2017 Scarecrow and Mrs. King Reunion
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Friday, May 28, 2017
I wouldn’t say I’m an unlucky person, but I am most certainly not a lucky person by any means. You know those people that always get their raffle ticket chosen or wins money at the casino? But everything started going my way last Monday (4/24/17) when I received a message from David Johnson asking me if I’d ever met Bruce Boxleitner before. When I replied I hadn’t, he responded “Good . . . How would you like to work with him at his table?” Uh, are you serious?! Did this just happen? Not only was I going to be touring the Warner Brother’s Ranch where a lot of my absolute favorite show was filmed, meeting and getting autographs of the actors from said show, but now I would be assisting the man, the myth, the legend that is Bruce Boxleitner? It was too much.
To say I got little sleep that week would be an understatement. Luckily, I kept myself busy designing some really fun posters that I was planning to bring to the event for myself and a few friends.
To say I got little sleep that week would be an understatement. Luckily, I kept myself busy designing some really fun posters that I was planning to bring to the event for myself and a few friends.
Finally, the posters were done (the last one came down to the wire, actually needing to be ordered online to be printed/picked up in LA the next day.) Friday arrived and while my flight was uneventful, it was about an hour behind schedule. Not a big deal, except that the other 4 ladies I was meeting at the airport and that were counting on me for a ride to the Ranch tour were waiting on me. Luckily, their flights were also delayed. We all arrived in LA safe and sound and met up relatively easily at the airport and made our way to pick up the rental car.
After a quick lunch and picking up the posters, we were on our way to the Warner Brother’s Ranch. Unfortunately, LA traffic had other plans for us. It took more than 2 hours to get there. Luckily, we had Miranda at the wheel and me yelling to her “It’s just yellowish-red – FLOOR IT!” Let’s just say Mario Andretti has nothing on her! We arrived at the Ranch, seven minutes late. ☹ But we arrived alive! Kudos to Miranda for keeping her cool. Our sincere apologies to those attendees that were waiting on us.
After a quick lunch and picking up the posters, we were on our way to the Warner Brother’s Ranch. Unfortunately, LA traffic had other plans for us. It took more than 2 hours to get there. Luckily, we had Miranda at the wheel and me yelling to her “It’s just yellowish-red – FLOOR IT!” Let’s just say Mario Andretti has nothing on her! We arrived at the Ranch, seven minutes late. ☹ But we arrived alive! Kudos to Miranda for keeping her cool. Our sincere apologies to those attendees that were waiting on us.
Walking through Gate 11, we were surrounded by fellow SMKers and a few special guests. David immediately introduced the five of us to Greg Morton (Jamie King) and his wife Sandra and Dennis Duckwall (SMK Producer/Director). They were all super friendly and put us at ease immediately. Several long-time SMKers came up to me and gave me hugs – while we hadn’t met in person, we had chatted online for years. We introduced ourselves to everyone and waited for security to check us all in. They take security very seriously at the Ranch. I was expecting Mrs. Marston to be there with her AK-47.
Our first stop was very important – the bathroom. Lots of women, very few men. Need I say more? Greg heard me comment on how typical it was that the women’s bathroom had a line out the door and the men’s room was virtually a ghost town. So he yelled “Hang on!” and ran up the ramp to stand in front of the men’s room as if he was standing guard. At that point, I think one of the ladies ran into the men’s room only to find it was still occupied. Oops!
Amazingly, our first real stop was sliding through the back fence of Amanda’s house! It was kind of cool to be lurking in the backyard like Lee Stetson always did. There weren't any of Dotty's roses to crush, so I think we did okay.
We walked around the house to the front entrance and noticed right away that they had made some major changes to it. It was the same, but different.
We walked through the house and you could hear several of us commenting how run down the house was and how much different it was than was expected.
I commented to Greg Morton that he and Paul's picture was scene in the Lethal Weapon 2 movie -- on Murtaugh's mantel. He said "Oh yeah! I have it listed on my resume that I was in the Lethal Weapon movie!" He winked.
I commented to Greg Morton that he and Paul's picture was scene in the Lethal Weapon 2 movie -- on Murtaugh's mantel. He said "Oh yeah! I have it listed on my resume that I was in the Lethal Weapon movie!" He winked.
We moved around to the other side of the house and took photos of where they shot the Stemwinder/bedroom window shot “It’s them, it’s Scarecrow and Mrs. King!” moment.
