Appliances on TV shows

[tomturbomatic]

Sometime back, Sandy told us that TV shows did not want the refrigerator coming on to cause a bump in the sound (I don't know how better to phrase that). Sunday afternoon, I was watching Gidget on Antenna TV and she and her father were sitting at the table eating ice dream. Behind them was a coppertone two door, possibly a Norge. After she put the ice cream back in the freezer, she opened the fresh food section to get something and no light came on so I figured that it was unplugged to avoid the compressor coming on, but wondered why someone did not simply set the cold control to OFF which would allow the light to come on. Maybe only an appliance person would notice this. Maybe it was operating and they just cut the power to the fridge for that scene.

It's funny what you can notice, aside from appliances, in scenes of made for TV movies that are obviously cheaply produced. I was watching one of those sentimental sagas on the Hallmark Movie Channel where the girl, her father and the woman the girl had picked to be the new wife were riding horses and, big as you please, one of the horses had its tail to the side and was pooping as they walked along. I think a production with a larger budget would have reshot the scene because everyone involved had to be aware of what happened. They probably had to have a break in the shooting after everyone had trouble staying on their mounts due to laughter.

 

[danemodsandy]

Tom:

Usually, sitcom and movie fridges are either set to "Off" or modified so that they the compressor cannot possibly come on. The noise of a compressor would be distracting on a soundtrack; it's imperative that nothing detract from a scene or the actors' dialogue.

For scenes where something has to be gotten out of a freezer, like ice cream, the food is brought in and put in the freezer just before the cameras roll. There are usually duplicates in case a scene has to be shot several times to get it right.

If frost is necessary in a freezer, the prop people have several fake-frost methods at their disposal. I've seen a fridge prepped this way for a movie shoot in Atlanta at Lakewood, and it is weird to reach into a frosted-up freezer that is hot inside.

 

[statenislandgwm]

tv fridges...

I believe the appliances on Gidget were Philco as Ford was a sponsor, they debuted the Ford Mustang on the show (Gidget's friend LaRue had a red Mustang convertible), but what do I know? I do know that the fridge on The Soprano's was actually running as the cast and crew kept drinks, lunch, snacks, etc. in it. The stove, oven, dishwasher were also operable. They were all Whirlpool, one would think that a "mob boss" with a million dollar house would have better appliances.

 

[whirlaway]

Studio One

I was watching a 1948 Studio One show last night,I really noticed the loudness of the props being handled and moved.So I can imagine an old frigidaire like mine coming on and drowning out the singing.It was called the medium,very strange.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Great reasoning

Vincent, the reason I was thinking Norge was because the oven is gas and I think Philco only built electric cooking equipment, but the fridge could have been any brand.

 

[twintubdexter]

I know I know...

This is not a thread about favorite TV show appliances. We had one of those a few weeks back, but I thought it would be safe popping this in here. I've been enjoying "The Goldbergs" on Netflix and love Molly Goldberg's 1955 Frigidaire kitchen. Fun too that the credits mention "Molly Goldberg's Home Furnished by Macy's New York."

very nice 40" Frigidaire range, there's a single door Cyclamatic to the right out of view

 

[ptcruiser51]

Patty Duke

The Brooklyn Heights kitchen was often in a scene. Even as a pre-teen, I wondered why, when opened, the light did not come on in the (General Electric TF in coppertone?) and there was always >nothing in it< except the prop(s).

At least June Cleaver's GE BF had food in it! Usually milk in a pitcher (who does this?)

 

Lucy Ricardo's Westinghouse usually had food in it, though I don't remember a light coming on when opened.

 

[rp2813]

A Pitcher of Milk

I do remember when growing up that it was considered bad form to have a bottle or carton of milk on the table, even if we were eating in the breakfast room.  I suppose a quart bottle may have been a slightly less serious violation.  The same rule didn't seem to apply to wine, though.  As I recall, in our household milk was poured into glasses and then the container was placed back in the refrigerator.

 

I remember the family around the corner had seven kids.  The house and yard weren't kept up regularly enough, but the line was drawn at dinner.   Hands and faces had to be washed, and there was a pitcher of milk on the table.

 

[mrb627]

Artificial Noise

Have you ever been watching a show where a washing machine was being loaded and started and noticed the artificial sound used to represent the machine operation?

Big Bang Theory has some frequent scenes in the laundry room where the harvest gold Speed Queens are painted to conceal their identity...

Malcolm

 

[whirlaway]

Soap Operas

Talk about stock sounds,I remember as a kid every car on the soaps must have been standard shift and loud brakes.Was it guiding Light or Search for Tomorrow,Mrs Bergman stayed in the kitchen.

 

[statenislandgwm]

@tom

I'm thinking they had a 40" electric range in earlier episodes, then in later episodes they had a cooktop and wall oven, which I believe you are correct in regards to them being gas. I do remember one episode where Gidget was putting a neighbor kids dead alligator in the freezer in the laundry room and the washer and dryer were clearly Maytag. The reason I said Philco was because of the Ford connection. In later episodes the washer was a front loader and both the washer and dryer had the porthole windows. Did Norge ever make machines like? The same kitchen on Gidget was used on Hazel also. I've also noticed on The Partridge family they had 3 different colors of appliances, in the pilot they appliances were coppertone, then as the series ran the were avocado, on the last season they were white and there was now an island that the cooktop was on..the appliances were all the same so the crew must have repainted them?

 

[mixguy]

Bates Motel --New Series

Noticed the Hotpoint refrigerator in the house kitchen. It is from 1952-54 before they "squared" the corners in styling. It is hinged on the left side there is some chrome trim and when opened there were narrow shelves on the inside of the door. Noticed also covered butter and cheese compartments too. My mother's refrig. seems to be a step down from this model. She defrosts it using a timer and collecting defrost water in the chiller tray below the freezer. The gas stove I don't recognize, not enough scenes seen of it for me to identify yet. Noticed a modern chrome toaster on the counter too

 

[rp2813]

Stock sound effects

Seems like every car on TV well into the 70's sounded like a Chrysler product when starting.  They also used to dub in the sound of peeling out when the car was clearly taking off at an average speed.

 

No matter the series, the sound of a telephone ringing on every program produced at NBC into the 80's was exactly the same.  Even with Trimline models that only had a single gong.

 

[norgeway]

Hazel..

Had in some episodes, a Philco kitchen, and in some gas Hardwick stuff.

 

[classiccaprice]

ptcruiser51

I keep milk in a glass pitcher!

-It's because I use powdered. It says in the directions to use a glass pitcher for better taste. Having tried it in plastic, I agree.

 

[rp2813]

Is that condensate on the rear wall of the Philco?  Does the fridge have a similar system to the GE Combinations where the melted frost is captured and routed into a drip pan underneath the cabinet?

 

[classiccaprice]

yes it's condensation

It does drip and collects in a indention in the bottom of the fridge underneath the crisper drawer.  There is no removable pan and about once a week I have to remove the drawer and use a towel to clean it up.  The GE design is a little better as it allows for evaporation from the pan.

 

[tolivac]

Should the milk pitcher have a lid so the milk doesn't absorb odors or tastes from other foods?

 

[classiccaprice]

I typically don't notice any absorption, but it's an idea.