Valencia Oaks Movie Ranch

[Roth Potter]

Today I was listening to the latest episode of The Kibbe and Finnegan Show[/url] where @CornDog was discussing with @rnkibbe about filming locations. Most things like from Valencia Oaks I already knew from this thread and such. But there were a few things I heard which I thought was worth sharing.

Anyone ever watched the TV show 'Growing Pains'? I have never seen the episode nor had they, but apparently there is a scene where the actor Kirk Cameron is jumping and/or dancing on top of some cars. In the background of the shot are a few or rows of General Lees. This show started in 1985, so it is possible that this was either filmed at Valencia Oaks or the WB backlot. This must be after the Dukes was stopped being on TV. At Valencia oaks were still loads of cars from the show, at the time. If someone has the ability to post screencaps of this. I'd higly appreciate it.

 

During filming of Nothing but Trouble 1991, loads of Chargers were still on the ranch! Apparently there are pictures of the General Lee's from 1991 with the Nothing but Trouble mansion in the background. CornDog either owns or has seen these. However their not meant to be published so can't be found on the internet.

After the show they just left loads of General Lee's and Chargers meant to be converted right on the lot. In some shows after, you can see chargers being used. these were probably pulled from the ranch and most often trashed. However the few which survived were sometimes put back.

For a movie called The Gladiator (1986), they plucked a General Lee from the field, made it blue and put a vinyl top over it. This car survived and was put back. The vinyl roof was put straight over the original orange roof with General Lee decals still on it.

from the shows end to 1991, when the remaining chargers were sold off, they stayed in that same spot. During filming of the Knight Rider, Murder She Wrote and all other shows/movies, these cars were still there. Must've been strange for David Hasselhoff (who was probably being used seeing a few KITTs parked) and the like seeing a field full of General Lee's.

This last thing is not necessarily just Valencia Oaks related, but I thought I'd put it in here as well. The dukes Farm and Boars Next were transported around to each filming location, so the next time you see the Farm in the first California episode, you can be sure it is the same farm as the one you see in the last one.

We know WB had to move to Valencia Oaks due to the Lake Sherwood area being developed. But why did they move from Disney's Golden Oaks to Lake Sherwood? Not simply because they then had their own big space to do everything. But apparently they were basically thrown out of Golden Oaks because they were tearing through the grass and hitting tree's with the cars often.

Edited July 17, 2018 by Roth Potter
No BBcode :(

[HossC]

4 hours ago, Roth Potter said:

Anyone ever watched the TV show 'Growing Pains'? I have never seen the episode nor had they, but apparently there is a scene where the actor Kirk Cameron is jumping and/or dancing on top of some cars. In the background of the shot are a few or rows of General Lees. This show started in 1985, so it is possible that this was either filmed at Valencia Oaks or the WB backlot. This must be after the Dukes was stopped being on TV. At Valencia oaks were still loads of cars from the show, at the time. If someone has the ability to post screencaps of this. I'd higly appreciate it.

I've heard of the show, but never watched it. IMDb lists 167 episodes (7 seasons), and Kirk Cameron was in every one. Is there any way we can narrow our search?

[Roth Potter]

I heard of the show, but have no clue what it's really about.

From what I can gather, the Chargers were there until somewhere in 1991. Growing Pains ran until 1992 according to IMDB. So if this scene was recorded at Valencia Oaks, I guess you can take away the final season. Its not much of a narrower search, but I guess it's something.

It seems that in Europe you can get Season 1 and 2, but that's it. I might look into buying that if no-one else has a clue about this.

[RogerDuke]

8 hours ago, Roth Potter said:

Today I was listening to the latest episode of The Kibbe and Finnegan Show[/url] where @CornDog was discussing with @rnkibbe about filming locations. Most things like from Valencia Oaks I already knew from this thread and such. But there were a few things I heard which I thought was worth sharing.

Anyone ever watched the TV show 'Growing Pains'? I have never seen the episode nor had they, but apparently there is a scene where the actor Kirk Cameron is jumping and/or dancing on top of some cars. In the background of the shot are a few or rows of General Lees. This show started in 1985, so it is possible that this was either filmed at Valencia Oaks or the WB backlot. This must be after the Dukes was stopped being on TV. At Valencia oaks were still loads of cars from the show, at the time. If someone has the ability to post screencaps of this. I'd higly appreciate it.

