Good Bye To The Warner Bros (Columbia) Ranch Burbank Ca

Garysb said:

As some may know the Warner (Columbia) Ranch is being sold to a real estate development firm and leveled to build more sound stages. Warner Bros. will lease the soundstages when built. This is where exteriors of many TV series such as Wandavision, The Middle, Bewitched, Gidget, The Flying Nun, I Dream Of Jeannie, Dennis The Menace, the Partridge Family, the Waltons and The Donna Reed Show were filmed . Plus films like Lethal Weapon , National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation , and 1776 exteriors were filmed here. It was never included as part of a studio tour so few of the public saw it in person.

Here are two videos recently uploaded on youtube. They apparently were filmed in 2022. Some of the things they say are not correct. Though the Bewitched house is shown in passing on both videos neither seem aware that it is a famous exterior and it is not visited like many of the other houses. The two videos were filmed during the same visit.

Click to expand...

What a shame this is all being levelled. A lot of TV and Cinematic history there!

At least when they burned down an earlier picture's sets, they filmed the fire for the burning of Atlanta scenes in Gone With The Wind.

Seems like the only set they are saving is the fountain from Friends which was moved to the main Warner Bros lot a few years ago and is now a photo opportunity as part of the Warner Bros. Studio tour.

Dennis Nicholls said:

At least when they burned down an earlier picture's sets, they filmed the fire for the burning of Atlanta scenes in Gone With The Wind.

Click to expand...

Ah that was at 40 Acres where most of the exteriors of Mayberry were filmed for the Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry RFD. That backlot was torn down in 1976. When they did the Andy Griffith Show reunion the exteriors had to be filmed elsewhere,

Whenever I ate at that Bob's Big Boy restaurant in Burbank, it was always fun to ponder about the Columbia Ranch being a stone's throw away... the place where all the Columbia/Screen Gems home and neighborhood exteriors were shot, going back at least to the early "Blondie" movies of the late-30s (the Bumstead house eventually becoming Major Nelson's "I Dream of Jeannie" house, and Mr. Wilson's house in "Dennis the Menace"). The "Hazel" house seemed to go way back as well, popping up everywhere in old Columbia productions, like... if my memory serves me... the "Mandrake the Magician" (1939) serial, and various features like "The Stork Pays Off" (1941). Seem to remember Red Skelton's "The Fuller Brush Man" (1948) has some good Ranch backdrops as well. Maybe that familiar one-sided 'business-district' street with the little jag in it, too. It shows up all the time in late-40s/early-50s Columbia productions. The one exterior facade that often seemed to intrigue me is the building with the tall columns which jutted out in a circular fashion, the place usually standing in for a museum or a university. Not sure if it remained there as long as some of the others, though. Heck, for that matter, didn't a wildfire in the early-1970s take out a fair number of these things? The western street was apparently already long gone.

Yeah, I hate for all that Hollywood history being wiped out. In an alternate history, I wish Los Angeles / Hollywood had preserved all sorts of marvelous architecture and sights, making it the kind of vacation destination I would love, as opposed to the rather grubby mess it became. So much was leveled. Think of that Bunker Hill area, where so many postwar crime movies were filmed. By the time I heard the Ambassador Hotel was razed a few years back, the whole issue had pretty much become moot for me. Haven't even been back to the whole vicinity since the 2000's started.

More Hollywood history being erased. The Columbia/Warner Ranch was not only home to some of TV's most iconic homes, but the ranch was the go to place for so many commercials as well as music videos.

I always wanted to be able to visit this place and have my picture taken in front of both the Bewitched and I Dream Of Jeannie houses. I guess this means I better work on getting to LA in the next couple of years as who knows what backlot might go next. Universal wouldn't dare bulldoze the iconic Bates House for more soundstages, would they?

That's a real shame. I would have thought these buildings would have historical landmark status by now.

The Monkees filmed a lot of scenes at that park where the fountain is.

But watching the video above, I don't think I recognize the houses. There are some studio houses I recall seeing dozens of times on 60s-80s shows like Twilight Zone and Adam-12. Maybe they were produced elsewhere.

Desslar said:

That's a real shame. I would have thought these buildings would have historical landmark status by now.

The Monkees filmed a lot of scenes at that park where the fountain is.

But watching the video above, I don't think I recognize the houses. There are some studio houses I recall seeing dozens of times on 60s-80s shows like Twilight Zone and Adam-12. Maybe they were produced elsewhere.

Click to expand...

I know the original Twilight Zone was filmed at MGM / now Sony, its mentioned in the ending credits. The backlot where exteriors were filmed is probably gone.

I've been at the ranch many times.
The first was in '71, when they were selling studio props and such, which was open to the public.
I didn't get to see much of the backlot IIRC.
The only thing about that day I do remember, is that I did get to see and walk past Kris Nelson, so that's why everything else was a blurr!

