And Now This....

Residents of the fair land of Los Angeles received an unexpected and unwanted New Year's present this year when local PBS affiliate KCET severed ties with Public Broadcasting.  Fortunately for us, our friends to the south, KOCE in Orange County, picked up the slack.

KCET is still in their studios at 4376 Sunset Blvd.  But don't blink.

The oldest continually operating * production facility in town started life as  The Lubin Manufacturing Company in 1912.  Through the years it has housed the following companies:  Essanay, Kalem, Monogram, and Allied Artists.

Monogram, amongst other low budget offerings, produced popular series' such as Mr. Wong, The Bowery Boys and Charlie Chan.

Tea time for Boris Karloff in the Monogram Make-up room, 1940

During the Monogram/Allied years the lot was where Gary Cooper, Errol Flynn, Mickey Rooney, Tyrone Power, Tex Ritter, Edward G. Robinson, Dorothy Lamour, Bela Lugosi, Jackie Cooper, Anthony Quinn, Audrey Hepburn, Shelly Winters, Steve McQueen, Orson Welles, Vincent Price, Gina Lollabrigida, David Janssen, Sammy Davis Jr., Jon Hall, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Elvis Presley, Robert Blake and Burt Reynolds punched their time cards.

KCET moved onto the lot in 1970.  The PBS pull-out was announced as a cost cutting move.  I was, in fact, a disaster.  A death knell.  So now in another "cost cutting move", they have just sold the studio lot.

The buyers?...............wait for it......................it should come as no surprise..................... The Church of Scientology.  After all, they own all of the best property in Hollywood.

The Bowery Boys give a well deserved raspberry to the sale.

*This was not the first studio in Hollywood however.  If you want to know about that, well you'll just have to come to town and take my tour