I was watching an episode and as Adam-12 was backing out of a parking lot to go to a call, something caught my eye so I rewound and paused. I wonder what this odd wire/cable was for. I looks as though they attempted to disguise it and without rewind and pause back in 1974 they got away with it.
The cable looks thick enough to not pass easily under a closed door. Maybe the door got hacked a bit to allow clearance?
I know 'quick and easy' is the rule, but how much more difficult would it have been to pass it thru the firewall thru a body plug? Or even thru the floor?
Good catch! Is this one of those moments 'You know you're getting old when.....'?
I belive it might have wires for high powered lights that were mounted on a jig to cast the wight lighting on our heroes in Adam 12 the had thick wires fom the lights all over the hood during filming
One of the wires may have had to be taped over the fender and run back to the body the used black pieces of tape because it matched the fender and spray painted white over the rest of it to match the door.
Attleboro sloppy but it probably wasn't noticed but man you have a eagle eye sir!You make stuff good enough to be on scree.No one noticed for 53ish years.
I belive it might have wires for high powered lights that were mounted on a jig to cast the wight lighting on our heroes in Adam 12 the had thick wires fom the lights all over the hood during filming
I think it could be something like this. I've read that driving scenes they had a body of car sitting on a trailer that was being pulled through streets.
I had the luxury of rewind and pause unlike viewers way back then
Filmed in the mid 70s and it took until now, almost 50 years later to discover it. I think they did a pretty good job, to tell the truth. Things have come a long way in 50 years of TV show making.
If you do that with every old show, I suspect you will see a lot of stuff that doesn't conform to today's standards. Maybe that is some of the beauty of the old shows, they don't conform to today's standards.
Very cool catch!I think you're Wright something to do with camera maybe microphone,hopefully it's not keeping the bumper own lol
My son and I spotted it also this past Sunday during the second episode when the motorcycle officer Grant went missing. The scene was in a parking lot with Sargent McDonald standing outside Malloy's driver's window but Malloy's partner officer Reed was also heard talking even though he was on the other side or the car. That's why we were guessing it was for a microphone as there was no in car camera work for officer Reed. The camera zoomed out and Malloy backed away out of the lot and there was no evidence of a boom microphone and you couldn't see the front of the Matador so a quick disconnect of the mic is what we figured. Couldn't figure out why they didn't run it down the passenger's side of the car? I'm too busy looking at the other passing cars, the cars parked on the streets and the ones in the parking lots to always keep up with the episode plot. BTW Jack Webb had the car's windshield remove after the first episode for those on trailer or film screen behind the car scenes. And the inside rearview mirror is always moved up as much as possible. Yeah too much time on my hands at the moment
In the very first episode (Season 1, Episode 1) Officer Jim Reed made a mistake the first time in the car and did not use the "A" Adam code in clearing them from the station. He said "this is Unit 1, A12 Clear" and Malloy gave him the look. The scene still had the windshield in, the inside mirror down and the windshield wipers still in place. Nice to know they had a show actually called (by mistake) A12
The car used for Reed and Malloy's close-ups was towed by camera car. The car's windshield showed reflections of the camera and crew, so the car's windshield was removed. However, this led to the wind blowing Reed and Malloy's hair, so a shield was created to enclose the camera and front of the car.
I watch Adam-12 and Emergency! almost every night as they are back to back. Not sure why I pay money to watch re-runs (could have something to do with "current programing"... but anyway on some of the Emergency! episodes the windshield wiper arms on the Dodge truck are black while some episodes are the correct stainless.
I watch Adam-12 and Emergency! almost every night as they are back to back. Not sure why I pay money to watch re-runs (could have something to do with "current programing"... but anyway on some of the Emergency! episodes the windshield wiper arms on the Dodge truck are black while some episodes are the correct stainless.
I haven't noticed that one but I have noticed that sometimes when the view is looking out the windshield from inside their squad 51 it appears it's NOT a bird bath hood.
I watch Adam-12 and Emergency! almost every night as they are back to back. Not sure why I pay money to watch re-runs (could have something to do with "current programing"... but anyway on some of the Emergency! episodes the windshield wiper arms on the Dodge truck are black while some episodes are the correct stainless.
I haven't noticed that one but I have noticed that sometimes when the view is looking out the windshield from inside their squad 51 it appears it's NOT a bird bath hood.
Reflections & glare are a couple things that really mess with filming, even in the lower-res TV (vs. movies) stuff of the time. You'll notice chrome mirrors and such are sprayed with a "dullcote", aimed away, some trim sometimes removed or painted over. Also, different angles & such are edited in during post-production, so sometimes the continuity - small details, the car the actors are in, the background, whatever - suffers. Some details aren't "seen" by the camera, yet some colors film differently than what the eye sees: tan can come across as pink, dark brown as red, it's a bit weird. A bit of time, or a re-shoot, chews up a LOT of production money, so the speed of getting it in the can is paramount. Back then, before CGI, it was all of course basically analog and physical.