 

During filming of Nothing but Trouble 1991, loads of Chargers were still on the ranch! Apparently there are pictures of the General Lee's from 1991 with the Nothing but Trouble mansion in the background. CornDog either owns or has seen these. However their not meant to be published so can't be found on the internet.

After the show they just left loads of General Lee's and Chargers meant to be converted right on the lot. In some shows after, you can see chargers being used. these were probably pulled from the ranch and most often trashed. However the few which survived were sometimes put back.

For a movie called The Gladiator (1986), they plucked a General Lee from the field, made it blue and put a vinyl top over it. This car survived and was put back. The vinyl roof was put straight over the original orange roof with General Lee decals still on it.

from the shows end to 1991, when the remaining chargers were sold off, they stayed in that same spot. During filming of the Knight Rider, Murder She Wrote and all other shows/movies, these cars were still there. Must've been strange for David Hasselhoff (who was probably being used seeing a few KITTs parked) and the like seeing a field full of General Lee's.

This last thing is not necessarily just Valencia Oaks related, but I thought I'd put it in here as well. The dukes Farm and Boars Next were transported around to each filming location, so the next time you see the Farm in the first California episode, you can be sure it is the same farm as the one you see in the last one.

We know WB had to move to Valencia Oaks due to the Lake Sherwood area being developed. But why did they move from Disney's Golden Oaks to Lake Sherwood? Not simply because they then had their own big space to do everything. But apparently they were basically thrown out of Golden Oaks because they were tearing through the grass and hitting tree's with the cars often.

Now that's what I call an informative post. Thanks for sharing it Roth. 

[Roth Potter]

I thought this was pretty interesting. As said here before, after the Dukes the ranch was last used for a movie called 'Nothing but Trouble'.

This is a real picture of that mansion from that movie taken from the residential road North/East of the ranch. Picture https://www.elsmerecanyon.com/lyoncanyon/tvmovies/tvmovies.htm

There's quite a few other pictures from the ranch from then and now from what is still visible as well as stuff about other places used from all sorts of productions in the area so check it out.

The straight rows of bushes is what the Dukes used as backstage stuff so here or slightly to the right of here is where all the General Lee's were parked and worked on.

On the left, maybe behind some bushes or the tree on the left at about the same distance as the mansion is where the Duke farm is located.

[dukesonline]

This is a great thread with some incredible info! Thanks for everyone sharing! Having grown up in Valencia, it was always fun to drive my General Lee around town. Literally every time I would fill it up with gas, I would meet someone who had worked on the show or knew someone close that did!

I have a many photos from different visits to the Valencia ranch (among other locations). I’ll have to dig them out and share a few!

It’s still very recognizable yet portions of the area where the duke farm were are largely overgrown. 

 

[Roth Potter]

Must be great to tour a General Lee around the region there. I'd love to see those pictures!

I'm going to the LA region soon, but I doubt there is time for me to check the ranch or anything else. If you can even get into it now.

[Rob Klein]

Hello,  I wanted to add a few details that I thought any fan of the Dukes would find fascinating.  I worked on the Dukes Ranch in the summer of 1993.  I had just graduated from film school, and got a job on film starring Corey Eubanks called: "Forced to Kill  (somewhere I have the call sheet) the day we did 2nd unit shots on the Dukes Ranch in Valencia. I was the first AD for this shoot day.  I had gone to film school at Cal Arts literally 1/2 mile away from the Dukes Ranch and never knew it was there until I was working on Corey's film.  Had I had known about the Dukes Ranch back when in 1989 when I started going to Cal Arts I would have been able to see all the General Lees that sat out in the field outside of the famous motor pool. 

By the time I was working on the Ranch I was blown away as all the Dukes sets were still standing.  I went all through the practical Duke Farm House, the barn, The Boar's Nest, and the motor pool cement slab, that was covered by an aluminum roof was still there.  Out side in the weeds was one Hazzard County Sherriff's squad car and Boss Hogg's famous white convertable Caddalac.  I couldn't believe it as it was being destroyed by the weather.  I also found a General Push Bar lying behind another impressive set that was built for the film "Nothing But Trouble."  It was the huge mansion facade built for the film.

