All Roads Lead to Studio City or the Backlot

Log 52: Good Cop -- Handle with Care, Season 2, Episode 3, aired Saturday October 4th, 1969.

This is the one where the two creeps follow our heroes everywhere, accuse them of misconduct, take pictures, and interfere with police business with predictable deadly results. 

Malloy and Reed are headed north on Lankershim, with General Tire and Far East Terrace visible. 

They only go as far as Acama, where Motorville Tires remains to this day (only now it has a Monster Box behind it and the giant Comcast NBC Universal black monster building can be seen in the distance). 

Their turn west on Acama leads them through a wormhole that comes out in the alley that runs to the south of the Radford Lot (CBS) in Studio City! 

As they drive east from Radford Avenue, they come to an opening where we can see through to Ventura Boulevard and spot Curlbusters Hair Salon, which was at 11910. 

The building now listed as 11908 1/2 was built in 1940.  Curlbusters also makes an appearance in Log 94: Vengeance, Season 2, Episode 19 (along with General Tire!) This same corner comes back later in the episode.

Where Malloy and Reed find the man on the ground, they are behind the area that soon became Firestone Complete Auto Care (built in 1974). You can almost see the sign of The Iron Horse restaurant, which had been in business since 1945.

Throw in the Pontiac dealer drive-by on Lankershim:

And then wormhole (!) we're on Ventura Blvd in Studio City at Laurelgrove going past that one-time "Lido Manor" boxing arena, with the former Bowl-a-Rama bowling alley that then became Phil Gerard's Ski World at 12229 Ventura (where the gold onion dome place is now).  More on that area in my post on The Ferret episode.

At least I believe that's what the triangular sign was. The neon arrow (watch for it when they go by) appears to be the former Bowl-a-Rama one.

That's almost $300 in 2021.  Notice Phil Gerard/Girard two ways in the same ad! By 1973 they'd decided on a spelling and moved west to Encino so you could "join a new social world":

But what about crime? I found one at the old Bowl-a-Rama. Not during Adam-12's time, but during Pete Malloy's time on the force:

The Sid and Marty Krofft Enterprises billboard is either a tie-in with the former bowling alley complex, else maybe advertising their Vanowen location (?)  

On a personal note: Pufnstuf probably scarred me for life sticks with me the most, but the one that really motivated me at the time was Kaptain Kool and the Kongs! 

Then we're back to the backlot. 

Fans of the backlot might like seeing these houses. 

Actor Carl Reindel had a lot of credits, but notable to me, he was on a Naked City episode.

Ah, Malloy teeth. Every time you get a good look at Malloy's bottom teeth, I can hear my friend saying, "Topol, the smoker's toothpolish."

Actor Ben Frank was on two episodes of Adam-12 and three of Police Story. Not to be confused with the restaurant on Sunset, Ben Frank's (now a Mel's Drive-In). 

Adam-12 drive him north on Carpenter to Ventura Blvd, where there were far fewer giant things in 1969. [Off-camera to the right of the 1959 building was Curlbusters.]

Now it looks like this:

On the north side of that intersection, the industrial looking buildings behind the businesses in the foreground are parts of the former Republic Pictures (then CBS Studio Center). It was in buildings like these that the Rifleman, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Gilligan's Island, Wagon Train, the Big Valley, the Wild Wild West, and loads of others were filmed. So when John McIntire ("Dan Muldoon" of Naked City fame!) was dealing with the latest Wagon Train guest stars, he was indoors, right here, just south of Ventura Boulevard, where Adam-12 would film once TV slid into color. Pretty wild, huh.

Another look at Curlbusters as Reed wrestles with a very high Ben Frank. The car is stopped on the northeast side of Carpenter at Ventura. 

The Standard Oil station was presumably at 11905 Ventura, where Firestone would be as of 1975. I could not find a record of it. Of more interest to me is that 58 Chrysler! (Might be a 57?) Cars used to have faces.

Then the very high Ben Frank character goes to an external shot of the real Central Receiving. Central Receiving Hospital, at 6th and Valencia (east of MacArthur Park) was demolished to make way for the new Rampart station -- the original Rampart station was used for Adam-12 headquarters, even though they are Central Division, and in actuality patrol mostly North Hollywood. Ah, television! 

Central Receiving (police) Hospital in 1957.

A Mac moment (or two):

Mac's blue eyes were always red. Maybe to do with Mr. Topol the Smoker's Toothpolish? Maybe Mac smoked too. Don't tell me.

Patys in Toluca Lake makes an unexpected appearance!

I have always written "Paty's" -- just now I realize there is no apostrophe! Photo I took in November 2021. Gee, I should have walked down the street to show the view in the Adam-12 photo. I blew it! 