I watch Adam-12 and Emergency! almost every night as they are back to back. Not sure why I pay money to watch re-runs (could have something to do with "current programing"... but anyway on some of the Emergency! episodes the windshield wiper arms on the Dodge truck are black while some episodes are the correct stainless.
Too easy........
It looks like the grill detail changed too from time to time. While looking thru images, I saw most trucks had stainless headlight bezels, but some had black bezels.g
So far on Emergency I've spotted a half dozen or more Chargers with one just a few yards from the Station 51 (which in real life was actually Station 127, according to my son). Also one of the film crew must have driven a light blue VW bug as it is lots and lots of scenes, see if you can spot it. AND I wish I would have been smart enough to have invested in VW back then as you can count on average anywhere from 20 to 40+ VW bugs in every episode, and of course that baby blue VW bug from a crew member LOL.
The car used for Reed and Malloy's close-ups was towed by camera car. The car's windshield showed reflections of the camera and crew, so the car's windshield was removed. However, this led to the wind blowing Reed and Malloy's hair, so a shield was created to enclose the camera and front of the car.
The missing-windshield thing is really noticeable on some shows. The Beverly Hillbillies did it, too, with every car in every scene shot on a soundstage. Windshield out, windows down.
Adam-12 reused a lot of B-roll, and I think that may have been a factor in their continuing to use the '69 Belvedere for an extra year instead of a '70--they had a ton of footage with the '68, shot during season 1, and they reused that with the '69. You can see the '68 marker lights in a lot of the drive-by footage.
The car used for Reed and Malloy's close-ups was towed by camera car. The car's windshield showed reflections of the camera and crew, so the car's windshield was removed. However, this led to the wind blowing Reed and Malloy's hair, so a shield was created to enclose the camera and front of the car.
The missing-windshield thing is really noticeable on some shows. The Beverly Hillbillies did it, too, with every car in every scene shot on a soundstage. Windshield out, windows down.
Adam-12 reused a lot of B-roll, and I think that may have been a factor in their continuing to use the '69 Belvedere for an extra year instead of a '70--they had a ton of footage with the '68, shot during season 1, and they reused that with the '69. You can see the '68 marker lights in a lot of the drive-by footage.
Check out the Danny Thomas show where they introduced Andy Taylor for the Andy Griffith show, a '59 Galaxy police car and a T-Bird convertible, no windscreens in either car. Really don't know why they're removed for this show. I do recall that all Andy's police cars seemed to have been sanded to remove the sheen. You'll see in the following video in the first 60 seconds if you're pressed for time.
Awhile back I caught this error in the movie Stripes. Around the 1:15 minute mark Harold Ramis has Bill Murray on the ground. One time Murray's head is on the ground and another time it's on a duffle bag.
You want to see a buttload of mistakes? Check out Starsky & Hutch.
I don't think thay made the slightest effort for continuity. As long as the striped tomato looked good, I guess that's all that mattered.
Saw an episode tonight where they were in a taxi trying to avoid the bad guys. Starsky and the taxi driver were upfront. Hutch and a woman were in the back. Whoever the camera focused on, the interior was a different color behind them! Focus on Starsky, black interior. Focus on the driver, green interior. Focus on Hutch and the woman in back, tan interior. It was funny to watch!
Then, later on with the bad guys closing in, they decide to ditch the taxi at a gas station. Keep in mind, the bad guys were closing in behind them, but when the bad guyscatch up at the station, they come from the opposite direction!
There were more, but those two examples were the most memorable.
I'll have to pay more attention to Starsky and Hutch. I've seen a bunch of them but I like them for seeing the old cars.
Rockford Files, "Gearjammers" episode, part 1: He's being chased by a light green Monte Carlo. When the chase starts the Monte pulls a J turn and throws it's front left wheel cover. When the chase concludes with Rockford spinning his Firebird around and jumping out and pulling his gun on them, the front left wheel cover has miraculously been replaced lol.
One major goof on Adam-12 happened in the episode at the Police Academy driving school. Malloy drives around the track in a '68-'69 Belvedere but the inside shots show a Matador dashboard and interior.
The Blues Brothers 'cop tires and 440 plant' speech looks like it was based on dialogue spoken by Malloy in episode one of Adam 12.
I agree that they had a little motor pool of vehicles that showed up in many episodes of Adam12, Dragnet, and Emergency! I'm into flathead six Plymouths and they had a green '49 Club Coupe that popped up in several episodes.... with the Plymouth name taped-over, of course.
