Sarnoff and Serena take on Chicago

Here is me and my David Sarnoff flat celebrating my birthday (in case you are wondering why I have a small tiara on).  If you look closely, you might be able to see the party hat Sarnoff is wearing.  

Love and Marriage, Love and Marriage... who doesn't think of the show Married with Children, when seeing the Buckingham Fountain?  I know I do.  Buckingham Fountain was used in the opening credits of Married with Children, which was broadcast on Fox from 1987-1997.  The Buckingham Fountain is one of Chicago's biggest tourist attractions.  

Sarnoff and I made a stop outside of the Billy Goat Tavern, the location that was parodied by John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, and Bill Murray on Saturday Night Live.  According to the http://www.billygoattavern.com/legend/snl/ Belushi and Murray knew of the Billy Goat from their days with Second City, which is a comedy club, theatre, and improv school located right here in Chicago.  You can visit the website I provided to see a clip of the famous skit.  

Here, Sarnoff and I are outside of The Renaissance Blackstone Chicago Hotel building, which has been used as a filming location for many movies and the television show Early Edition.  The main character of the show, Gary Hobson lived in the hotel during the first season.  All four seasons of the show were filmed in the Chicago area before it was cancelled by CBS in 2000.

I have walked by this corner downtown hundreds of times but I never really paid attention to the Honorary street signs.  The northeast corner of Dearborn and Monroe is dedicated to Newton N. Minow.  He held the Federal Communications Commissions Chair during the Kennedy era and made major contributions to television including the Educational Televisions Facilities Act of 1962, which established federal aid to public broadcasting.

Fun Fact: The boat in Gilligan's Island, the S.S. Minnow was named after Newton N. Minnow because the producer believed that Minow had ruined television.

Here is Sarnoff and me at the Nielson Building located at 200 W Jackson Blvd.  We've all heard of Nielsen Ratings and how it is used to measure the audience of a television show.  The Nielsen Ratings of a show, particularly in the demographic age range of 18-49 is especially important to advertising companies.  

 

This is Sarnoff and me (and my daughter in the purple there) in front of the Original Playboy Mansion, which is located in Chicago's Gold Coast.  This beautiful mansion was the original home of Playboy magazine creator and host of Playboy's Penthouse variety show, Hugh Hefner.  The Playboy Playmates show, which was broadcast from 1959-1961, was used as tool to spread interest of the Playboy magazine by reaching a broader audience.

Right down the street from the Playboy Mansion, is the home used in the show Webster.  Webster had a similar premise to the show Different Strokes.  A wealthy white family adopts a little black boy.  Although the show is based to have happened in Chicago, shots of the exterior of this home for instance were used, but the filming took place in California.  

I really liked exploring Chicago with my Sarnoff flat.  I'm sure that flat of Philo Farnsworth is crazy with jealousy that I didn't chose him.  If I were to include any additional locations, not already on the list, it would have been Gibson's Bar and Steakhouse on Rush St. and the firehouse located at 1360 S Blue Island Ave.  The exterior of Gibson's is used in the FX show The League as character's main hangout and the firehouse is used by the show Chicago Fire films ALL THE TIME.  I have rarely watched that show but I drive past that location a lot and the film crew is there frequently.  

Thanks for following Sarnoff and me on our little adventure.
Serena