Paramount Studio Water Tank

[flossieskid]

As I mentioned, Paramount Studios had a very large area to erect a superb water tank that they would use, as well as, rent out to other studios. They would relocate the many cars using that area for parking to other places on the lot and then they would basically build up an above ground pool. Paramount already had a pale blue skyline painted about 100 feet wide and around 100 feet high that just sat there for the rest of the year - waiting for the right scene. The pool was built directly in front and with a bit of movie magic, it looks just like a beautiful lake or ocean.

During the Star Trek movie whale rescuing scene, there were large wind machines set up. Then they “watered down” the stars so they wouldn’t freeze when they had to get in the water. It would take much too long and be far too expensive to heat up the massive amount of water being used. Then, of course there was the important attention that needed to be paid not to over-saturate the head of William Shatner so his full head toupee would not slip off!! I think they had 3 huge wind machines on each side of the water and, due to the noise, nobody could hear any action dialogue, so of course they had to dub that in later. It was hours and hours of shooting for, what I remembered, was a fairly short scene.

After completing the scene for the movie, that pool was still up for an extra week or two. Those of us on the studio lot thought maybe there was another Star Trek scene to shoot. But, we found out differently when an inter-studio memo was sent around, that the series, “Cheers” would be doing some night shooting on the water. Fans of that great comedy series will remember that Sam (Ted Danson) asks Diane (Shelley Long) to marry him, while out on a lovely boat, beneath the moonlight on a quiet lake. Her indecision drives Sam crazy! Yes and no - back and forth - goes on until Sam, I think, threatens to toss her overboard. Diane keeps making Sam more angry by the minute and finally, Sam looks crossly at Diane and she decides, rather than risk Sam’s wrath, she jumps overboard herself! Poor Shelley Long and that cold, night water! After that shoot, I never saw the massive pool built again.

I guess now they can create anything these days with computers and the need for the Paramount “ocean” isn’t needed. I left my job on the lot in 1989. When I took some out-of-town family to the on-lot Studio Tour, 2 years ago, there is just another huge office building and electrical station in its place. It was sad to think that part of cinematic history is gone forever. But, because of the miracle of film - it will never be forgotten.

[Kyle]

Great story. I love that scene from “Cheers” and always wondered where they shot it. I never would have guessed a giant pool on the Paramount backlot. Movie magic at work.

[Easton]

Toupee or not toupee!!??

Loved that story. And for you, here is that set:

[flossieskid]

Easton: You are the best!! Thank you SO SO much for the pictures of the Paramount Studio sky AND the water tank. Can I call it a tank if it looks like a pool?!? Anyway, having walked by that area of the lot, every day, for over 4 years (with and without the water) it was absolutely wonderful to see it again! It has been over 30 years. Where do you FIND these things?!? You are amazing!! I bet any movie studio in LA -or anywhere - for that matter would be lucky to have you on their research staff. With your skill in finding things, maybe you can give the Feds a hand in locating Jimmy Hoffa?!?

I thoroughly enjoy all your anecdotes and recollections. But the best part is it seems you really enjoy your searches. That makes them even better. Thanks again for a trip down memory lane!

[Easton]

^ It's no big deal, really. It's just a matter of knowing how search engines work and typing in the best words (keywords).

For this search, I simply typed in 'paramount studios water tank', then clicked on the 'images' link. Anyone who understands search engines can do what I do.

By the way, as many times that I find things that I'm searching for, there are just as many times that I don't.

[flossieskid]

When I looked back on those images you posted Easton, I think the water tank must be more like a 1000’ wide but maybe not as tall. BOY, was I ever off on those measurements!! I guess accuracy is not one of my strong suits. Do you think maybe that is why some of my homemade desserts taste like crap?!?

Someone on the Forum asked me if my Mom ever made cookies like Flossie? The answer is, sadly, no. My mother never baked anything in her life! She attempted cooking, when she was home but often I would cook for my Dad, brother and me. Many times my friends from school would come over during the week and see my Dad sitting on the couch (between jobs) and no Mom at home (she would be working) to offer us milk and cookies! My parents were the only ones in show business, but my friends did not know that meant sporadic work for both of them.

My friends would see my Dad and ask me quietly, “Doesn’t your Dad have a job?” Then, they would see no Mom around and ask, “Are your parents divorced?” Once I got all my friends caught up with how show biz worked, they thought it was cool that our house was the only place they knew in the early 60’s that had a pool! It came with the house.