The Three Stooges were filmed at Columbia Ranch.
I was in Western Street in the eighties, and thought it looked familiar, then realized they did at least one of the western episodes there.


The building on the far right was used in the episode where they are census takers.
I haven't seen that episode since the eighties, so I don't recall if the frontage was used, but around the side of it was.

See those two trees?
I was there around 2000 something, and it was over one hundred sweltering degrees.
We were there from morning, 'till early afternoon, hanging around sitting across the street in front of the building , and always in eyesight of all the frontage, unintentionally getting a fixed image of it in my head.

The next afternoon when we got there, set dressing had not only stripped all the leaves from those trees, but the whole area was dressed for winter, snow and all!
All over the bare branches, steps, curb and immediate surrounding area.

My mind was completely blown, trying to process what had been fixed in my mind for five or so hours the day before into what I was seeing 24 hours later.
Plus...being in shorts and a tank top while sweating, didn't make it easier on the brain to compute either.
I wish I'd-a remembered the name of the project.

Dennis Nicholls said:

At least when they burned down an earlier picture's sets, they filmed the fire for the burning of Atlanta scenes in Gone With The Wind.

Click to expand...

Michael Landon had TLHOTP set torched so no one else could use it, and also so that they it wouldn't be economically feasible to do a reunion episode.

darkrock17 said:

Universal wouldn't dare bulldoze the iconic Bates House for more soundstages, would they?

Click to expand...

Who know$.

Though probably not as universally recognizable as the Bates house, Universal moved Colonial Street (Animal House's Delta House, Leave It to Beaver and hundreds of others) in the early eighties.

Part of it now houses the Amblin Entertainment building, which was being built around the same time.
The rest of the area was used for general employee parking.

It was said that Spielberg agreed move the offices there, as long as it was never used for filming.
He did himself use the wishing well that was opposite the main entrance of the building on the property, in Back To The Future

Garysb said:

I know the original Twilight Zone was filmed at MGM / now Sony, its mentioned in the ending credits. The backlot where exteriors were filmed is probably gone.

Click to expand...

Where Is Everybody? was filmed at Uni.

Edited for clarification.

Noooooooooooooo..... This news has me so upset. It was comforting, in a way, to know that the Hazel house and the Bewitched house were still there, all these years later....

Tony Bensley said:

What a shame this is all being levelled. A lot of TV and Cinematic history there!

Click to expand...

Hazel Father Knows Best too

Desslar said:

That's a real shame. I would have thought these buildings would have historical landmark status by now.

The Monkees filmed a lot of scenes at that park where the fountain is.

But watching the video above, I don't think I recognize the houses. There are some studio houses I recall seeing dozens of times on 60s-80s shows like Twilight Zone and Adam-12. Maybe they were produced elsewhere.

Click to expand...

yes where are a bunch of actors demanding these sets be saved

RobertMG said:

yes where are a bunch of actors demanding these sets be saved

Click to expand...

As far as I can tell, actors are rarely sentimental about such things, at least publicly. The sets were just a workplace for them.

greenscreened said:

where Is Everybody? was filmed at Uni.

Click to expand...

To be extra complete "Time Element" the unofficial pilot for the Twilight Zone which aired as an episode of Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse was filmed at
Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA which I believe is the old Selznick lot known then as Desilu Culver. Watch after the show for an appearence of Lucy.



Speaking of which Desilu Playhouse would probably make a great DVD release . One of the episodes was K.O Kitty with Lucille Ball filmed in the late 50's when the hour I Love Lucys were being filmed where she plays a character who is not Lucy Ricardo. I always thought it was a missed opportunity not to include this in the complete "I Love Lucy" set.

I must Protest !!!!

Desslar said:

As far as I can tell, actors are rarely sentimental about such things, at least publicly. The sets were just a workplace for them.

Click to expand...

History lost can never be brought back THREE STOOGES, BLONDIE - classic Serials then TV all on those few streets

Tony Bensley said:

What a shame this is all being levelled. A lot of TV and Cinematic history there!

Click to expand...

It is indeed a shame, it's very sad.

Some Columbia serials from the 1940's and 50's have scenes from the Columbia ranch. I believe the Hazel house is seen in the Monster And The Ape serial from 1945.

Lecagr said:

It is indeed a shame, it's very sad.

Some Columbia serials from the 1940's and 50's have scenes from the Columbia ranch. I believe the Hazel house is seen in the Monster And The Ape serial from 1945.

Click to expand...

it is in The Shadow and The Spiders Web

Tony Bensley said:

What a shame this is all being levelled. A lot of TV and Cinematic history there!

Click to expand...

they are walking by famous tv houses and say nothing