Why this blog?

Here's why I'm doing this blog.

NBC's Adam-12 combined three things I like:
A good cop show + a good cast with lots of guest stars + vintage Los Angeles locations.

My primary interest is in seeing the Los Angeles I missed. A lot of it was still there in early 1981 when my family relocated to the once-golden state, but most of it's long gone now. 

Los Angeles is all about hideous new construction and demolition of anything that stands in the way of more McMansions or other massive monstrosities. [One of my lesser blogs: Monsters Ate LA.] All of the Googie-type restaurants and courtyard motels were demolished long ago. Thus, Adam-12 is a time travel show for me. 

Despite being a big fan of police and detective shows in my childhood, I never watched Adam-12 at the time, or I don't remember it. [It was on opposite Sonny & Cher, the most likely reason why our TV was never on NBC at that time!] I started watching it decades later to see Los Angeles Past, especially the Valley. 

Reed and Malloy largely patrol the southeast side of the Valley: North Hollywood, Studio City, and Toluca Lake. When their Code 7 meal break gets okayed, they chow down at mid-century locations that made it to 1968 but are only the memories of older people now. 

They get sent to real street names, but not streets that actually intersect, which never ceases to crack me up. Sometimes they visit actual businesses. Other times fake signage has been put over the real name. All but a few of these places are long gone now.  

Much of the time they patrol the Universal backlot near the Munsters house. I kept waiting for a Munsters meets Adam-12 crossover, reuniting bartender Grandpa Munster with acid-tripping Tod, but it never happened. 

On occasion they have Out-of-Valley-Experiences [OVEs -- my dad used to say that], like to Griffith Park, Venice, or Long Beach. Long Beach is a separate city! 

I never have gotten a handle on their patrol district ["Central Division" indeed!] or why their "barn" is way downtown on West Temple when there was a perfectly good NoHo station. I like it when they pull out of the West Temple location and get to Toluca Lake five minutes later. Temporary suspension of disbelief wormhole stuff for Angeleno viewers.

For non-Angelenos, please note that North Hollywood and Hollywood are two distinctly different places, and they are not even adjacent. NoHo is in the Valley, and the Valley is looked down on by those who don't live there. Studio City and Toluca Lake are wealthier areas, and Toluca Lake is adjacent to Burbank, where NBC studios are as well as Warner Brothers and Disney. Burbank is a separate city from Los Angeles. Adam-12 was produced by Universal, which has its own city (just kidding, but it actually sort of does). Universal City is partially City of Los Angeles and partially unincorporated LA County. Adam-12 mostly patrol the Colonial Street part of the Universal backlot, so we'll assume that falls under LAPD jurisdiction. 😎

Everything has changed significantly since the days of Adam-12. Technology, demographics, and media coverage: News choppers weren't following Reed and Malloy as they did a PIT maneuver on Salvadoran gang members leading umpteen squad cars on a high-speed chase until the stolen vehicle ran out of gas. Officer Reed did most of the tackling like he was still playing high school football. They didn't send in the K-9 unit. There were no bodycams and no crowd of onlookers all getting video on their phones. Reed and Malloy weren't dealing with endless homeless camps or "woke" politicians who kept trying to defund them. We never find out what happens to the people they arrest. That's a whole other ugly topic in modern Los Angeles. [Spoiler: Nobody gets prosecuted for anything in 2021.]

Reed and Malloy had their adventures when there were still gasometers downtown. 

I am grateful that this show captured all that it did on film, to be savored decades later. 

One further note: Why do people who live in Los Angeles, hell that it is, get excited about seeing it on TV? It's a thing. There's even a documentary called "Los Angeles Plays Itself," which I think was aimed solely at local people who get this thrill out of seeing the empty concrete of the LA River on the screen.

Personally, for me it's not about seeing Los Angeles. It's about seeing North Hollywood in 1968. For all the hundreds of TV series filmed in Los Angeles over the decades, surprisingly few ever shot anything outside of the studio gates. They were all like the Twilight Zone, expediently confined to soundstages and the backlot. Adam-12 drove around the city [read: North Hollywood] and captured it on film. Sure wish more shows had.

