Webster Mansion

This Victorian House located at 1432 North State Parkway in Chicago's Gold Coast was truly beautiful.  I always loved the show Webster and Flat and I were very delighted to find that this landmark was here in Chicago.

Webster is an American situation comedy that aired on ABC from September 16, 1983 until May 8, 1987, and in first-run syndication from September 21, 1987 until March 10, 1989. The series was created by Stu Silver. The show, set in Chicago, revolves around Webster Long (Emmanuel Lewis), a 5-year-old African American orphan whose biological parents, Travis and Gert Long, were recently killed in a car accident. He is taken in by his godfather, retired football star George Papadopoulos (Alex Karras), with whom Travis had played professional football in the 1970s, and his wife Katherine (Susan Clark), an upper crust socialite with zero housekeeping skills. Hard to believe all this took place in the house above.

Newton Minnow "Vast Wasteland"

 Minow's first major speech after he was appointed chairman of the FCC by President John F Kennedy. In the speech, Minow referred to American commercial television programming as a "vast wasteland" and advocated for programming in the public interest. (Wikipidea)  Flat is hangin in there, but getting tired.

Nielsen Building @ 200 W. Jackson

Television and the way we watch it have come a long way since Nielsen began measuring TV audiences in 1950. Today, the ability to watch our favorite shows at any time and on multiple devices amplifies the need for exceptionally adept and flexible audience measurement capabilities.  I live about three blocks from here so this came as a big surprise to find I was near this piece of history

Old Playboy Mansion

 

 

Located at 1340 North State Parkway this 70 room brick & limestone residence was built in 1899. It was interesting to find that Playboy was here in Chicago.  I never knew that.  Talk about a Landmark!!!!

In 2007, the Mansion appeared in an episode of the sixth season of The Apprentice as the site of a pool party held for the winning team.  This site also served as the starting line for the twelfth season of The Amazing Race.

Flat and I @ The Blackstone Hotel

Among downtown Chicago hotels, the Renaissance Blackstone stands out as one of the finest, most elegant historic hotels. Located on Michigan Avenue and 3 blocks from Lake Michigan, our distinguished guests find themselves in the most convenient location for visiting Chicago's celebrated sights. The Chicago Institute of Art, Navy Pier, Millennium Park, Shedd Aquarium, and the Field Museum are all within minutes of our Chicago hotel.

I forgot to mention that In addition to its celebrity guests and its contributions to political parlance, the Blackstone has a place in popular culture. Among its uses in cinema, it hosted the banquet where Al Capone smashes a guest's head with a baseball bat in the Brian De Palma film The Untouchables, a party in The Hudsucker Proxy, and Tom Cruise's pre-pool tourney stay in The Color of Money.[26][29] Also, the 1996–2000 television series Early Edition was set in this building, featuring a man who lives in the hotel and receives the newspaper a day in advance.[24] During the 1980s and 1990s, the hotel was the home of Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase, the premiere Chicago host of international jazz stars including Ahmad Jamal, Dizzy Gillespie, Jay McShann, and Johnny Griffin, to name only a very few. (Wikipedia)

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Flat Sarnoff and Flat Farnsworth Do Chicago: The Nieslen Building

Flat Sarnoff and Flat Farnsworth Do Chicago: The Nieslen Building: The Nielsen Building in Chicago is located just a few blocks from Downtown DePaul at 200 W. Jackson Boulevard. Flat Sarnoff and I took...

Dr. Kessler does Milwaukee 1970s sitcom style

Just so you don't think I wasn't thinking about you on my February daycation, here is evidence of my inability to put class out of my mind on a trip.  While visiting Milwaukee I dragged my partner (who is graciously taking the pictures) to various Garry Marhall sites to feed my love of 1970s TV.  The top picture shows the original sources.  Top left - Happy Days' The Fonz, who we know was the coolest dude in 1970s TV and totally jumped a shark. I, for one, was very proud of my Fonzie tube socks in grade school.  Next to the Fonz are Laverne and Shirley working diligently on the bottling line at Shotz Brewery.  Bottom right is Milwaukee's City Hall as shown in the opening credits of the show and bottom left is L & S sitting on their stoop. Have I mentioned how much I love Laverne and Shirley? 

 Here we have my trip.  Top left is The Bronze Fonz, an "art" piece on display in Milwaukee. Apparently it created quite a flap, as the art community thought it was a hunk of junk and wanted none of it. I, for one, think it's amazing and hilarious.  Both Flat Sarnoff and Flat Farnsworth were really glad to touch base with the Fonz and take some cool tips.  Top right - That's me inside part of the Pabst empire on an awful "tour."  That said, the windows you can see behind me belonged to the brewery used for the opening credits of Laverne and Shirley.  The boys weren't with me. They were at the bar having a Pabst.  Bottom right - Flat Sarnoff and I hang down the street from City Hall. We were sad that the "Welcome to Milwaukee" sign no longer exists.  Bottom left - Flat Farnsworth and I stand on Knapp Street, about a half a block away from Laverne and Shirley's fictional apartment at 780 Knapp Street.  It was a whirwind tour, but in the words of Laverne and Shirley: "Give us any chance we'll take it. Read us any rule we'll break it."

Anyway, it was a pretty cool trip. All trips are made better with a touch of television.