Stately Wayne Manor has BURNED DOWN
 

This is just sad...

Holy inferno, Batman; where do we park the Batmobile now?

Actually, not to worry. It seems reports that this was the one used for hte TV series aren't true. That one is down the steet. This one was used in "at least one Batman movie", but not he TV series.

link

Uh-oh. Coincidence? I think not! Better start stocking up on tuna nets lest they expand their reign of terror!

I've been there and seen both houses (sort of, see below). The one that was misidentified as Wayne Manor has been in a bunch of movies and one of the batman films. It was the home to Rocky Balboa in "Rocky 3". People frequently mistake it for the one from the series, which is down a block or so and not viewable from the street.

Other houses on this particular street include the "Father of the Bride" house (from the remake) and the Governor's Mansion on the 70's series "Benson". Around the corner is the original "Dennis the Menace" house. Lots of filming sites in this area.


As an aside, long before we had annual passes, I used to be very fond of finding filming locations. I suppose it comes from being a history buff. Coming from the east coast where history is everywhere to here left a little to be desired. There is, however, a wonderful film history in this area and it's pretty interesting. One weekend, we set out to find the steps that Laurel and Hardy moved the piano up in the classic film "The Piano". We found it hidden in a little community and it hasn't changed much. We also found the street with the staircase from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and that was nifty as well.

Anyway, it's just another one of those geeky things that I'm into. :)

I've always thought it would be interesting to try Film Archeology. Look for sites where they crashed a car over a cliff and look for broken parts, find a lake where a prop gun was tossed in and scuba for it, etc... I'll bet there are lots of bits and pieces that never get cleaned up after a shoot.

Hard to say. In a lot of scenes like you describe, they will film the close up shots at one of the studio backlots. Still, I would imagine that there is a lot of debris that still lies around some areas where they did location shooting. There is a place near Malibu that they filmed most of the outdoor scenes to "M.A.S.H.". I wonder if there is an I.V. bag or something still lying around somewhere. Likewise, there is a mock western town that was used for Bonanza and Gunsmoke. Must be a spur or bullet or something in the dirt.

Some of the more infamous places have probably been combed over pretty good. I know that the Spahn Ranch where Manson and his friends spent a lot of time used to have a major problem with people wandering the grounds looking for suveniers.

Didn't THAT go up in flames a few years back?

Hmm, after doing a little research, this is the town I was thinking of. There is mention of a fire in the 50's but nothing recently. This is where gunsmoke was filmed. Bonanza however, was filmed near Lake Tahoe. It would appear that it is intact as well.

Having said that, I do remember a story about a fire in the last couple of years. Can't seem to find where it was though.

I know some ranch in the Simi hills where some TV show was filmed burned recently. Hmmm...

I've been googling for a while and can't find any reference but I know I remember it too. Strange.