PS I was surprised to learn Kent McCord had been close friends with Rick Nelson. His chorus is my motto for all my endeavors: "You can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself."

Must-see views of the San Fernando Valley from mid-century.

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Spaulding Square Bungalows in Adam-12 episode “Excessive Force”

 

Spaulding Square Bungalows in “Excessive Force”

Lots of photos of upscale Hollywood bungalows from 1919 follow.

 
Central Division patrolling the Valley never ceases to amuse me, but Hollywood bungalows from 1919 make this my favorite of all Adam-12 locations. The historic preservation zone of Spaulding Square [south of Sunset, east of Fairfax] is the setting for the serious portion of “Excessive Force,” season 7, episode 8.

These houses are more upscale than many of the other now hundred-year-old bungalows being demolished to make room for large-occupancy monster crapboxes [my milder term for them] and thus have thankfully survived until now. Fortunately, Spaulding Square now has Historic Preservation Overlay Zone [HPOZ] status to help protect it.

Given that the house across the street from the fictional child molester’s home recently sold for $3 million, these homes will probably escape the wrecking ball a little while longer [as historic status has been unable to save many fine homes of the past, but money always talks.] Sadly, another similar bungalow not under Spaulding Square’s historical preservation overlay zone protection was sold for $1.3 just to be demolished for another hideous monster box. No building is safe in Hollywood (the gorgeous deco Mole Richardson building immediately comes to mind.)

Let’s bring in the screen caps and 21^st century shots. I have taken these from Google maps instead of my own collection for three reasons. One, I finally escaped from Los Angeles earlier this year so I can't go take any fresh ones; two, past years show better views than you could get now; three, regrettably I never walked Spaulding Square on any of my photography walks in the 80s and 90s, back when I liked walking around Hollywood. Kicking myself now.

The home of the missing little girl is at 1328 N. Ogden Drive, built in 1919.

Although in the show it appears the molester’s home is around the corner, it’s actually up the road at the beginning of the next block, 1400 N. Ogden Drive. 

Also built in 1919, it last sold in 2015 for $2,650,000. Yes, you read that right. In a city where the streets are lined with homeless drug addicts, and crime is no longer prosecuted. This is not Adam-12’s Los Angeles.

For people elsewhere, please know Hollywood is just an area of Los Angeles. Johnny Grant was only the “honorary” mayor, as Hollywood is not a separate city. Although at one point both the Valley and Hollywood voted on escaping from LA, residents of the whole city were allowed to vote, and thus nobody got to leave. [Side note: the Valley voted overwhelmingly to leave, but the rest of the city made them stay because something like 60% of tax revenue comes from there.]

In this shot of Pete at the molester’s door, you can see the historic deco building Hayworth Towers in the distance. Built in 1931, it is located in the adjacent city of West Hollywood (which is in fact a separate city, although only 3 square miles; they don’t use LAPD but instead contract with the sheriff’s department.)

The busy street he’s crossing is no less than Sunset Boulevard. What prompted them to deal with shutting that down for their scene? Surprised they were allowed to. Thanks to my dear friend Candy Stackowitz for seeing through the remodel on the corner building. 

She also discovered that where Pete chased him behind the building back on the Spaulding Square side of Ogden was demolished, becoming a Bank of America in 1980. That Alpine looking building can probably be located in old photos or films with enough effort, as most of Sunset Boulevard has gotten photographed at some point. What happens after they cross south on Sunset will have to go under "Extra Excessive Force" in a future post.

As late as the early 80s, Los Angeles still felt like it had some space. Now I find it so overbuilt with oversized soulless structures – Los Angeles, “which intrigues me, like a beautiful, sensual morgue,” as Phil Ochs put it 50 years ago. If you’ve ever been in the garden section of Home Depot and looked up at how they have stacked concrete pavers on the tops of 10 foot shelves and wondered if they would all crash down on your skull and crush you in an earthquake – that’s how LA feels to me. Thus my love of the single-story bungalow. Who else hears Jim Morrison in their heads singing about a little girl in a Hollywood bungalow? This rather shocking for Adam-12 storyline puts a vile spin on that. 

