[quote name=\'pianogeek\' date=\'May 8 2004, 08:29 PM\'] By the way, Randy, was the pilot taped at the historic CBS Television City (perhaps the Barker Studio)? Or...emm...elsewhere? lol [/quote]
No big secret there.
Surprisingly for a game show it taped on stage 12 at THE premiere LA facility for sitcoms, the CBS Radford lot. It's a wonderfully historic piece of property that is responsible for the burb having the name "Studio City" in the first place. It goes back to the Mack Sennett silent comedy era, and was home to the Republic westerns and serials (Gene Autry, Zorro, etc).
The magic era at Radford was the 60s and 70s... a ton of TV faves including Gunsmoke, My Three Sons, Gilligan's Island [the little lagoon was only recently paved over ;-( ]. Later, all the MTM comedies: Mary Tyler Moore, Newhart, Phyllis, Rhoda, WKRP (including the more recent revival), etc.. I remember Burt Reynold's Evening Shade there, too. In the past couple of decades some of the stages have been converted for video, and it's been comics' favorite lot for their sitcoms: Seinfeld, Roseanne, Tom Arnold, Will and Grace, etc. Joining Will and Grace now are that Good Morning Miami thing, That 70s Show, The CBS Big Brother house, and a bevy of newer shows.
The coolest thing about Radford is that the backlot elements (the homes, building facades, park areas, that New York street on Seinfeld, etc.) are intersperced and mixed among the stages. A hop, skip and jump from "What The Blank" was the My Three Sons house. You drive on at Radford and you feel like you're deep in showbiz tradition. As TVCity is to games, Radford is to sitcoms.
You get the feeling I still have a lotta passion for the biz? ;-)
Randy
tvrandywest