Another wormhole takes them to this Texaco where we see a '62 Dodge Dart, with its grille within a grille odd look. Messes with my mind, man! My parents had a '65 Dodge Dart -- a normal-looking car.

The Hollywood Freeway is that-a-way, but I'm not sure which Texaco this was. 

It was Studio City anyway -- despite the wormhole that leads to a shot going up Hoover between the two churches of the opening credits! 

After that unexpected leap from the Valley to downtown, we're back on the backlot. 

Adam-12 Can See City Hall from Henry's Tacos

Reed's eyesight is truly amazing, the way he calls off license plates far in the distance, even at night. He might actually be Superman, as he can see the Daily Planet (Los Angeles City Hall) all the way from the Valley. 

From Log 56: Vice Versa, season 3, episode 23, aired March 11, 1971:

Season 3 seems to be where the editing of driving clips just goes too far. For example, Malloy and Reed will be in the car talking, and what looks like Vineland can be seen out the window. If it's not Vineland, it's Colfax or Tujunga, or maybe you get an east to west view of Magnolia, but it's one of North Hollywood's major streets; then you see the car speeding down Reno to Hoover downtown, similar to the original opening credits; then they're talking again, back in NoHo; then some stock footage of the car turning the corner in Toluca Lake; then a random view of City Hall downtown; some more in-the-car dialogue with car dealerships on Lankershim clearly visible; another random shot of the car going down Riverside in Toluca Lake; a split second view of Wilshire (!?!); then they stop in front of a nice middle-class Valley home with a Studio City zip code. 

Was it all an in-joke? Was it "location comedy"? It's great that Adam-12 preserved so many areas of Los Angeles on film 1967 (the pilot) -1975, but a thematic approach would have been less jarring.

Wormhole Excess!

Here is a modern shot of Reed's view southwest on Broadway from Chinatown:

More things were visible behind them at Moorpark and Tujunga, AKA "Adam-12 Intersection" -- it should have a sign up! "Adam-12 Square"! "Squares" named after famous folks have popped up all over Los Angeles. Don't Adam-12 deserve one?  [Not in a city that defunds the police I guess 😡] 

There are a few episodes where they actually patrol their assigned Central Division. As can be seen on this hard-to-read-in-the-first-place and then modified by me map, they should really be 15-Adam-12.   

Jumping back nearer the beginning of the episode, we were on Lankershim:

WARNING: TRUE CRIME report

This all ties together in a tragic way. I said Reed was Superman because he could see all the way to LA City Hall, which was used as the Daily Planet on TV's Superman. And Adam-12 have just driven past Tyrrell Buick on Lankershim. 

Next to this local coverage of Miss Lankershim Auto Dealers was the story on the 1970 murder of a young man who worked at a Hollywood bookstore called Metropolis. 

 Buy a vowel for Employee please

Horrific murder and a senseless loss of life. Sadly, his grave doesn't even have a photo posted or flowers. I got out of Los Angeles (FINALLY) earlier this year, or I would go try to get a pic, as I am a findagrave contributor [I did many at Calvary in Los Angeles and Woodlawn in Santa Monica -- which has quite the Masonic display!] If you can get to Forest Lawn, consider posting a photograph for this young man.

I could not find any follow-up on the case. Was anyone arrested?

When Reed turns east on Hortense, there is a glimpse of Le Petit Chateau French restaurant. It only recently became "The Comedy Chateau" -- at least it's no Monster Box! 

Hortense, east of Lankershim, however, is the site of a crushing outbreak of Monster Boxes. Exhibit A:

The first cross street you come to heading east is Denny. Denny has this lovely 1926 home, showing how people should live. Across the street is a Monster Box, showing how the greedy, "pack 'em in" crowd thinks humans should live -- in oversized boxes. Luckily Google's back-in-time feature let's us see the neighborhood-appropriate house that used to be there. 

For me, this blog is as much about Valley nostalgia (and grieving) as it is about Adam-12. Adam-12 fortunately preserved a lot of things on film, even if only in passing in many cases. I originally thought the Valley was all mid-century homes with the rare genuinely old home designated an historical landmark. However, I now know many, many 1920s homes line Valley residential streets, and quite a few courtyard apartment (or "garden apartment") complexes from the 1940s are still around. [I've even found some pre-1920s homes, mostly in Van Nuys, and that shocked me!] 

Los Angeles is a city of greedy politicians, greedy developers, and overpopulation, including people who do not grasp what "carrying capacity" is. Thus, single-family homes have been declared the enemy, and the Monster Box has eaten 21st century Los Angeles. I have a fledgling blog about this horror show. On the street Reed turned down, Hortense, Monster Boxes have devoured most everything in their path. This 1948 two-unit complex is holding on, but for how much longer?