What prompted veteran actor Sandy Kenyon to accept the role, I don’t know. Of course the story goes from “I can’t believe he said that” to “whoa, Pete!” and then to “what I did was wrong.” The officer’s job is to make the arrest, not mete out the punishment. But still the viewer wants Jim to take a slow walk around the block while his plump partner introduces the perv’s head to the wall a few times, surely. After six seasons of Malloy holding his emotions in, he finally reacted to something. Then the viewer gets to see the process of dealing with an officer who does.

Actor note: 

Marty Milner spent most of the series just being surly, breaking up light comedy domestic disturbances, and occasionally checking out girls. The search for the little girl and the pursuit of her attacker actually gave him a chance to do a little serious acting in between cigarettes. Well played, Freckles. 

Other observations:

Why do the women on this show always come across as idiots? Mom and her PTA phone call gives the pedo time to snatch the little girl. Dad is the principal from “The Breakfast Club,” Paul Gleason. Whatever prompted them to have Jim explain how the couple make a good living but not enough to pay a ransom? Maybe so that viewers of the future watching reruns post-housing bubble would understand those Woodrow Wilson-era homes were affordable in 1974. It wouldn’t be a millionaire neighborhood until the next century.

Back to bungalows:

 
The homes across the street compared to the episode -- notice the one on the right still has the trellis.

The house across from the molester’s is on full display in this episode, and they all look like a giant can of white paint fell on them. That house is now well-hidden behind a fence and bushes, as most all of them are.

The house just northwest across the street from the molester's home where Reed checks the crawl space:

I’d say the crew took some black tape to the DeLongpre street sign, making it illegible. The ivy still abounds. Yes, there should be a space between the De and the Longpre. 

De Longpre:

Paul De Longpre was a French painter who had a beautiful home and gardens in Hollywood. His estate was a tourist attraction and was featured on postcards of the era. He passed away in 1911 and his wonderful home and gardens were demolished in the 1920s. Destruction of beauty remains the Hollywood way.

Disclaimer:

 
Here I should add the standard disclaimer, if you decide to visit these residences, do not disturb the residents. Do not trespass on their property.

What would happen if they saw you taking pictures and didn’t like it? Would an attractive young officer like Jim Reed pull up to say there had been a complaint? No. Here’s the 2021 reality:

Residents: “There’s a stranger outside taking pictures of our house!”
“Call the police.”
“Where’s the non-emergency number. Ok. Here. It’s ringing.”

“You have reached the Los Angeles Police Department. Para servicio en Espanol…”

Ten minutes of multi-lingual menu later:

“Officer Mendoza. Is this an emergency?”

“No, but…”

On hold for twenty minutes.

“Officer Garcia.”

“Hello, officer. Someone is shooting pictures outside our house.”

“Someone is shooting outside your house? Are shots being fired now?”

“Shooting pictures.”

“No gun?”

“Shooting with a camera.”

“Bullets are not being fired?"

“No, officer. A stranger is outside taking pictures of our house.”

“And you called the police?”

“This person could be dangerous. They might be a stalker….”

“And you don’t want them taking pictures of your house?”

“No. What can we do?”

“Put up a fence.”

“But, officer…”

Click. Click.

“You have reached the Los Angeles Police Department. Para servicio en Espanol..."

This is not the fault of the officers. I stress, I do not blame the officers. This is a Los Angeles political problem. However, if you live in a nice-looking home, expect it to be photographed from the street.

The man in the storm drain is at the corner of Cahuenga Blvd and something. [My hunt for this residential street isn't high on the list.] 

In this Google image, you can see they've put up barriers to stop as much trash from falling in, which will make it harder for the man to wave his white flag for help in the future.

