Adam-12 Patrol Lankershim and Otsego 1968

 Adam-12 at Lankershim and Otsego in 1968. Nice shot of the Orange Julius and Earll Floor Co. Carpets on the southeast side of the street. The west side of Lankershim has been demolished and rebuilt as a Monsterbox nightmare. 

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. 

Enter the Dragon and Meet Pete's Stalker: Ahna Capri

Before Ahna Capri was in Enter the Dragon with Bruce Lee, she was Pete Malloy's stalker in "Log 172: The Things You Do for the Job."

Ms. Capri's home movies from "Enter the Dragon" plus her narration on Youtube.

Back to 1969

This is the one where Pete kills a woman and gets away with it. Then he goes back to being a model officer, like nothing ever happened. That's my read-between-the-lines take. If you prefer, he showed up for their date in his Dad Clothes and that turned her right off.

Or maybe he was loud, rude, and puked on her shoes. Maybe she realized it was only the uniform that got her interested in the first place. Either way, he gets rid of her, and this was an insult-your-intelligence kind of episode. 

But we've got actors and locations! 

Opening credits naming who's largely to blame here (but someone higher up had to greenlight it):

The church website at the moment.

Pete is about to find out what happens when you leave North Hollywood. Never veer off Lankershim. Silver Lake isn't your Happy Place. Maybe this experience will learn ya something, Freckles.

Adam-12 patrol the Silver Lake Reservoir loop.  And appear to be driving on the wrong side of the street (!?) in their pursuit of Ms. Capri, "Penny Lang."

Haha, I just got it. Penny Lane. Penny Lang. Was that the joke?

5150

I am not sure when the 5150 Hold began. Was it in use by 1969? A police officer can take you to the hospital for a mental evaluation, and you have to stay up to 72 hours. Not sure if you have to be a danger to yourself for that to happen. Otherwise, a RESTRAINING ORDER might have been the way to go here. Celebrity stalking laws didn't even get started in California until 1990. 

Tip for Malloy: "I already have a girlfriend. I'm engaged. I'm married." Did none of those occur to you?

In a case like this, you need some support from your Brother Officers. Of course, you get NONE.

Instead, a spoiled little rich girl's incessant pursuit of Pete results in him being laughed at by Brother Officers, scolded by his superior, and the assumption made that she's his girlfriend. Telling her off only makes her more determined. And so it unfurls:

It's a real book:

And you're thinking, "I'm so disappointed in this man. Why did he go all spineless? Tell her OFF. The law is on his side. She's harassing an officer. Have her arrested for nuisance calls. Put an END to this, Pete!" But no. Pete gives in. Or does he?

Next day Reed has to pry it out of him.

Apparently Anna's name, being European, was always pronounced "AH" like "open wide and say ahhh," but it kept getting Americanized to rhyme with "can," so she put the H in to correct people. Even though she was not a child actor at this point, she was a child actor once. 

Sadly, Ms. Capri died in 2010 after being in a coma following a horrific crash in, yes, North Hollywood.

Her Hollywood Reporter obituary is archived here.

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