My Mom was such a bad baker, that before the suggested cooking pan options were shown on the cake mix box, we made the entire batter for a 2 layered cake and put ALL of it in one round pan!! Needless to say, we laughed about that disaster for years! But, I sure wish I had some of those delicious looking cookies Flossie offered to Jim Bob and all the boarders Flossie took care of!! But, then again, they might have been plastic from the prop department and hadn’t seen daylight in decades!

I don’t think I ever saw anyone on Waltons mountain eat one of Flossie’s cookies. Does anyone on the Forum recall if that ever happened in any episode? Something I will keep an eye out for….

[Easton]

You were close with your measurements for the tank. Did you know the tank had a name?

From the Blue Sky Tank website:

Overall Dimensions: 176' x 195' (53.6 x 59.4 metres)

Water Capacity: 914,023 gallons (3,459,953.4 litres)

Depth: 50" tapering to 0" (127 centimetres to 0 centimetres) on the south and west ends

Backdrop: 176' 6" wide by 61' high (53.8 metres by 18.6 metres)

You can take a rather useless virtual tour at the website link above, but navigation is terrible and I can't find a way to get to the water tank. All you can tour is an empty parking lot. Trust me, it's not worth your time. Shame on Paramount.

[flossieskid]

Wow! Sure wouldn’t think that my first guesstimate, Easton, was MUCH closer than my second on the size of Paramount’s water tank. I did follow your prompts and saw the virtual tour, as well. Of course, Universal, Paramount and Warner Brothers (where they filmed The Waltons) have paying tours, so of course they won’t want to divulge too much on a free virtual tour.

The only tour I haven’t taken is the Warner Bros. one, believe it or not. But, I spent a lot of time there, obviously, where Mom was filming her many scenes as Flossie. I’ve worked on the Universal Tours, then had a 4 year job at The Hollywood Entertainment Museum on Paramount’s lot. It was a start-up project but, ultimately, it failed as a museum. It was open for a short while on Hollywood Blvd. just down the street from the famous Grauman’s Theater with all the hand and footprints of the movie stars. The Museum had only 2 things of great interest: the actual bar used on “Cheers”, which was filmed at Paramount and the other interesting prop was 2 Transportation “Pods” from Star Trek, the Voyage Home. Sadly, in my mind, the museum was such a “total snooze fest!

Debbie Reynolds had her INCREDIBLE treasure trove of thousands of costumes and Hollywood Memorabilia used in classic and popular movies that she bought and paid for all on her own for years, was meant to also be placed in our museum, but our Executive Director let it slip through our fingers and, due to poor attendance, the museum failed.

There is another “Hollywood Entertainment Museum” in Hollywood, currently, but I think it was built by the Max Factor Family. But, The Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences (the folks that run The Oscars) has been working on an amazing, beautiful museum which, after years of construction, will finally open this September I believe - a year late, due to the pandemic. I sure hope The Waltons and the legacy it left behind for so many devoted fans will be given its proper due.

I don’t know if they are having a docent program for volunteers to give guided tours, but if they do, I think it might be fun to talk to visitors about the magic of movies and TV shows! Sadly, two things may prevent my exploration of this possible position: One - the unbearable TRAFFIC I would encounter every single time to and from the location which is in the heart of downtown LA and 2nd, as my participation on this Forum has illustrated, I might have a hard time “staying on script”
and not going off on long-winded tangents! I have already bought a membership for my daughter and me and I’ll keep The Forum up to date on that museum’s development and program content.

[Easton]

I've seen the traffic in LA (especially the freeways), but how is the parking? Is it all lots and garages? Curb-side parking?

You spoke of Star Trek and Grauman's. The Star Trek cast signed their named in a block of cement there, but did you know that one of the cast members spelt their name wrong? Here's the block with Walter Koenig signing his name:

It was none other than our favourite doctor, Deforest 'Bones' Kelley, who goofed. He left out the 's' in 'Deforest'. I believe it was Nichelle Nichols who noticed it and Deforest had to scratch in an 's' between the 'e' and 't'. Look carefully and you can see it squeezed in:

A bit more Star Trek trivia. You probably know that James 'Scotty' Doohan was Canadian and his Scottish accent was fake, but did you know he was also missing the middle finger on his right hand? It was shot off during WWII. He hid it well on the show but it's visible at times if you look for it. Apparently, Jimmy's biggest regret was that he couldn't do the Vulcan salute.