Several things happen in this episode "Log 56:Vice Versa," but the woman in the dress that appears to be made of carpet is shooting at an impressive home on Valley Spring Lane -- a home that is no more. I went far down the rabbit hole with the home's society page owners, Mr. & Mrs. John Winn. Then I found Dick Whittinghill! We'll start with the Adam-12 part that preserved the house for the masses. Then I'll share what I learned about the house and the Winns, and later the Whittinghills.

A Mrs. Martha Heath took out the permit in April of 1936 for $4500. She must have planned to live in it herself because she lost her expensive watch in Hollywood and asked it to be returned here.

Imagine inviting strangers to show up nowadays! However, the sales ad (below) sounds like it's brand new. $15,500 is roughly $295K in 2021. 

There is not one single house, not even one that is half burnt down and in a neighborhood with non-stop gunfire, that would list as "low" as $295K in the Valley today. Without going into Bubble Politics, just know the median Valley home price is now an unsustainable $955,000 [reported in mainstream media in July]. That is not a typo. That's just insanity in print. 

The median household (not individual, household) income in the Valley is around $72,000. See the disconnect?  Many homes are purchased by investors and corporations; there is also money laundering, both foreign and domestic. Real estate is a popular place to park ill-gotten gains. Alas!

I am grateful for the production decision to leave the real house address showing!

Mr. and Mrs. John E. Winn (Mrs. Winn's name was Bernice) were the first long-time owners. The Winn Family ladies had quite a few mentions in the local paper. After Mr. Winn's death at only 58, the house was quickly put up for sale. A few of their newspaper appearances, including a photo of the ladies:

Mr. Winn was a member of the Scottish Rite. So was my grandfather in the 40s/50s, oddly enough. Granddad wasn't a Shriner though! If Mr. Winn lived there 23 years, maybe they didn't buy it until 1939?

Mr. Winn must have had good insurance, being a successful insurance broker. By early 1964 Mrs. Winn (Bernice now!) was living in Toluca Lake! Upgrade from that North Hollywood address. He doesn't appear on Findagrave. 

Who bought the house? Dick Whittinghill.

Not sure how long they stayed there, but he is clearly the reason the house ended up on Adam-12, as he himself ended up on two episodes of Adam-12, including season 3, episode 25 "Log 88-Reason to Run." 

Do I have a true crime case at his restaurant? You know it!

Remember in the pilot episode when Art Gilmore played "Lt. Val Wangsgard"? Look who the actual Lt. was on this robbery case at Dick Whittinghill's Restaurant! Clearly they were giving a shout out to a real officer whom they met while making the show. Then he became "Captain Moore."

Not sure what happened with the house between the early 70s and this sale. Quite possibly the Whittinghill family were there the whole time. Dick Whittinghill passed away in January 2001, so I kind of suspect he had lived there since 1963. 

 It survived into the next century, but not for long, as Monsters keep eating LA.

Some helpful soul on imdb gave addresses for the house with the stolen furniture (4288 Elmer) and the ice cream truck drug pushers (4426 Kraft).

Time for another case. A whole house on nearby Elmer has been robbed.

The Elmer house was for sale a couple years after the episode. 

21' living room? 

I liked that they were in an actual house and not on a soundstage.  The Elmer house is walking distance from their last incident (unless you're an Angeleno) two streets east, located one house from the corner of Elmer and Valley Spring. Valley Spring continues east just a generous house lot's distance to the north of the former Winn Family home. 

Notice the corner house as it was then. (Yes, I've backed up in the story to show the original corner house.)

The robbery house has undergone some changes, but the neighbor house isn't even the same house! 11245 Valley Spring Lane was new in 2017. 

And Grandma Walton was one of the burglars.

I know it's a thing to spot the gold Mustang in every scene, but have you noticed how frequently a 55, 56, or 57 Chevrolet gets some screen time? More, please!

Heading back toward Adam-12 Square at Moorpark and Tujunga -- I want to make it happen! 

#Adam-12Square

"Credit Risk" episode shows the big brown apartment complex that took over this corner in 1971. 

Kraft Avenue north of Moorpark has largely (not entirely!) retained its stretch of original Valley houses. Let's look!

Even the homes from the 20s-40s still had their original look on Adam-12, and having walls, fences, and massive amounts of thick greenery to block your home from view was just not the done thing then. Now it's all privacy hedges, gates, walls, and drastic remodeling or tear-down-to-monsterize altogether. Didn't Malloy tell a woman, during a safety check (with "Shaft Alley!" kid) that privacy hedges actually give criminals a place to hide?

At the beginning of this episode, Malloy realized Reed would be driving that day, and boy did he look P.O.'d. That's kind of his default look actually, but it intensified here with Buz 2.0 at the wheel. Then it ends with Reed driving over his hat. Poor Peeved Pete.

I haven't included a single Mac Moment this post, so let's flash back to how their day began.