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I think that some of the movie ranches belonged to individual studios, while others were rented out to various companies. The first couple of Californian seasons were filmed at Golden Oak Ranch which belonged to Disney. The Valencia Oaks location is about four miles south of Six Flags Magic Mountain near Santa Clarita. Golden Oak Ranch is on the other side of Santa Clarita. Both are roughly 20 miles north of the Warner backlot.

Funny, we watched that same episode a few weeks ago as we were binge watching MSW.

I’ve been watching episodes of Murder, She Wrote for a while, since Angela Lansbury’s passing a couple months ago. Tonight I watched an episode called “Coal Miner’s Slaughter” (a play-on-words, referring to Loretta Lynn’s famous song “Coal Miner’s Daughter”). Anyway, it’s full of famous guest stars, including Denver Pyle...not only that, but he basically plays a version of ‘Uncle Jesse’, as the plot takes place in a small southern, mountain town! But, my real question is...is this the Dukes farm (link below)? It’s shown a few times in the episode (as Denver’s character’s farm, no-less), and I swear it looks like the Dukes farm, but from a backside angle. I hope the link works...I can hardly ever get pics to work on this site. https://share.icloud.com/photos/028d6KcD-pgojBC979fMqVPyA

Blues - Johnny Winter song - Mississippi Blues.

I'm surprised Skipper hasn't chimed in. I'll send him a PM later.

Mississippi (Louisiana woman, Mississippi man....we get together any time we can)

Threads like these are one of many reasons I love the HazzardNet so much. Things always come around that make the DOH feel new again!

You’re probably right...some locations were probably utilized by more than one studio, or filming company. It’s fun to recognize certain locations, from multiple shows or movies. I just found the ‘Duke farm’ very ironic for Denver Pyle...filming there again for something else, but in a sense playing almost the same character!

Awesome...you basically posted my post, several years earlier, lol! I was pretty sure it was the Duke’s farm. Now, I know names of studios...but Im not a total expert on the exact locations. MSW was primarily filmed at Universal Studios. “Dukes” was filmed at Warner Bros. Was the Valencia Oaks Ranch location on or near one of those studios...did both use the location for things? As for the MSW episode, and the interiors of Eben Connor’s (Denver Pyle) farm (aka the Duke farm), I don’t believe they are the same as in “Dukes”. I think they’re other sets created on a sound stage somewhere else. Only exterior, or outside, shots of the farm house & barn are from “Dukes”.

Check out the screengrabs I posted in the Valencia Oaks Movie Ranch thread.

Here is the photo...I think I actually got this one to work! The quality and focus is not great, as I took it with my cell phone directly off the TV screen. But...is this the Duke’s farm? This was shown a few times in the MSW episode I mentioned above, in my original post. It was Denver Pyle’s character’s farm in it, and if it is the set used as the Duke farm, I just found it very ironic & kinda cool. His guest star character was very much like Uncle Jesse...and this was only a little after 3 years since “Dukes” had gone off the air (fall of 1988).

Conway Twitty....remember them playing/singing together?

You got it cuz! Mihi ignosce! ( That's Latin for give to me ignorance....or in English... Excuse Me! LOL!! ) They learned me real good in that there school I done been to!

Well at least you know your ol' inebriated buddy at the car lot will be there! I'll pull up in one of my little red buggies, so that's how you'll know it's me!

I've recently found myself watching the odd episode of 'Murder She Wrote', usually when there's a guest actor I want to see. For some reason, the TV channel that shows them here doesn't seem to show them in order, so it can be a bit hit and miss. The other day I got lucky, because the episode was 'The Coal Miner's Slaughter' (a play on the name of Loretta Lynn's autobiography). The name rang a bell because I'd mentioned it recently in the trivia thread. Loretta Lynn wasn't in it, but country singer and celebrity speed trap victim Hoyt Axton played the Sheriff. Toward the end of the episode I spotted a familiar sight: the Valencia Oaks Duke Farm. Sorry for the slightly blurry grabs - they're from a TV recording and not the usual DVD quality. It's easy to miss because there are only a few long shots, and they're from different angles to the ones used in Dukes. Here it is from the other side. This episode dates from 1988 - about two years after 'Knight Rider' set fire to the place (see above). As you can see, the front has a small fence and is obscured by trees. It's quite possible that the fire damage wasn't repaired, because the rest of the building doesn't look like it's in a great state of repair. Here's Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) approaching the old kitchen door. I didn't recognize any of the interior shots, so I'm not sure if it had been remodeled, or if they were filmed elsewhere. Now for the pièce de résistance of the episode. The building's resident was Eben Connors, played by Denver Pyle. It must've been strange for him going back there three years after Dukes finished. The main picture below shows him walking around the barn. I've inset a better picture of him with his on-screen granddaughter Molly Connors, played by a young Megan Mullally of 'Will & Grace' fame.