The Game Show Forum > The Big Board

Desilu in game shows

<< < (6/6)

tvrandywest:
[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Oct 18 2003, 06:56 AM\']I don't think Desilu ever had the current Raleigh Studios. You are right about Ren Mar, formerly Desilu-Cahuenga.  Desilu-Gower in Hollywood was the former RKO lot which is now the western slice of the Paramount lot (what is now Paramount used to be two separate movie studios: RKO on the west facing Gower street and Paramount on the east). When Lucy sold to Paramount, the DOJ decided that Desilu-Gower was the only lot Paramount was allowed to keep.

Desilu had studios in Culver City as well, where The Mothers In Law continued to be filmed after Lucy sold in 1967. What became of Desilu-Cahuenga and -Culver immediately after Lucy sold is the subject of further research.
[/quote]
Perfectly stated history of that slice of Paramount that was home to everything from the Astaire-Rogers dance movies to Howard Hughes' film playground (the story of his specially created "cantilever bra" for Jane Russell's bountiful bosom for "The Outlaw" is a great one) to "Star Trek" and "Mission Impossible".

When I started working these historic lots I studied-up, un-earthed old tickets from the collectors, and talked to as many of the old-timers I could find who worked the classic shows. Audiences love to hear the film/TV history of where they're sitting.

Relevant to this discussion, Desilu never owned 1040 N. Las Palmas. As "I Love Lucy" had many homes over the years, the confusion may be due to the fact that the very first episode of "I Love Lucy" was reportedly filmed at Hollywood Center-Las Palmas on stage 1, adjacent to George Burns on stage 2.  

Desilu-Culver was the 12 stage lot a few blocks from the present Sony lot. It was built by Thomas Ince in the earliest days (thus the adjacent "Ince Street"). It's most notable filmography entry is "Gone With The Wind" when the lot was home to David Selznick. That film burned the original backlot that included the sets for 1933's "King Kong" which was also filmed there. When Desilu owned the facility it included a different 40 acre backlot to the south that included the town of Mayberry for their "Andy Griffith Show"; don't bother looking, it's developed industrial property now. Desilu's "The Untouchables" was shot on stage 1. By the time I got there for three years on stage 6 for "The Nanny" it was owned by Sony; "Mad About You" and Gregory Hines' last series were adjacent.  The lot is a favorite for high profile, big star feature films because it's small, quiet and hidden.

Desilu never owned the Raleigh lot.  Desilu-Cahuenga was indeed the present Ren-Mar facility. Ann Guilbert who played the grandmother on "The Nanny" told me Sheldon Leonard filmed "The Dick Van Dyke Show" there; and she should know. Ann played The Petrie's wacky neighbor Millie Halper.    ;-)

chris319:
I read an account which stated that Desi purchased 1040 NLP and had to combine two adjacent stages for I Love Lucy: one for the Ricardo's apartment and another for the club/the Mertz's apartment/whatever other sets, as well as to accomodate a studio audience. Supposedly the Ricardo's bedroom/living room/kitchen set was so wide, there wasn't enough room for them on a single stage. The account goes on to tell how Karl Freund determined that the wooden floors were in such bad shape that new composite flooring had to be laid down.

I don't know how many seasons I Love Lucy was there but I'm sure she got moved around to various stages with different incarnations of the show.

tvrandywest:
[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Oct 19 2003, 02:38 PM\'] I read an account which stated that Desi purchased 1040 NLP and had to combine two adjacent stages for I Love Lucy: one for the Ricardo's apartment and another for the club/the Mertz's apartment/whatever other sets, as well as to accomodate a studio audience. Supposedly the Ricardo's bedroom/living room/kitchen set was so wide, there wasn't enough room for them on a single stage. The account goes on to tell how Karl Freund determined that the wooden floors were in such bad shape that new composite flooring had to be laid down.

I don't know how many seasons I Love Lucy was there but I'm sure she got moved around to various stages with different incarnations of the show. [/quote]
With all due respect (how much is that?   ;-), I'd have to see whatever written account you're referring to long before I'd begin to accept that Las Palmas was ever owned by Desilu. I can't speak to the split-set theory for Lucy at Las Palmas, as the show was only at that lot for a very limited number of the earliest episodes. But the material donated by Lucie Arnaz at the Lucy exhibit in Universal Studios, full of minutae as it is, had no mention of anything like that among the items both on display and in storage as of a few years ago.

Find some substantiation and I'll bring historian Marc Wanamaker (you've seen him on many of those E! shows on old Hollywood) into the conversation.

chris319:
Further research confirms that the Arnazes never owned 1040 NLP but were merely tenants. I Love Lucy was there for the first two seasons.

In the sixties, 1040 NLP was home to almost every filmed series that wasn't shot at Desilu or CBS Radford. Filmways was probably their biggest client with The Addams Family and all of Paul Henning's shows: Beverly Hilbillies, Green Acres, Petticoat Junction (ob game shows: but no Heatter-Quigley shows).

The Ol' Guy:
It took me a while to get my hands back on another fascinating book about Lucy and Desi - "Desilu: The Story Of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz" by Coyne Sanders and Tom Gilbert. The first time I read it, it mentioned by name two other game shows Desilu had a hand in. One was "By The Numbers", which has been discussed here, but does anyone have any information on another game they reportedly created about the same time (1963-64) called "Zoom"? Was that another local Los Angeles game, syndicated, or never got past the pilot? All it mentioned was the titles.
Thanks.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page