We learned that the chimney, that looked as if it was made of brick, was in fact only wallpaper made to look like brick. The magic of television!
We learned that the chimney, that looked as if it was made of brick, was in fact only wallpaper made to look like brick. The magic of television!
We saw several houses used in SMK – The Morton’s house was just to the right of Amanda’s – who knew she only had to walk the buffalo head next door in There Goes the Neighborhood?
Next, we moved down the street to the Bewitched house and saw how tiny the inside was, simply a shell of a house. We learned that the house that was used as the elementary school in Always Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth and the embassy in The Wrong Way Home was replaced by more similar style homes in the neighborhood. We even saw Betty Bodine’s house from There Goes the Neighborhood.
As we came around the corner, we saw the house used in three separate episodes, first it was used as the funeral home in Playing Possum, then we saw it in passing in Spiderweb as Lee, Amanda, Billy and Francine are walking down the street, and finally it was Addi Birol’s hideout in Night Crawler.
We were told it was the oldest building on the lot and it was FABULOUS! It was really big and empty inside – lots of old style barber chairs and such strewn about.
We were told it was the oldest building on the lot and it was FABULOUS! It was really big and empty inside – lots of old style barber chairs and such strewn about.
Coming out of Addi’s house we saw the fountain used in the intro to Friends and apparently on Wonder Woman. It was great timing because the sun was starting to heat things up so the nice cold spritz of water that we caught from the breeze was perfect. Just ask Miranda (seen in photo to the left enjoying said
fountain!)
fountain!)
Just beyond the life-saving fountain we could see a line of buildings that were used in several episodes of SMK. Starting with the end unit (far left - just down the street from Amanda’s house), which was the Vanderhoosen’s hideout in Stemwinder II, then next to it, Diane Prince’s apartment from Wonder Woman, the fourth building was used as Harry V. Thornton’s apartment in Tail of the Dancing Weasel and the street itself was used in A Lovely Little Affair, yes the street where Alan kisses Amanda as they walk after dinner. Then at the end of the row of buildings, we found the building used in Life of the Party.
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We made our way back around to Amanda’s house and took lots of photos and checked out the HUGE pool across the street from Amanda’s – the very pool that was used in A Lovely Little Affair. David Johnson explained that they put up a fence so that we wouldn’t see Amanda’s house when they were filming. Be sure to check out the café scene when Amanda meets Alan for breakfast. The lovely tour guides opened up the underground pool viewing area so we could see how film crews used it to film underwater scenes. It was very dark and humid and . . . spidery! ICK! But cool to see. Worth the creepy trip down the stairs.
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When we wrapped up the tour, we thanked our tour guides and exited security. Mike Pingel (friend to Kate Jackson) gathered us around and told us how sorry Kate was that she couldn’t join us but that she appreciated our support throughout the years and then Mike handed out autographed photos of Kate and Bruce from SMK, where she had written very sweet messages for all of the attendees earlier that afternoon. While it would have been amazing to have Kate there in the flesh, it was super sweet of her to send them with Mike. Everyone loved them! I'm pretty sure I saw all of them getting signed by Bruce later in the weekend.
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I had asked Mike if we could give him a gift that Sheila and I had for Kate so that he could get it to her and he very kindly agreed. He followed us to our vehicle and we gave him the card, posters and gift we had brought with us in the hopes to give it to him. Our group stood there talking with Mike for about an hour after the tour. Eating up all the wonderful stories he shared with us. Like when he realized how crazy it was that he was in the same room with not only Farrah Fawcett, but Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson all at the same time! He took a pic of us so he could show Kate and then gave us each a couple of books that Kate had given him to donate when she was cleaning out her house. Don’t worry, he’ll donate them . . . but just a few were donated to major Kate fans that will treasure them always! Thank you, MIKE! You're the best!
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After our amazing tour at WB and our chat with Mike, we headed over to 4247 Warner Blvd to see Amanda’s S1 & S2 house.
After snapping several pics, the homeowners must have noticed us out in front of their house and turned on their porch lights. 😊 Apparently they're used to SMK fans stopping by for photo ops. Once we were done we headed to our hotel to check in and grab dinner. Mike Pingel joined us for a drink and of course, I just had to buy him a drink – it was the very least I could do! We had great food and even better company. Up to this point, I’ve been up for nearly 24-hours and have had one of the best days ever. Click below for Part 2. |
