While visiting Burbank, CA, for the Hollywood Show, some fan friends and I decided to visit some of the local places where scenes from the show had been filmed. One of the spots we stopped at was the Old Zoo at Griffith Park. Griffith Park was used for shooting scenes in a number of episodes, but we were primarily interested in the area where Starsky was supposed to meet up with Prudholm in Pariah, and locations that were used for scenes in Bloodbath. We had a lot of fun speculating if “this” was the spot where Starsky cornered Prudholm, or maybe it was over there, or over there… We were never really sure. Here are some of the pictures I took on that trip. As always, you can click on the pictures to see them larger.

Sign explaining the history of the Old Zoo. When watching the two episodes that feature the old zoo, I often wondered why it even still existed. Why wasn’t it razed when it was no longer needed? This sign helped explain why it was still standing. And considering how massive and sturdy the stone structures are, it will probably still be there decades from now.

Smaller animal structure and the historical sign.

Stone staircase in the bear structure. There are a number of these stone staircases in the bear facility. One of them was likely the staircase Starsky tried to use as he attempted to escape Simon Marcus’ followers. There was no way to know which staircase had been the one they used. All of them were steep with deep steps and bars overhead.

This is a view of the stairs going up, the view Starsky would have had as he ran up the steps, just able to see a tantalizing glimpse of freedom. You can see the bars overhead.

Broader view of the remaining structures.

Broader view of the outside of the bear facility, with the staircase on the right with the bars on top.

Friends-

We just received the most distressing news! Christmas is coming fast, and Starsky and Hutch are undercover. They are so far under, not even the tops of their heads are sticking up above ground. At the rate this case is going, they aren’t going to rejoin the world until Christmas Day. And of course, neither of the boys even started holiday shopping for their favorite person in the world.

The guys sent out a desperate SOS, asking for our help. They beseech each and every one of you to be their own personal shoppers so that their special guy will have something fabulous waiting under the tree on Christmas morning. Starsky says, “Please find the perfect gift for Hutch—one that will shut that big yap of his for once.” Hutch pleads, “Please help me and seek out that one gift Starsk will never expect.”

Can you help? If so, jump on in! Fill out the personal shopper form below. Then email it to: shpersonalshoppers at gmail dot com. Advent Calendar elves are standing by to compile a list of fun Christmas gifts for Starsky and Hutch to share with everybody as another Advent Calendar present.

Wait! There’s more! If you help S&H with their Christmas shopping, the elves will:

• Put your name into a hat for a drawing. Three lucky personal shoppers will receive a free zine. Yes, prizes!

•  Contribute real $$ to charity. For every submission they receive, the elves will set aside $1.00. Half of the funds will go to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation in Paul’s name, and half of the funds to the Idaho Black Bear Rehab in David’s name. The elves will provide up to $100.00 for each charity.

•  Is there a deadline? Yes, of course: December 20, 2012.

You don’t have to come up with gifts for both guys to play. If you’ve only got one great idea for a gift for a specific partner, we’ll take it. Then, after you finish your personal shopping task for S&H, you can sit back, drink some eggnog, watch an episode, and pat yourself on the back for a job well done!

Are you ready to play? We hope so! Here is your assignment:

Personal shopper: (Your name)

The gift you’ve selected for Starsky to give to Hutch: (Name and describe the gift you’ve chosen. Be creative! Describe it as much as you like!).

The gift you’ve selected for Hutch to give to Starsky: (Name and describe the gift you’ve chosen. Ditto from above).

 Email your answers (and any questions/comments) to shpersonalshoppers at gmail dot com.

Thanks for joining in! When you play, we can help the guys, have fun together, and do something good for others! What’s not to love?

The Personal Shopper is now closed.
Check out this post to see the results.