Topic: Columbia Stage 3

[BeAStooge]

In 24 years, the Stooges worked on virtually every soundstage at Columbia Studios... in the main studio, the shorts dept.'s Gower Gulch "shacks," the Burbank Ranch mini-stages, etc.

Columbia's Stage 3 (a.k.a. Sunset-Gower Studios since 1972) was no exception... studio records and The Three Stooges Scrapbook report that many mid/late-1950s shorts were filmed there, e.g., FLAGPOLE JITTERS (new footage), MUSCLE UP A LITTLE CLOSER, OILS WELL THAT ENDS WELL, more.

Stage 3 was home to the TV series BEWITCHED from 1964 to 1972. Here's a clip from season 4's "Double, Double, Toil and Trouble" (filmed in the summer of 1967) that evokes some of Stage 3's Stooge-history.

(Note - the video is disabled from embedding... just click on the link)

[Hammond Eggar]

Thanks for posting this, BeAStooge.  As a fan of 1960s pop culture, I've always enjoyed Bewitched, especially during the Dick York period.  There's something special about the shows shot on the Columbia lot back then.  I'm refering to sitcoms such as The Monkees, Gidget, I Dream of Jeannie, My Three Sons, Bewitched (of course) and The Partridge Family.  There was a lot of cross-over use of sets and exterior locations.  The trivia I read once was that the first time the Stevens' (Bewitched) living room was seen in color was when it was used for an episode of Gidget, starring Sally Field.

Anyone who loves '60s sitcoms has certainly seen the generic town/neighborhood sets from Columbia's backlot.  I wonder if any of these streets and house exteriors were ever used in any Stooges shorts.  Can anyone here give us some insight?

As for Bewitched, I thoroughly enjoy that series.  It was funny and, let's face it.  I'm 35 and I still think Elizabeth Montgomery is one of the sexiest ladies in TV history.

[jrvass]

Hammond,

She's been dead 12 years... She ain't sexy no more, unless you are into that kinda thing. 

James

[Hammond Eggar]

Hammond,

She's been dead 12 years... She ain't sexy no more, unless you are into that kinda thing. 

James

Perhaps it was an error to phrase it in the present tense.  That said, she sure was sexy during the Bewitched period of her life and career.  There's no denying that.

[jrvass]

Perhaps it was an error to phrase it in the present tense.  That said, she sure was sexy during the Bewitched period of her life and career.  There's no denying that.

Who among us didn't dream of having a genie or a witch for a wife? Unfortunately a lot of us got the latter (without supernatural powers) instead of the former! 

James

[BeAStooge]

Anyone who loves '60s sitcoms has certainly seen the generic town/neighborhood sets from Columbia's backlot.  I wonder if any of these streets and house exteriors were ever used in any Stooges shorts.  Can anyone here give us some insight?

Virtually every Ranch location scene the Stooges did can be spotted in Screen Gems (1950s - early 1970s) and WB (1970s - today) productions , in spite of numerous face-lifts over the decades.

 - Three Stooges Journal # 117 discusses the Ranch brownstones (with pics) that are seen in scores of BEWITCHED, I DREAM OF JEANNIE, DENNIS THE MENACE, et. al., episodes.
 - The Ranch park (SO LONG MR. CHUMPS, FUELIN' AROUND, ALL THE WORLD'S A STOOGE). The park is still used in numerous Warner Bros. productions... WITHOUT A TRACE frequently uses it, WEST WING used it several times during its final season.
 - The pond (SOME MORE OF SAMOA) is still in use.
 - The downtown firehouse facade (FLAT FOOT STOOGES) was used in a 2-part BEWITCHED Benjamin Franklin episode, and a PARTRIDGE FAMILY episode that guest starred Richard Pryor. *
 - The large downtown office building facade (BOOBS IN ARMS) was used several times as the McMann & Tate building. *

Those are only five examples, among scores.

* The downtown section of the backlot was bulldozed in the 1970s, and replaced with soundstages. Since 1934, the Ranch's original 80 acres has been reduced to 34, sold off for condo and retail development, e.g., the western street is now a supermarket.


fyi - MY THREE SONS wasn't a Columbia production. The first six seasons were filmed at Desilu/RKO (Melrose Ave. & Gower St. in Hollywood), and the final six seasons at CBS Studio City (Studio City and N. Hollywood, in the valley).

[Hammond Eggar]

fyi - MY THREE SONS wasn't a Columbia production. The first six seasons were filmed at Desilu/RKO (Melrose Ave. & Gower St. in Hollywood), and the final six seasons at CBS Studio City (Studio City and N. Hollywood, in the valley).

Thanks for the info, BeAStooge.  I didn't realize that about My Three Sons.  From what I remember, it always had a similar look-and-feel as those classic Screen Gems programs.  Oh, well.

Thanks again for the background info.  A couple of months back I rented the first two seasons of The Partridge Family on DVD.  The Richard Pryor episode was included.  Next time I watch Flat Foot Stooges, I'm going to have a whole new perspective.