For actors who grew up on studio lots, some places aren’t just workplaces; they’re formative landscapes, classrooms, and second homes rolled into one. That’s why Barry Livingston is reacting with such raw emotion to news about the future of a legendary Hollywood property, a place he says shaped “the best part” of his childhood and career.
The My Three Sons star shared an emotional message after learning that the storied CBS Radford Studio lot, long associated with classic television, has gone into foreclosure.
“Absolutely heartbroken to hear that the CBS Radford Studio Lot has gone into foreclosure,” Livingston wrote on Facebook. “Spent the best part of my youth filming My Three Sons there.”
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Livingston, who played Ernie on My Three Sons, used his post to underline just how much history is tied up in the Studio City property, noting that it “was once called Republic Studios that cranked out low budget westerns,” and adding that, during his time working there in the 1960s, “many iconic TV shows were shot on the lot.” He then rattled off a memory-lane list that reads like a TV guide from the golden age: “Gunsmoke, Big Valley, Wild Wild West, St. Elsewhere, Family Affair, Get Smart, just to name a few.”
He also pointed to feature films that used the lot over the decades, including “Little Big Man, The Out of Towners, Monte Walsh,” and described how the stages continued to host major productions long after My Three Sons wrapped. “After Sons went away, lots of other iconic shows filmed there: Seinfeld, Larry Sanders, Hill Street Blues, Lou Grant, The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” he wrote, before adding that he’d returned to work there more recently on “The Conners, Will & Grace and Hot In Cleveland at the studio.”
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Livingston’s post quickly became a gathering place for fans and industry folks sharing their own Radford memories and worries about what comes next. One commenter called the news “beyond tragic,” recalling visits to watch Family Affair filming and time spent “hanging out at the Radford,” adding, “I will cherish these special memories forever… Let’s all appeal to the senses of someone and try to figure out how to save Radford.” Another suggested the lot feels “ripe for a historical marker and commission to save it and preserve it,” while a third chimed in: “My favorite lot. My first job there was a MTM working on Lou Grant. Called it my home lot for about 10 different pilots and series over the years. 😢.”
The news Livingston reacted to has been reported as part of a broader slowdown hitting film and TV production. The Los Angeles Times reports the Radford Studio Center is in default and is expected to be returned to lenders, with Goldman Sachs leading a takeover of the historic property.
For Livingston, though, the headline isn’t finance, it’s feeling, a sense that a living piece of TV history is wobbling. “Feeling quite sad tonight to hear this news,” he wrote.
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