Location: Los Angeles, California, USA Address: 5515 Melrose Ave. Date: June 2019 Website:www.paramountstudiotour.com
After a successful run on the sitcom Cheers, the character of Frasier Crane was given his own show. Frasier aired for 11 seasons as did Cheers before it. We were fans of both shows.
Kelsey Grammer played the role of Frasier and didn't have far to go between jobs. Both shows were filmed at Paramount Studios and both shows were filmed on Stage 25. We took a Paramount Studio tour when we were in Los Angeles. We were able to see the exterior of this famous sound stage as well as visit a section of the backlot where one episode from the first season of Frasier was filmed.
The Paramount backlot has a section named SOHO after the New York City area. In episode six of season one, Frasier purchases a piece from an art gallery. He is embarrased when the artist comes to his party and declares the work a fraud. Frasier is angry and further frustrated when the art gallery dealer insists all sales are final. He stands on the street ready to throw a brick through the gallery window. Frasier would be standing between the bike rider and the green subway entrance in the photo above. The subway entrance was removed in order to film the scene.
A couple walks by and Frasier hides his brick behind his back. You can see the building above behind them as they cross the street. Frasier turns to throw his brick but this time his brother Niles pulls up in his car. Niles tries to calm Frasier by telling him of a time Frasier stopped him from exacting revenge. Frasier gives Niles the brick and reminds him of how stromg he was despite the nicknames, such as Peachfuzz. Niles hurls the brick through the window, tosses some money into the gallery and leaves.
"We may be barbarians, but we pay for our pillaging!"
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Address: 770 Don Mills Road. Date: Jan 2020 Website:www.ontariosciencecentre.ca
Every winter around Christmas time, the Ontario Science Centre puts their collection of Rowland Emett's machines on display. It is the largest single collection of these mechanical inventions and never ceases to amuse and amaze. Rowland Emett started as a cartoonist for Punch magazine before building these herky-jerky contraptions which always seem to include lampshades and teapots and be driven by thin men with mustaches. Let's take a look at a few of these dream machines.
The Vivivision Machine
This machine is made up of a gramophone and an old sewing machine. Like most of Rowland's creations it has a lot of moving parts but it is hard to figure out the purpose.
It somehow projects an image into the horn of the gramophone which is supposed to be that of a man bull-fighting with a goat. This machine made a brief appearance in the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
The Humbug Major Sweet Machine
This next contraption had a bigger role in the Dick Van Dyke movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. It makes candied apples and more as it whirs and turns.
The machine makes candy but as Truly Scrumptuous says, "The boiling point of your sugar is too high". As a result the candy has holes in it but lets you blow into it to make a whistling sound. Toot Sweets.
Dick Van Dyke's character Caractacus Potts takes his candy to try and sell it to the candy factory. As everyone blows into the candy, the whistle attracts dogs which end up making a mess of everything.
Little Dragon Carpet Cleaner
Also in the movie is the little dragon carpet cleaner which instead of cleaning a carpet sucks up the whole thing. The carpet cleaner on display at the Science Centre had a little brush that looked like a mustache. The Hush-a-Bye Hot Air Rocking Chair
This chair works with a hot air engine to keep it rocking. It also conveniently has slippers sticking out in front so you can put your feet inside. Keep your eyes open and you might notice it also in a certain film.
Clockwork Lullaby Machine
When Caractacus Potts sings Hushabye Mountain to his children he first starts up this contraption which is made up of a conch shell and a wine bottle among other things.
Featherstone Kite Openwork Basketweave Mark Two Gentleman's Flying Machine
This machine is our all time favourite and it also boasts the longest name. It has been at the Ontario Science Centre for decades. It is meant to be a flying machine but as it lurches back and forth we don't think it is ever going to get off the ground. It looks like it has a better chance of making tea.
This machine features one of the thin, mustached men that Rowland seems to like to add to his contraptions. It also has a few furry friends like the dog looking forward at the front of the plane and a little kitten sitting in the rudder.
The Forget Me Not Computer
Memory may hold the door, but elephants never forget. The picture above shows FRED who is part of the Forget Me Not Computer that Rowland made for Honeywell. FRED stands for Frightfully Rapid Evaluator and Dispense.
The next part of the Forget Me Not Computer looks like an elephant. The computer frame is made from a lot of bamboo.
Inside it has something called the Eenie-Meenie-Miney-Mo unit.
Another smaller elephant is called Forget Me Not Junior and works the card punch system. Unforgetable.
Afternoon Tea Train To Wisteria Halt
Rowland Emett's popularity increased after he created a railway for the 1951 Festival of Britain. This next machine is another train creation. It is a tea train headed to Wisteria Halt.
It is made up of several train cars. The last car has a cow being milked in order to provide cream for tea.
The next car has a first class passenger enjoying their tea. The cow has chosen to munch on the ostrich feathers sticking out of her hat.
The whole train is pulled by Nellie the steam engine in a beautiful blue. Nellie also heats up and pours tea as well as preparing a bit of breakfast as she goes.
Exploratory Moon Probe Lunacycle MAUD
The last device on display was designed to be landed on the moon and then pedalled about for exploratory purposes.
The mustachioed man must keep pedalling in order to bring oxygen into his helmet. He looks out through a stained glass dome over his head.
Check out Rowland Emett's machines in action in the video below and find out why they are known as dream machines.
