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Originally Posted by Rustifer
I once again refer to that amazing photo (pg. 2063) of the nighttime motorcyclists streaming past Dino's on the Strip. I understand this photo was taken as of 1966, long after the series 77 Sunset Strip had ended (in 1962). But note in the photo that the building next to Dino's that served as the offices of Bailey & Spencer (which was actually a modeling agency in real life) has the iconic front door stretch awning that was the forefront of the beginning of each episode. What the heck was it still doing there? I'm sure it was only put up for the occasional location shots when filming.
Most of Dino's, the drive-through to the parking area (where Kookie dutifully combed his hair and parked the patron's "wheels") and the detectives' office was reproduced on the Warner Bros. lot to avoid the cost of location shooting, so the actual building was never in need of the awning being constantly present. I'm mystified at it's presence in this photo.
I once drove up Miller drive (the cross street off Sunset Blvd at that location) to get the exact perspective of where they filmed the opening credits of the series. Of course, Dino's and the adjacent office were gone by then. I consoled myself by going katty-corner across the street to Mel's Drive In (centerpiece of American Graffiti) to contemplate the days-gone-by while munching on a cheeseburger and lamenting I hadn't been old enough to visit the Strip in its heyday. I was all of 13 when the series ended.
On the other side of Dino's was another bar / restaurant known as the Sea Witch which was occasionally featured in the tv show. Whenever I'm watching the series reruns, I always freeze frame any of those location shots to carefully study the area. I almost always get an added bonus of something like a 1958 Desoto with huge fins in the shot. Bailey and Spenser always drove Ford models, generally of the Thunderbird convertible genre. I was so into the show that I once asked my parents for a snubbed-nose .38 revolver and holster for Christmas just like Stu and Jeff carried, and begged my dad to buy a Thunderbird. Neither happened. Call me crazy, I deserve it.
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Well, I'm likely a bit older than you. I was a huge fan of the show for all your stated reasons not the least of which was Kookie's T bucket (actually Norm Grabowski's car). My friends and I were just coming into our first car owning years and my father operated a grocery store at the corner of Burton Way and Doheny Drive. One of the features of our store was free home delivery and I, of course, grew up in the store and drove (as vacation relief) one of our delivery trucks. I went past Dino's Lodge and the fictional Bailey and Spencer agency often. Not quite daily but several times a week. I always glanced into the driveway hoping to see some filming under way and maybe even a glimpse of the hotrod. In these times we also delivered to the Dean Martin family up on Mountain Drive. My few actual encounters with Mr. Martin were very pleasant, he was a pretty normal guy and seemed to have a nice family. This was in the days of his marriage to Jeannie. Really, really pretty in real life.