Besides seeing what might be film crew member's cars parked or driving by multiple times in episodes of both Emergency (light blue VW Bug) and Adam 12 like this Mercedes SL there is also something that a few city car drivers used for parallel parking. Can you spot it in the third image?
Besides seeing what might be film crew member's cars parked or driving by multiple times in episodes of both Emergency (light blue VW Bug) and Adam 12 like this Mercedes SL there is also something that a few city car drivers used for parallel parking. Can you spot it in the third image?
Their parking lot at the police station always seemed poorly designed, like an accident was about to happen. They always seemed to synch it so nobody hit each other pulling out though. In one episode they were about to pull out of the lot onto the street and a Purple 1970 Plymouth B body is about to pull into the lot. The Plymouth had to stop half way in its turn while the Police car pulled out into the street.
One major goof on Adam-12 happened in the episode at the Police Academy driving school. Malloy drives around the track in a '68-'69 Belvedere but the inside shots show a Matador dashboard and interior.
The Blues Brothers 'cop tires and 440 plant' speech looks like it was based on dialogue spoken by Malloy in episode one of Adam 12.
I agree that they had a little motor pool of vehicles that showed up in many episodes of Adam12, Dragnet, and Emergency! I'm into flathead six Plymouths and they had a green '49 Club Coupe that popped up in several episodes.... with the Plymouth name taped-over, of course.
Very cool catch!I think you're Wright something to do with camera maybe microphone,hopefully it's not keeping the bumper own lol
My son and I spotted it also this past Sunday during the second episode when the motorcycle officer Grant went missing. The scene was in a parking lot with Sargent McDonald standing outside Malloy's driver's window but Malloy's partner officer Reed was also heard talking even though he was on the other side or the car. That's why we were guessing it was for a microphone as there was no in car camera work for officer Reed. The camera zoomed out and Malloy backed away out of the lot and there was no evidence of a boom microphone and you couldn't see the front of the Matador so a quick disconnect of the mic is what we figured. Couldn't figure out why they didn't run it down the passenger's side of the car? I'm too busy looking at the other passing cars, the cars parked on the streets and the ones in the parking lots to always keep up with the episode plot. BTW Jack Webb had the car's windshield remove after the first episode for those on trailer or film screen behind the car scenes. And the inside rearview mirror is always moved up as much as possible. Yeah too much time on my hands at the moment
Noticed last night that not all of the windshield was removed. I saw the reflection on the outer edge (on the trailer) and looked at the center of the windshield and saw it didn't have reflection. Paused it and then saw the jagged edge of remaining windshield. I guess it was there to catch some reflections and make it look like the entire windshield was still in. Looks a little dangerous but fooled me
Besides seeing what might be film crew member's cars parked or driving by multiple times in episodes of both Emergency (light blue VW Bug) and Adam 12 like this Mercedes SL there is also something that a few city car drivers used for parallel parking. Can you spot it in the third image?
I used to see Mercedes SL's parked around LA like that. The Robinson's Dept store in Beverly Hills used to have a ton of them in the parking lot when we were kids shopping there. Looked like an MB dealership.
That's wild about the windshield! I wonder if the pieces were just plexiglass?
Those sections against the A pillars are super visible sometimes. I always wondered wth. Then read Sgt Friday shortened the windshield at one time also. So there's shortened and there's no windshield with a deflector, according to sources.
The car I see the most in background is that Mustang, 68-ish. Tan with white top. Some shows it's Pete's car. Others it's background car.
Emergency (file footage used often). They pass it on the left but continue straight through the intersection.
So what hood do you think that is? That's not a tin grille truck and really doesn't look like a pre 1972 hood either
What is that? I didn't look closely when the pic was first posted, but going back and looking more closely, the right fender line looks more like a car than anything truck. ANY brand truck in those years had a smooth transition downward, not a hard body line like that..... HMMM. I'm gonna have to find that episode now.
The passing of the blue Charger in the left turn lane is "file footage" and use often in one or two seasons. I see if my son knows which episode and seasons to watch for it.
At least back in the day, the streets were seldom soaking wet but never a drop of water is ever found on a single car, like todays films, or the driver or the motorcyclist never turns the wheel or handlebars while driving or riding, or you hear the lightning at the exact same moment you see the flash (meaning it struck only feet away and therefore should be deafening).
At least back in the day, the streets were seldom soaking wet but never a drop of water is ever found on a single car, like todays films, or the driver or the motorcyclist never turns the wheel or handlebars while driving or riding, or you hear the lightning at the exact same moment you see the flash (meaning it struck only feet away and therefore should be deafening).
Haha true. And as I've talked about before, every car in 70's TV has a Chrysler starter lol.
