TV Locations - part 3

Seeing Stars: Where the Movies Were Shot on Location

PART 3

Filming locations of TV Shows,
Made-for-TV Movies & Music Videos.

The 1970's series "WONDER WOMAN", starred Lynda Carter as the comic book hero and her alter ego Diana Prince, battling evil alongside the IADC (Inter-Agency Defense Command).

The IADC building seen on the show was actually the Inglewood City Hall, located at 1 Manchester Blvd, in the city of Inglewood, CA.

Speaking of "WONDER WOMAN", her "Paradise Island" scenes were actually shot at The Arboretum of Los Angeles County, located across the street from Santa Anita race track at 301 N. Baldwin Ave., in Arcadia, CA. It's open to the public, and is a very nice place to visit (especially in the Spring), with peacocks, fountains, flowers, waterfalls, and a large lagoon where "Fantasy Island" was shot.

[Click on the the photo above to see a larger version. This scene was shot near the pool/fountain on the large central lawn at the Arboretum. The camera is facing west, looking from outside the Arboretum (near parking area to the east) into the paid area of the park.]

Remember the opening credits of the TV-comedy "THREE'S COMPANY," where the trio were frolicking on a boardwalk and riding bumper-cars? That opening scene was shot at the Santa Monica Pier. (They have since built a larger amusement park area adjacent to the pier, which wasn't there when the series was filmed.)

A later opening sequence from "Three's Company" (shot after Suzanne Somers left the show) featured the new threesome riding a zoo tram and looking at flamingos. Those sequences were filmed at the Los Angeles County Zoo in Griffith Park.

From 1976 to 1981, the nation was enthralled by the adventures of Farrah, Kate & Jaclyn in TV's "CHARLIE'S ANGELS." The trio of beautiful detectives worked for "Townsend Investigations", and the headquarters for the Townsend agency was an actual building at the southwest corner of Robertson Blvd and Clifton Way, in Beverly Hills, just north of Wilshire Blvd. (The exact address is 189 Robertson Blvd.) We may never have seen 'Charlie', but we saw this building a lot.

The modest, brick building has changed a little over the years - the owner expanded the windows in front. And it now houses... a vacuum cleaner store. (I'll try to resist saying "that sucks.") But it's still easy for "Angels" fans to recognize.

You know the opening scenes from "M*A*S*H," of course, where the helicopters land at the mobile army hospital and unload wounded soldiers. If those hills behind the helicopters look familiar, that's because those are the local Santa Monica Mountains. The scene was shot at the old Century Ranch, now part of Malibu Creek State Park, east of Malibu Canyon/Las Virgines Road (which meets PCH just west of the Malibu Pier at Pepperdine University.)

It was formerly the 20th Century Fox movie ranch, and many movies have been shot there ), including "PLANET OF THE APES" and the war film "TORA! TORA! TORA!."

In the 1984 Randy Newman music video "I LOVE L.A.," we see a giant donut emblazoned with the name "Randy's" on the side. This is a real donut shop called "Randy's Donuts"; it's located in Inglewood, at 805 W. Manchester Boulevard, just west of the San Diego (405) Freeway. [Buy the CD]

This mammoth donut has also been seen in a number of movies, including 1985's "INTO THE NIGHT," with Michelle Pfeiffer, 1989's "EARTH GIRLS ARE EASY" (with Geena Davis), 1991's "BREATHLESS" (with Richard Gere) and 1983's "LOVE LETTERS" (with Jamie Lee Curtis) *

The Queen Anne cottage near the lagoon at the Los Angeles State & County Arboretum (at 301 N. Baldwin Avenue) in Arcadia was featured during the opening credits of each episode of "FANTASY ISLAND," when little "Tattoo" would climb the cottage's bell tower and call out "Da Plane, Boss! Da Plane!."

Other TV shows shot there include "MURDER SHE WROTE" and "ROOTS". And, of course, "WONDER WOMAN".

If you liked "THE LOVE BOAT" on TV, then you might want to see the real "Love Boat" in the Los Angeles Harbor at San Pedro. The TV series was shot aboard the real Princess cruise ships. The original show was shot chiefly aboard the Pacific Princess and the Island Princess. The 90's version is shot aboard the Sun Princess. These Princess "fun ships" dock regularly at the cruise terminal just beneath the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro.
You can also watch these ships sail down the channel from the nearby Ports O'Call Village.

The final episode of "THE FUGITIVE" (with David Janssen) drew the largest TV audience of any show up to that date. Set throughout Los Angeles, that final chase took Dr. Richard Kimble from the Los Angeles Produce Mart (near 7th and Central - see a map) in downtown (where he shielded his face from a policeman by carrying a box of lettuce on his shoulder), to the Los Angeles Zoo (in Griffith Park)

Chad Everett played Dr. Joe Gannon on the popular TV series "MEDICAL CENTER," where the action took place in the fictitious "University Medical Center." In fact, the building shown each week on the show was the U.C.L.A. Medical Center, a gigantic, ten-story complex with over 18 miles of corridors, which takes up the entire south end of the UCLA campus. (UCLA is located at the north end of Westwood Blvd., in Westwood Village.)

In TV's "THE ROCKFORD FILES," detective James Garner lived in a house trailer on the beach, at the fictional address of "29 Cove Road." That stretch of beach was really the beach behind (what was then) the Sandcastle Restaurant at Paradise Cove (at 28128 Pacific Coast Highway) in Malibu - about five miles west of the Malibu Pier. (That restaurant is now called the Paradise Cove Beach Café.)

* Locations marked by an asterisk (*) may be located in areas with high crime rates.
Exercise reasonable caution.

For information about watching TV sitcoms being taped live in the studio, see the separate page about getting tickets to live TV tapings.

[Note: Double-underlined GREEN links are advertisements from IntelliTXT.]

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