Hi Fans!

This month we go behind the scenes of The London Bridge Special which was taped on location at Lake Havasu, Arizona. Believe me, the "behind the scenes" happenings were quite the opposite of what you will view on your TV sets; and hilariously "way-out".

Falcon, the McCullough plane which jetted them to Havasu was shared with "WU WU" & "DOG-DOG" two adorable Pekinese dogs, plus a delightful large black Shepherd. Then they landed hungry, at 10:00 p.m. they turned into the nearest restaurant only to be told it was too late to be served. So hungry, cold and dejected, they found their way to the Pub below the Bridge where they were served a fine meal by friendly and gracious waitresses.

Their next day began at 7:00 a.m. while it was still cold. Shooting that day was on the Bridge where they encounter numerous problems. The bridge is part of McCullough Drive which is the main thoroughfare thru town; and though police tried to divert some of the traffic, there were some cars and pedestrians on the Bridge at all times. Noise of course, was a serious problem with planes, motor boats, and talking people contributing their share of upsets and confusion. It took six hours to tape one small segment of Jennifer O'Neal talking to Richard and Karen. That afternoon they did a tennis court scene again with Jennifer & this time adding Tom Jones. When it began to get dark they quit shooting and most of the crew went to a bowling alley to have some fun. Tom had never bowled so Karen and Richard had the privilege of teaching him. Then they all shot some pool and called it a day.

The second day they found they had to re-tape the tennis court scene in the morning but afternoon found them in an amphitheater taping a concert. The director had placed a sign near the entrance asking for 100 spectators so they could film an audience. Response was so great they ended up playing to an audience of 3,000 people which they managed to squeeze into the theater. The temperature that afternoon was 90 degrees.

The third day they journeyed to Crystal Beach where beautiful scenes were to be taped. The first scene was on top of a mountain which they reached via a narrow dirt road that wound through woods. Rocks & boulders had to be moved so the camera and equipment trucks could get through. Even the, accessibility was limited and the mountain had to be climbed on foot by stars and crewmen alike. Adding to climbing woes was the electric piano which was hand carried to the top of the mountain by two members of the crew. On top of the mountain they did a beautiful version of We've Only Just Begun.

From the mountain they trooped to the desert where they did a groovy rendition of Close To You.

A lonely island was to be the setting for other scenes & songs so motor boats were filled and people and equipment headed for what they believed would be easy "takes". But this was to be a "never to be forgotten day" for everyone concerned.

The island turned out to be a marshland and both motor boats burned out their motors trying to gain access to land in too shallow water. Sugar Bear, their road manager, finally shed his shoes and socks, rolled up his pants legs and pulled the boats in as far as he could but, there was still quite a stretch of ankle deep mud and goop between the boat and dry land where the taping was to be done. So - are you ready for this? All the stars who were already costumed had to be carried piggy-back by the rest of the crew through all the mud and goop. Sugar Bear carried Karen who thought it was the most hilarious ride she'd ever had!

The island, virgin & uninhabited had no shelter for crew members during the taping; so it was decided they should hide among the tall, thick cattails that covered the marshland. This proved a good idea until it was time to do a pull-away shot of the island. The camera was loaded into the helicopter for this shot; the stars took their places and the copter took off. Well - the terrific spinning, flattened the cattails to reveal crew members and shot mud, water and cattails flying into the cloths, faces and hair of the stars. Karen said that was the first time she ever had to comb cattails out of her hair.

EV

Last changed: Sun May 29 12:49:33 EDT 2005