One more Star Trek/The Waltons link. Celia Lovsky, who played T'Pau in Star Trek's 'Amok Time', played the gypsy woman, Zena in The Waltons 'The Gypsies'. In Amok Time, Celia was acting in her capacity as a priestess and had to greet Spock with the Vulcan salute, but she couldn't do it. Celia is seated in the scene with her hands in her lap. The scene is filmed from her chest up. Below the camera frame, Celia's left hand is holding the fingers of her right hand in the famous 'V' salute. At the proper moment, Celia releases her right hand and raises it into the camera's frame already in the salute position.

Leonard Nimoy not only created the Vulcan salute (Hebrew hand symbol for the letter 'Shin'), but the Vulcan nerve pinch as well. As a pacifist race of people, Nimoy convinced the director that the Vulcans would have a non-violent, physiological way of incapacitating an enemy. In 'The Enemy Within', Spock was directed to knock out Captain Kirk's duplicate, but the directer didn't understand his intentions. William Shatner did. In the scene, Nimoy snuck up behind Shatner, place his fingers on Shatner's neck, and, in typical William Shatner fashion, Shatner fell to the ground. The pinch became known in future scripts as the FSNP (Famous Spock Nerve Pinch).

I have so much useless trivia in my head that there isn't enough room left for me to remember what today is.

[carol]

Jul 22, 2021 22:54:17 GMT -5 flossieskid said:

When I looked back on those images you posted Easton, I think the water tank must be more like a 1000’ wide but maybe not as tall. BOY, was I ever off on those measurements!! I guess accuracy is not one of my strong suits. Do you think maybe that is why some of my homemade desserts taste like crap?!?

Someone on the Forum asked me if my Mom ever made cookies like Flossie? The answer is, sadly, no. My mother never baked anything in her life! She attempted cooking, when she was home but often I would cook for my Dad, brother and me. Many times my friends from school would come over during the week and see my Dad sitting on the couch (between jobs) and no Mom at home (she would be working) to offer us milk and cookies! My parents were the only ones in show business, but my friends did not know that meant sporadic work for both of them.

My friends would see my Dad and ask me quietly, “Doesn’t your Dad have a job?” Then, they would see no Mom around and ask, “Are your parents divorced?” Once I got all my friends caught up with how show biz worked, they thought it was cool that our house was the only place they knew in the early 60’s that had a pool! It came with the house.

My Mom was such a bad baker, that before the suggested cooking pan options were shown on the cake mix box, we made the entire batter for a 2 layered cake and put ALL of it in one round pan!! Needless to say, we laughed about that disaster for years! But, I sure wish I had some of those delicious looking cookies Flossie offered to Jim Bob and all the boarders Flossie took care of!! But, then again, they might have been plastic from the prop department and hadn’t seen daylight in decades!

I don’t think I ever saw anyone on Waltons mountain eat one of Flossie’s cookies. Does anyone on the Forum recall if that ever happened in any episode? Something I will keep an eye out for….

Kami and Judy have both said that because of the amount of angles and shots involved in filming every scene that when food was involved in a scene they made it a point to eat as little as possible. That may be why the actors were rarely if ever seen eating a Mrs. Brimmer's cookies

[patriciaanne]

So fascinating! Loved the story about the water tank. Don't feel bad, flossieskid. My mom didn't work and she still didn't bake.

When I joined the Girl Scouts, we finally made brownies from a mix, and I thought that was amazing! 😄 My mother wasn't really much for cooking. We ate well, certainly, but it was all pretty basic stuff. Very little home made stuff -- sauce from a jar and that kind of thing.

I cook very differently in my home. All fresh veggies, home made Italian gravy. I even have a veggie garden, and right now we are harvesting some beautiful summer squash.

I try to use as few processed foods as possible. And I've been known to bake. I enjoy baking bread and biscuits, along with a few sweets like cheesecake and chocolate chip cookies, cupcakes, etc. Many years ago I used to love making Christmas sugar cookies and decorating them in the most intricate designs -- like hand painting stained glass windows on the church (with food coloring gel of course). These days I don't seem to have much time to do those.

The baking is taking a rest at the moment as I'm working very hard to get some weight off. Oh well!