You will learn nothing about Los Angeles streets from this series other than the names. Every intersection is nonexistent, and the streets they name are normally on the other side of town from where they’re supposed to be, and it’s a BIG town. It’s the geographical equivalent of every TV movie phone number starting with 555. The viewers’ favorite must be the fictional street of McWhirter. I kept waiting for them to get called to the very real Milner Road in Whitley Heights, but I guess that never happened.

That fine old home Pete goes past in the show and in the 21st century, again via Google Street View over the years.

This is a favorite episode of mine for both its intensity and the historic Hollywood location used. There may well be a follow-up post with some more coverage of these attractive homes that were built just after the Great War. Keep in mind we have earthquakes, horrible local politics, and land that's worth more than any structure you could put on top of it. It's amazing anything survives more than ten years, let alone one hundred. Many might scoff at one hundred years being considered "old," but for a building to survive that long in Los Angeles is borderline miraculous. Grateful to Google's back-in-time feature that made these comparisons possible.

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Toluca Lake Introduction

Adam-12 Patrol Toluca Lake intro (updated with some of my own photos)

We're looking south on Forman Avenue as the patrol car heads north toward us, past Toluca Lake Avenue to the east, driving toward Moorpark Street and then Riverside Drive.

I should have stood out in the middle of the street for a better shot. Alas! On the southeast corner is the street lamp. 

In the opening credits the car comes north on Forman, approaching Moorpark. One thing you really notice in 60s Adam-12 episodes -- all the telephone poles!  Also, the western Toluca Lake Avenue sign is not only a newer sign, but it's changed sides on the post, presumably not to point into the bushes. And people's fences and bushes come and go. Most of these fine older Toluca Lake homes date to the later 1920s through mid-1930s. 

The house on the west side is obscured by the "To Protect and To Serve" motto on the passing patrol car, but this is the house, 4343 Forman, built in 1954. Western side Toluca Lake Avenue sign under the bushes.

The house that had the white fence all around it is gone. A new behemoth at 4355 was built in 1998.

The intersection of Riverside Drive and Forman was an Adam-12 favorite. The episode "Credit Risk" gave screen time to the Money Tree, Rudy's Wine and Spirits, and Toluca Den carpet.

No matter where Adam-12 were going, in the later episodes they would frequently throw in a filler shot down Riverside Drive, and this intersection with Forman Avenue was seen a lot.

I should have crossed the street to get a more Adam-12 era view. "You blew it!"

Toluca Lake is a small, very wealthy area just north of the Universal backlot (separated by the LA River -- it's not really a river, more of a giant concrete road below regular road level -- and a big golf course) and west of Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank. A lot of people who live nearby don't even know there is an actual Toluca Lake, a real lake, that you can barely get a glimpse of as millionaires' homes surround it and block it from public view. 

Bing Crosby's landmarked house is nearby, although I wouldn't doubt the actual address is North Hollywood. You can be sure the real estate agent claims it's Toluca Lake. All of Los Angeles runs together. It's only when you cross into a separate city like Burbank that you notice the street signs change color and the place looks noticeably cleaner. Presumably Adam-12 never venture into Burbank because you'd need a different city's filming permit. [Season 7 they seem to have one.]

Sidebar note: According to this Realtor.com coverage, the Crosby family dog died in a fire at the house in 1943; Micky Dolenz allegedly lived there -- and he was in the Adam-12 episode "Dirt Duel;" Andy Griffith allegedly lived there -- and his TV costar and real-life mistress Aneta Corsaut played Pete's girlfriend in the last season; and of course "Officer Ed Wells" Gary Crosby was a child in that house (and lost his dog 😢). Hollywood show business is a surprisingly small world. 

Personal note: I actually had two birthday dinners (a friend's and later mine) at a vegan restaurant on Riverside, just a short walk from here, and afterward we did walk around to look at the rich people's homes-- such a nice little area. So close, yet I was not in Adam-12 location pursuit at the time. Alas! At Christmas (and now Halloween), there are a few homes here that go all out. The most amazing is Lilley Hall at 10104 Moorpark -- but not seen on Adam-12.

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