In almost all of the color episodes, you never saw a coastline and the lagoon was all there was. I drove around CBS studios a few years ago and heard one of their parking lots was the lagoon and faced a highway. True? I find it hard to imagine! I'm too lazy to research and find out exactly what became of it
shareThis should answer you questions about the lagoon:
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=177846&highlight=lagoon+TV+Guide
Jesus is the Son of God and my Lord and savior. Pretty cool.
The location of the shoreline of the lagoon (where the Castaways often stood) was located here:
34° 8'46.00"N 118°23'25.00"W
Copy that line and paste it into either Google Earth or Google Maps and you'll see where on the lot that shoreline was.
The lagoon's "beach" was on the north side of the lagoon, so the Castaways were looking south when the looked out across the lagoon.
It is a myth that the location was turned into a parking lot (I think Mary Tyler Moore claimed it was a parking lot on the Conan O'Brien Show once).
A parking lot was built to the west of the location, but the lagoon was initially replaced by 7 small "bungalow" type buildings (which still appear on Google Maps). Recent aerial imagery shows that three of the bungalows were recently replaced by a much lager, multi-story building.
If you go on Google Earth and enter the coordinates, you can click on "1989" in the lower left side of the imagery. That will show you what the site looked like in 1989, when the lagoon was still there. It is not very easy to make out the lagoon, but I've verified this location using older aerial photos on the web.
I don't think it would ever have been possible to see it from the streets adjacent to the lot. The studio backed up against the LA River. That concrete "river" was just behind the foliage that we think of as hiding the clearing with the huts.
The 101 Freeway was about half a mile to the north but, even at the distance, its noise sometimes interfered with filming. I don't think there was ever much chance of seeing the lagoon from the freeway. It's certainly impossible to see the lot now because an obscuring "sound wall" has been built on the freeway.
This older map of CBS Studio Center actually shows the location of the lagoon on the left hand side. The bottom of the map is to the west.
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/universalstonecutter/sets/72157623018216289/
Hard to believe you got two replies after saying "I'm too lazy to research."
Ha! Well, I figure other folks might be interested in this info, too. :)
By the way, that new building I mentioned is called... wait for it... "The Lagoon Production Support Building."
Below is a link to a CBS Studio Center Newsletter from October 2015 about the new building and the history of the lagoon. Apparently, there was an earlier lagoon on the site built for a 1952 film. It may have been dried up by the time GI went into production.
There is also a cast photo in the newsletter that I've never seen before. I'm pretty sure that photo was not shot at the CBS Studio Center (even though it claims the background is the studio lagoon). It looks more like the Franklin Canyon Reservoir (all of 4 miles from the studio), which was used as "rural" location for shows like "The Andy Griffith Show" and even winds up in an episode or two of "Star Trek."
http://www.cbssc.com/images/NEWSLETTERS/PDF%20files/2015_OCT_newsletter.pdf
I remember a story concerning the first reunion movie "Rescue From Gilligan's Island." A security guard who worked at the studio during the show's original run, was still there in the 70's when the reunion movie began production. He came to work one morning and looked down a hill to the lagoon set and saw the cast and crew shooting a scene. He called the front gate and asked if they were shooting Gilligan's Island again. He was told that it was a reunion movie he saw being shot. He replied "Thank God, for a moment, I thought I was losing my mind."
Jesus is the Son of God and my Lord and savior. Pretty cool.
Funny story! Reminds me of the line from "Topsy Turvy."
Professor: "Skipper, you are standing on your head, aren't you?"
Skipper: "Of course I am, Professor."
Professor: "Oh, good. For a minute I thought I was working too hard."
I'm pretty sure that photo was not shot at the CBS Studio Center (even though it claims the background is the studio lagoon).
Great read El, thanks for linking that. I've never seen that photo either -- it almost looks like they weren't quite ready for it (Alan Hale appears to be in mid-yawn ). Bob Denver looks more boyish than usual, though!
psst...looks like the OP is too lazy to even check back for replies