Sitcom Sets That Rearranged

[Lorimar Television]

The Sitcom props/sets never used or explained thread got me thinking. What are some shows where the set has been rearranged. And I mean stuff that had to be built and would not really rearrange, not about a piece of furniture.

For example: On Reba, The door that lead to Cheyenne and Van's bedroom in seasons 1-4 was moved in season 5 to where their closet used to be.

Another example: Reba's bedroom in the Pilot was completely different the next time we saw it in season two.

[Jude The Obscure]

The kitchen set on Bewitched had to be redone after an on set fire destroyed a good portion of the set during the summer hiatus between seasons 7 and 8, but no on air explanation was ever given for the new look or the newly added staircase in the kitchen!!

[ILUVO&H]

On Happy Days, The Cunningham living room was rearranged in the second season. The kitchen was moved to off the living room and the dining room disappeared.

[factsoflife]

on "Designing Women" the staircase in the house was located in an entirely different location in the Pilot than in the rest of the series and various other things in the house shifts throughout the series run.

[TV_on_the_Porch]

The Cunningham living room was rearranged in the second season. The kitchen was moved to off the living room and the dining room disappeared.

Hmm. I was going to make a correction, but come to think of it, this is true--but for one episode only. The only second season episode to be filmed in front of a studio audience was shot with relatively slight modifications to the Cunningham home set, the extent of which is as you describe. Though aired in the middle of the season, it was the final episode filmed for 1974-75. The next season, filming before an audience became permanent, and further changes were made to the Cunningham living room, with the entrance wall and fireplace wall switching with each other and the kitchen wall opening up.

The kitchen set on Bewitched had to be redone after an on set fire destroyed a good portion of the set during the summer hiatus between seasons 7 and 8...

You mean between seasons 6 and 7.

The Odd Couple, like Happy Days, changed from single-camera to multi-camera in front of an audience early on. The kitchen changed from one side of the hallway entrance to the other, the windows went from left of the front door (as you enter) to right of it...so changed was the set that it looked like Oscar had moved, though I don't think there was any reference to that.

[treky]

the apt. on "THE ODD COUPLE" changed drasticly at the start of season 2. The first season it was simular to the one in the movie, and no explanation was given for the sudden change. I know they had to change it in order to accomidate a live audience, but they could have given some explanation.

On "THE BEVERLLY HILLBILLIES" in the unaired pilot, Mr. Drysdales office was somewhat different. The side door (what the hell was behind there?) was a wide entrance which led to a conference room, and in one corner (it was on the left, as you came in) there was a cabinet which was a plant in the series. And I think the background behind his desk was different also. And the interior of the Clampetts mansion was different. (at least 2 rooms were)

[TV Knowledge Fan]

...most TV series' pilot episodes featured slightly different "standing sets" as opposed to the ones regularly seen in the series. A few good examples-

"THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW"- the Petrie's kitchen and "Writers' Office" (for "THE ALAN BRADY SHOW").

"I DREAM OF JEANNIE"- Captain/Major Nelson's living room; it fact, it changed its appearance, slightly, every season! {i.e. the bar area is on the right during the first season- it's on the left, near the fireplace, in the second, and completely eliminated in the third, along with the "dining room" off the patio).

"THE GEORGE BURNS AND GRACIE ALLEN SHOW"- however, the Burns' living room and kitchen were "constant" during the first three filmed seasons (1952-'55); then, after "the New York season" (1955-'56), they returned to a slightly different setting, with George's den more prominent [the one with his "magic TV", whenever he wanted to observe what was going on elsewhere, also introduced in the fall of '56].

"MY FAVORITE MARTIAN"- the layout of Tim O'Hara's apartment (and the interior of Mrs. Brown's home) looked slightly different in the pilot episode. And when production moved from Desilu to MGM [and black & white to color] in the fall of 1965, the sets were somewhat "redesigned".

"THE PATTY DUKE SHOW"- BIG difference, as the original unaired pilot was filmed in Hollywood, with the Lanes living on a hilltop house in San Francisco.
When production of the series relocated to New York, it became an apartment in Brooklyn Heights. The settings, though, became slightly altered when production moved back to Hollywood by the fall of '65.


There are other examples, to be sure....

[treky]

also on "THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW" pilot (called HEAD OF THE FAMILY") Alans office was different.

[Torgo]

Didn't the I Love Lucy apartment change? Or was it that they moved to another apartment?

[megamanj2004]

Family Matters - in the 1st episode, the living room stairs went straight down as a opposed to the more angled stairway seen in subsequent eps.

Also, the kitchen set's wall was originally green as opposed to the beige/peach-like color seen in the later episodes. The table was also positioned slightly different, too.

The Cosby Show - on the pilot episode, the stairs in the living were angled on the middle left part of the living room as opposed to the more straight forward staircase seen in subsequent eps.

[yankeesrj12]

What about Fresh Prince of Bel Aire? The first season they were always in that darkish green room (if I remember correctly). By the second season, they were in the room off the kitchen.

[factsoflife]

Originally Posted by yankeesrj12

What about Fresh Prince of Bel Aire? The first season they were always in that darkish green room (if I remember correctly). By the second season, they were in the room off the kitchen.

i recall the same thing...

[treky]

Originally Posted by Torgo

Didn't the I Love Lucy apartment change? Or was it that they moved to another apartment?

they moved to a bigger apt. after they had Little Ricky.

[megamanj2004]

Originally Posted by yankeesrj12

What about Fresh Prince of Bel Aire? The first season they were always in that darkish green room (if I remember correctly). By the second season, they were in the room off the kitchen.

Wasn't that darkish green room in-between the original living room and the original kitchen?

I notice those stairs were hard to see in the 1st season.


Some others:

Diff'rent Strokes - when this moved from NBC to ABC, they repainted the living room walls from yellow-greenish to an ugly salmon pink color as well as giving the living room more silver and gray touch-ups, especially on the staircase.

In the early to middle NBC years, the boys originally had bunk beds. But later on they had the initial A & J, representing their respective beds.

Webster - on the 1st episode, the apartment's living colors where gray and dark brown, while the kitchen's colors were gray and brown. On subsequent episodes that took place in the apartment the colors were teal blue, gray, and dark blue everywhere.

Silver Spoons - I think they had at least three changes throughout its 5-season run.

In the 1st 2 seasons, you almost never saw where the kitchen was at due to those arcade games masking the entrance to the kitchen.

By S3, there were two doors close to each other. The left one now served as the entrance to the kitchen, while the usual right door still served as the entrance to the library.

After a few very early S4 eps., the railroad crossing signs were eliminated completely to compensate Kate's marrying into the family, though the train set still remained with the show for a few eps. towards the later stages of this season since there was en episode where the cameras showed the bottom right-hand corner of the living room where the train stopped at.

In S5, the train didn't appear at all.

Empty Nest - For the 1st 4 seasons, the kitchen had pastel colors decorating the cabinets and walls. By the middle of the run, those pastel colors were eliminated to delve this show further into the '90s.

[TV Knowledge Fan]

...was a "forerunner" to what became "THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW", 'treky' (filmed in 1959, and "burned off" on CBS in July 1960). It featured Carl Reiner himself as "Rob Petrie" with a different cast [and "Borscht Belt" comedian Jake Wakefield as the unseen "Alan Sturdy"] and different settings, including "Alan's office", because that pilot was filmed in New York, without a studio audience {a laugh track was used}. Although, on Dick's series, Alan Brady's office never looked the same from season to season (however, his desk was always on the side, in order for Carl's face not to be revealed to the camera and the audience; you only saw the back of his head until the middle of the fourth season).