When down at pops this is one of the shows he watches..Adam 12, Perry Mason, Emergency, Wells Fargo, Death Vally Days, Gunsmoke, Mannix, to name a few. EVERY NIGHT same shows, I know he’s seen each a 100 times or more. While watching A 12 another police car was a 1965 4 door Belvedere black and white, Malloy and other cop were in the the Satellite. Last week Pop was real taken back when I told him Perry Mason was gay. But I love watching the ‘old’ cars, what I grew up with!
That's wild about the windshield! I wonder if the pieces were just plexiglass?
Those sections against the A pillars are super visible sometimes. I always wondered wth. Then read Sgt Friday shortened the windshield at one time also. So there's shortened and there's no windshield with a deflector, according to sources.
The car I see the most in background is that Mustang, 68-ish. Tan with white top. Some shows it's Pete's car. Others it's background car.
Just going by pics of pick up trucks, pics don't show a hard body line on the hood (bad pic? photo washout?) , but when I looked at pics of bigger trucks, namely the D500, the body line detail is clearly there.
So I guess the 'mystery' is solved.
I never claimed to be an expert on these, just having fun.....
In the 1960s, auto companies typically didn’t give a TV series multiple “star cars” to use, so Mannix (and Barris) had to make do with a single 1968 Dart GTS. “Originally it was a red car, and Bruce Geller said that’s too bright, let’s make it a racing car green. I think this car, underneath, still has some red paint on it,” Connors remembered.
Here's proof it was originally red, all one had to do was wait until the hood got opened for the bad guy to drain the brake fluid and cut the "emergency" or parking (your choice ) cable. Looks like a 340 orange engine not the turquoise 383 ('68) engine color. I always thought it was a 383
I saw an Adam 12 (again) last night in which Foster Brooks played a drunk trying to direct traffic on a busy street. I never caught it before but the characters name was "Harry Sachs" LOL.
And sorry I didn't mean to change the subject. Christine is great! My favorite part of the car is the front end; grille, headlight configuration. I can get into the fins too, but that front end
I saw an Adam 12 (again) last night in which Foster Brooks played a drunk trying to direct traffic on a busy street. I never caught it before but the characters name was "Harry Sachs" LOL.
And sorry I didn't mean to change the subject. Christine is great! My favorite part of the car is the front end; grille, headlight configuration. I can get into the fins too, but that front end
Larry you didn't change the subject until you wrote the bold/underlined above All good and I wasn't sure at first it was Foster Brooks, thanks for confirming that. Going through your entire acting career playing a drunk (or actually being drunk?) sure must have been a great time.
I saw an Adam 12 (again) last night in which Foster Brooks played a drunk trying to direct traffic on a busy street. I never caught it before but the characters name was "Harry Sachs" LOL.
And sorry I didn't mean to change the subject. Christine is great! My favorite part of the car is the front end; grille, headlight configuration. I can get into the fins too, but that front end
Larry you didn't change the subject until you wrote the bold/underlined above All good and I wasn't sure at first it was Foster Brooks, thanks for confirming that. Going through your entire acting career playing a drunk (or actually being drunk?) sure must have been a great time.
Mike
Oh geez, I'm a bonehead LOL! I guess I was thinking about another thread!
And yeah, Foster must've enjoyed practicing for that role LOL. I saw him on an old Tonight Show rerun (well they're all old) and he talked about how he didn't get started in "show business" until relatively late in life. 50's I believe.
It must be the no longer supported Adobe flash it's blocking? He needs to update his homepage with html5 if he wants to use animations. Here's what I see:
When down at pops this is one of the shows he watches..Adam 12, Perry Mason, Emergency, Wells Fargo, Death Vally Days, Gunsmoke, Mannix, to name a few. EVERY NIGHT same shows, I know he’s seen each a 100 times or more. While watching A 12 another police car was a 1965 4 door Belvedere black and white, Malloy and other cop were in the the Satellite. Last week Pop was real taken back when I told him Perry Mason was gay. But I love watching the ‘old’ cars, what I grew up with!
Perry Mason was gay? I wonder if it was his idea to title that famous movie he was in "Rear Window"
When down at pops this is one of the shows he watches..Adam 12, Perry Mason, Emergency, Wells Fargo, Death Vally Days, Gunsmoke, Mannix, to name a few. EVERY NIGHT same shows, I know he’s seen each a 100 times or more. While watching A 12 another police car was a 1965 4 door Belvedere black and white, Malloy and other cop were in the the Satellite. Last week Pop was real taken back when I told him Perry Mason was gay. But I love watching the ‘old’ cars, what I grew up with!
Perry Mason was gay? I wonder if it was his idea to title that famous movie he was in "Rear Window"
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