Deagle / Seaver House

Location: Burbank, California, USA
Address: 3400 West Riverside Drive
Date: Feb 2014
Website:  vipstudiotour.warnerbros.com

  While taking the Warner Brothers VIP Studio Tour our golf cart stopped right in front of the last house on Midwest Street.  Our guide let us know that this house was featured in the movie Gremlins, as well as on the TV show Growing Pains.  The house has changed a bit through the years as the extended front porch has been removed.  In Gremlins, the house belonged to mean Mrs. Deagle.  Mrs. Deagle was the owner of the Kingston Falls bank and was generally disliked.  Gremlins arrive at her front door and sing her some Christmas carols while one of them sabotages her electric stair chair.  She climbs into her chair and it runs out of control, speeds up the stairs and hurls her out the top floor window.

  According to our Official Collector's Edition Gremlins Magazine, Bob MacDonald Sr. (Special Effects Supervisor) explains the troubles they encountered filming the scene.  "The first time we fired it, the dummy went clear across the street and landed on the porch of the house across the street".  That means the fake Mrs. Deagle ended up in front of this house (below), where a few years later Ross would almost take Rachel to the prom.

  Gremlins hit theatres in June of 1984 and the following year Growing Pains first appeared on TV in September.  So it would have been just over a year from the time Mrs. Deagle abruptly moved out and the Seaver family moved in.  The house was only really featured during the Growing Pains opening credits when the family stands out front for a group shot and then they all turn and head inside.  Alan Thicke stays out front the longest as he enjoys being on camera.

  Anther appearance of this home is in The Lost Boys.  The two Coreys (Haim and Feldman) ride their bikes past as they head to church to get some holy water for their vampire problem.  The little white church is also situated on the Warner Brothers back lot.  The photo below was taken from just outside of what we affectionately refer to as the Deagle / Seaver house.

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See more locations from the Warner Bros. Studio Backlot.

Map of Our World
Deagle / Seaver House

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Post # 45

Warner Bros Studio VIP Tour

Location: Burbank, California, USA
Address: 3400 West Riverside Drive
Date: Feb 2014
Website:  vipstudiotour.warnerbros.com

 The Warner Bros. Studio Tour is a must for any TV or movie fan.  Since we are both big TV and movie fans we had to pay the studios a visit.  We went on a Sunday afternoon and not much was happening as far as productions on the lot, but we had the opportunity to see many of the places from productions in the past.

  You go around the studios in small groups riding in a cart like the one pictured above.  The tour guides don't follow any set pattern around the grounds so they can customize the tour based on your group's interests.  Be sure to talk to them and let them know what you like.  The highlights of our tour included a trip around the Backlot, some time to explore the Warner Museum and Picture Car Collection, a visit to the retired Central Perk set from Friends, a drive through The Mill and a visit to The Big Bang Theory and Pretty Little Liars sets.

  You get a glimpse of just how fake everything is, because movies are always just concerned with what you see on screen.   Our guide was telling us how they use pull ties to put branches on the trees depending on what season they need it to be.  It is interesting to see how this all comes together in the finished product.  Even more exciting is knowing that you have been in the same exact spot where your favourite shows and films were created.

To see more of our trip to Warner Brothers, check out this permanent page of
Productions filmed on the Warner Bros. Backlot.

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Map of Our World
Warner Bros Studio VIP Tour

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Post # 14

Cathedral Mausoleum (Talking Bad)

Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Address: 6000 Santa Monica Blvd.
Date: Feb 2014
Website: www.hollywoodforever.com

Breaking Bad is one of the greatest television dramas of all time.  During its final season there was an after show where celebrities and cast members would discuss the episode they had just watched.  This show was called Talking Bad.  The final Breaking Bad episode was aired before fans and then the final Talking Bad installment took place at the Cathedral Mausoleum in Hollywood Forever Cemetery.  Hollywood Forever is an unusual cemetery that often holds movie screenings and concerts on its grounds.

 Check out more about Hollywood Forever Cemetery

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Map of Our World
Cathedral Mausoleum

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Post # 5

Bronson Caves (aka The Batcave)

Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Address: Canyon Dr., Griffith Park
Date: Feb 2014


"Atomic batteries to power. Turbines to speed."
"Roger. Ready to move out."
  Fans of the 60s TV show Batman will want to see this location when visiting Griffith Park.  It is located not on any road that leads to the Griffith Observatory but further (Adam) West on Canyon Road.  We parked in a gravel parking lot and then entered the trail heading south.  We did notice the sign warning that there were rattlesnakes in the area but we had no intention of running off into the bushes or turning over rocks.  We stayed on the dirt road that was wide enough to drive a truck full of camera gear or a Batmobile through.

  Just a short way up the trail and there on the left we spotted it.  In fact we looked straight through it.  It was missing some vegetation and there was no little red and white road barrier, but we knew we had reached our destination.  The caves had been created by a quarry that operated in the early 1900's and since then many film and television productions have used the site.  None has done so quite as famously as the Batman television series.
Now how do we get back from here?  I believe it is about 14 miles to Gotham City.

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Map of Our World
Bronson Caves

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Post # 2

Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Address: 6000 Santa Monica Blvd.
Date: Feb 2014
Website: www.hollywoodforever.com

Right in the middle of Hollywood is a cemetery that is worth visiting.  The beautifully maintained grounds are a great place for a relaxing stroll.  There are many famous people who have chosen this as their final resting place.  A few notables we visited were Don Adams of Get Smart fame, and Johnny Ramone of The Ramones, whose bust rises out of his gravestone to forever strum away.

 One grave we had planned to visit was that of Mel Blanc, best known for being just about every voice you hear in the Looney Tunes cartoons.  We had expected to find him in "The Garden of Legends" so we wandered around the pond checking each grave in hopes the next was his.  Eventually we gave in and asked a groundskeeper for assistance.  He did not know where to find Mel, but did let us know that the flower shop has maps available.  Off to the flower shop where just a quick look at a map and we were on to plot #34.

This took us back to "The Garden of Legends" which was still looking lovely with the sun shining and geese swimming in the waters.  Some time passed and again it was back to the flower shop, where maps cost $5.00. G. Mel Blanc resides in plot #84 (you see how that happened?) and has a simple gravestone that states That's All Folks.

 We also had to say goodbye to the peacocks and the palm trees and headed out the cemetery gates straight towards the Hollywood sign.

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Map of Our World
Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Mel Blanc , Johnny Ramone , Don Adams

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Post # 1