If you watch the film "Forced to Kill" the end scene where Michael Ironside's 4x4 blows up was shot directly in front of the Boar's Nest.  I can't remember if you see the set in the film or not.  However, when I went inside the Boar's Nest building it was a practical set in that you could use it for interiors and exteriors.  On the far left side there were a ton of Hazzard set decoration crammed inside.  A bunch of full color billboards from the show, I remember a Lulu Hogg bilboard and a Boss Hogg one.  There were several other though I can't remember the details.  I was aware the Warner Brothers had an archives department and figurred they were storing these there for safe keeping.  These were days way before the digital camera, so even though I did not have my 35mm with me, I did not take any photos.  As I was the 1st AD I could have photographed anything I wanted to, but the film's set photographer was there, his name was Greg Leon.  He did shoot lots of images of the Dukes Ranch that day.  I have tried to contact him a few times since but he didn't seem motivated to pull the slides out of storage.

Years later, I heard the Dukes Ranch was sold for development and I always wondered what happened to the billboards I mentioned and Boss' Cady, and the Hazzard police car.  I hope they were saved. 

I had already acquiered many original Hazzard props and used to tell Corey Eubanks about them during the film shoot.  He did share many Dukes stories with me that day on the Ranch as he knew I was fan of the show.  Some, I dont think would veer be able to be told publically.  I did one more movie with Corey a year later and then we lost touch.  But he was a great guy and he has gone on to even more fame with Dukes fans as I saw his wonderful jumps he did for Dukes Fest.  One thing I will always remember was how loyal Corey was to his fellow Dukes Stunt team as he had hired many of them on these two films that I worked on of his.  I got a ton of stories out of Alan Wyatt Jr. and other members of the Duke's `stunt team.

As a documentary film maker myself and a film archivist I would hope to be able to share my first hand experiences and stories with the fans of Dukes of Hazzard with my time working on the Dukes Ranch and the artifacts I have come across from the show.  I have parted with many over the years, but I still have a few, and will always have these memories.  Long Live The Dukes of Hazzard!!!!

If anyone is ever interested in making a Dukes documentary I would be happy to share what I have learned about this special show.

[dukesonline]

Rob,

Thank you for sharing your post. What an incredible experience and I know I speak for all of us here on the forum that we wish we could have been grips there with you helping out just to see these sights! Having grown up here in Valencia and my sister went to Calarts too, I am stoked to hear these first hand accounts about such monumental experiences!!

I would love to be involved in a documentary and have been thinking about the idea too for a while... I’m on board to get something going!

-Dave

[thegenerallx]

Awesome post Rob! I would lose my mind if I saw what you saw!

[HossC]

Welcome to HNet, Rob, and thanks for your post. I hope that you feel able to share some of your stories. I'd also like to see what Dukes props you've acquired over the years.

[RogerDuke]

Wow! This thread got pretty exciting on Friday. Normally I'm not gone from the HN all weekend so I'm sorry I missed this. Rob, thanks for your long post. We would love to hear more from you. This is so exciting. 

[Hobie Hartkins]

Welcome to Rob and Dave! It's great to have you! we hope you'll be here for a long time, on the reg.! 

[Roth Potter]

Awesome story there Rob! Hope to hear more from that!

I just had a look on YouTube and this is what I found of the Boars Nest. You can definitely see it in the trailer during the stunt with the Police Barrel roll.

And I think you see it here when the cameraman is in the shot. @Rob Klein are you by any chance anyone in this?

 

It seems like the whole movie has been uploaded to YouTube from the scene starting at 1:22:40 you can 100% see the Boars Nest in the back.

Most of the stunts from this movie look to be Recorded on the Ranch, but I didn't see anything else as closely related to the Dukes as the Boars Nest is in this scene.

Edited February 2, 2020 by Roth Potter

[Skipper Duke]

On 11/17/2013 at 10:25 AM, Roth Potter said:

Thats Correct, I recently watched the Knight Rider episode 'A good day at White rock' where we can see the bridge from Lake Sherwood.

Here are two screencaps from that episode.

This is clearly the bridge at Lake sherwood.

