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.