Location: Los Angeles, California, USA Address:565 N Cahuenga Blvd. Date: June 2019 Website: www.paramountstudiotour.com
Happy Days the popular television show ran for about 10 years after first airing in 1974. It followed the life of Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard) and his friend The Fonz (Henry Winkler). The show was filmed at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles so it is not surprising that when they were looking for a home to stand in as the Cunningham residence they found one just a few streets over from the studio.
Happy Days was filmed on Stage 19 of the Paramount Studios lot. In the photo above, the red trolley is just about to pass the building.
If you take the Paramount Studios Tour, Stage 19 is located right next to the tour entrance building on Melrose Avenue.
On North Larchmont Avenue is Cafe Gratitude. After our Paramount tour we walked here for some vegan dishes. A few streets further west is North Cahuenga Blvd. The Happy Days house is located at number 565. The fictional house is supposed to be located in Millwaukee, Wisconsin at 565 North Clinton Drive. At least they got the number right.
Unlike some homes used in television or movies, this
home has not changed much in the last 40 years so it was easy to
recognize. Sunday and Monday are happy days. Tuesday and Wednesday are happy days. Thursday & Friday unfortunately appear to be garbage days.
The house was used for exterior shots during the shows run. We enjoyed our brief visit to relive some Happy Days memories with the Cunninghams and of course Fonzie living over the garage. We give it two thumbs up. "Aaaay!"
Location: New York City, New York, USA Address: 79 Crosby Street Date: January 2019 Website: www.firmdalehotels.com
Oh, my love, my darling
I've hungered for your touch.
Sam (Patrick Swayze) and Molly (Demi Moore) get attacked on a dark street in New York City. Sam is killed but lives on as a ghost. He tries desperately to let Molly know he is still around and enlists the help of psychic Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg) to help him. This is the premise of the aptly named movie, Ghost. Surprisingly Ghost was directed by Jerry Zucker who is better known for his work on comedies like Airplane! or the Naked Gun movies.
Sam & Molly are attacked on Crosby Street in New York City not far from where we once enjoyed tea at the Crosby Street Hotel. When two men finally come to help Sam & Molly we are quite certain that they come running from the vacant lot where the hotel was built. The photo above is of the rear entrance to the hotel on Lafayette Street.
In the movie, Sam & Molly walk down Crosby Street and notice a man lurking in the shadows. We find out later that the man's name is Willie. Willie quickly pulls a gun on Sam and as the two struggle the gun goes off.
We see Willie run off down the street and then see Sam run after him. Sam turns back to Molly and is shocked by what he sees.
Lying in the street is Sam with a gunshot wound and Molly calling for help. Sam is shocked and literally beside himself. They would have been on the coblestone street somewhere near this mysteriously yellow puddle. Sam soon realizes he is now a ghost.
Sam & Molly's apartment is only about 3 blocks from where Sam was killed. It is here at 102 Prince Street that Sam and Oda Mae Brown come to try and convince Molly that Sam is still around and watching out for her.
Their apartment is the fourth from the top. The second window from the left is where the workers can be seen trying to pull a statue of Mary up to the apartment.
New York City is such a popular movie location that no matter where you go, you are probably walking through the ghosts of a movie shoot from the past.
Location: Culver City, California, USA Address: 10202 Washington Blvd. Date: June 2019 Website: www.sonypicturesstudiostours.com
As part of our Sony Pictures Studio tour we were going to visit either the set of Wheel of Fortune or the set of Jeopardy! The Sony Pictures Studio Tour is a walking tour of the studio grounds. Today's set visit was Jeopardy! Contestants are given answers and then must phrase their response in the form of a question. So if the answer was "A Merv Griffin created game show that has been around since 1964". The question would be "What is Jeopardy!?"
The two game show sound stages are located right beside each other on the lot so we walked past the Wheel of Fortune stage to get to Stage 10 for Jeopardy!
Once inside we were face to face with the Jeopardy! contestants row. Everyone in our group took turns pretending that they had what it takes to answer Jeopardy! questions.
As we stepped behind the panel we could see the tablets they use to write their final answers. There are also lights at each position to let the contestants know who buzzed in first.
The photo above is of one of the buzzers in its holder.
Alex Trebek has been the host of Jeopardy! since 1984. He has had some health issues recently but is fighting to keep going and he has the support of a legion of fans.
Jeopardy! has won 33 Daytime Emmys over the years. There was a cabinet displaying the hardware.
There were other awards on display such as the Jeopardy! college championship trophy.
In 1932 this Danish company was formed making interlocking bricks for children. What is Lego? There was a Jeopardy! set made out of Lego.
There was a photo of two Mr. Ts. There was the Mr. T we know from The A-Team and the other Mr. T as in Trebek. Both men were sporting lots of gold chains.
There was a Toronto Maple Leaf Trebek jersey on display. Alex is an avid sports fan and was born in Canada. He wore this jersey during a video clue shoot.
If you have ever watched the show and wondered what Alex is writing down during the show, we now know. He has a chart of the board and he crosses out the answer once a contestant has given him the correct question.
Finally we had a chance to sit in the audience in front of the set. The front row is for a group of judges who have to decide if a question was given correctly or if something needs changing during the show. The big game board was up on the stage, but the set was dark as there was no taping that day. The answer is "We did!" The question is "Who had a good time going behind the scenes on the set of Jeopardy!?"