And to proof it is from Knight Rider here is the California Knight on the same bridge.

I'm very sure that beside this episode and 'Out of the Woods' there were more shared locations with the Dukes. But I don't watch Knight Rider that much as I watch The Dukes of Hazzard way more. anyway, If I find another location I'll make sure to post it on the forum.

KN shared The Indian Dunes location aka Styx River with DOH.

[Jet_91]

I know the ranch is private property but I've always really wanted to make a trip there and just walk the dukes areas with a metal detector and see what kind of artifacts you could find. I know there is nothing large left but even a chunk of metal or a lug nut would be extremely cool. I know a lot has changed in 40 years plus a wildfire but with all the jumps and crashes done at the ranch I feel like there might be a few cool hidden gems out there for a Dukes nut.

[Skipper Duke]

5 hours ago, Jet_91 said:

I know the ranch is private property but I've always really wanted to make a trip there and just walk the dukes areas with a metal detector and see what kind of artifacts you could find. I know there is nothing large left but even a chunk of metal or a lug nut would be extremely cool. I know a lot has changed in 40 years plus a wildfire but with all the jumps and crashes done at the ranch I feel like there might be a few cool hidden gems out there for a Dukes nut.

Hi cousin Jet 91! I think there would be some interesting stuff out there for sure! :)

[RogerDuke]

6 hours ago, Jet_91 said:

I know the ranch is private property but I've always really wanted to make a trip there and just walk the dukes areas with a metal detector and see what kind of artifacts you could find. I know there is nothing large left but even a chunk of metal or a lug nut would be extremely cool. I know a lot has changed in 40 years plus a wildfire but with all the jumps and crashes done at the ranch I feel like there might be a few cool hidden gems out there for a Dukes nut.

Anybody who loves the Dukes of Hazzard enough to think about doing something like this is not just a fan but a Superfan. We're sure glad to have you here on the HazzardNet where you will be right at home amongst us other Superfans. I bet if they would have known how popular the show would still be 4 decades later they would have saved more relics from the show and from the stunt cars. 

[Skipper Duke]

1 minute ago, RogerDuke said:

Anybody who loves the Dukes of Hazzard enough to think about doing something like this is not just a fan but a Superfan. We're sure glad to have you here on the HazzardNet where you will be right at home amongst us other Superfans. I bet if they would have known how popular the show would still be 4 decades later they would have saved more relics from the show and from the stunt cars. 

Yep Cousin Roger!

[Jet_91]

3 hours ago, RogerDuke said:

Anybody who loves the Dukes of Hazzard enough to think about doing something like this is not just a fan but a Superfan. We're sure glad to have you here on the HazzardNet where you will be right at home amongst us other Superfans. I bet if they would have known how popular the show would still be 4 decades later they would have saved more relics from the show and from the stunt cars. 

Haha I agree it's a superfan thing to do but it's definitely high on my bucket list. How cool would it be to find an orange chunk of charger hidden in the dirt or maybe a prop of some kind. I bet Tom Sarmento's garage location would be a prime place to explore I know a push bar was found but I'd be just as happy with something small lol  Even just being there would be like walking on hallowed ground to me.

Thanks for the warm welcome you guys I've lurked here for years and have enjoyed the site so I figured it was high time I join in the conversations. Look forward to my time here! :D

[RogerDuke]

7 hours ago, Jet_91 said:

 Even just being there would be like walking on hallowed ground to me.

 

I would feel the same way. I thought about going to the original farm in Georgia (the grandson of the owner used to be a member here) and getting a bucket of dirt and spreading it all over my garden. That way I could say I'm farming the same land as the Dukes. 

[Skipper Duke]

Cousin Roger... That would be swell!

[Skipper Duke]

Cousin HossC... Is the CA Duke Farm still standing?

[HossC]

9 hours ago, Skipper Duke said:

Cousin HossC... Is the CA Duke Farm still standing?

Like the Boar's Nest, the Duke Farm got moved from the Golden Oak Ranch to Lake Sherwood to Valencia Oaks. I think that the last screen appearance I've found so far is a 1988 episode of Murder She Wrote (see earlier in this thread). It's certainly not there any more.

[Skipper Duke]

Thanks Cousin Hoss.