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According to Hofmann: Memorabilia that gets you right where they pretend to live

By Mark Hofmann mhofmann@heraldstandard.Com 5 min read
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The other day, I found myself compelled to look up as many different definitions of the word “memorabilia” as I could. I even went as far as researching totally reliable sources including WebsterĢƵ Dictionary, The Oxford English Dictionary, Google and the guy in a bear costume who continues to get heat stroke from holding up a discount sign to a store that no long exists at the nearby shopping plaza.

Each of those sources defined “memorabilia” as an object or objects kept or collected because of their historical interest, memorable people and events–well, except for the guy in the bear costume, who added an emotional component to the definition and then asked if I wanted to share his jar of olive juice with him.

When I later regained consciousness in the poison center, I started to wonder how we got away from such objects of true historic memorabilia like Winston ChurchillĢƵ cigar cutter used on V Day and the middle finger Alexander Hamilton used to extend to King George, but we’re clamoring over Lindsay LohanĢƵ barf bag and the prop middle finger of Alexander Hamilton used in the musical “Hamilton”.

The strangest and largest pieces of memorabilia out there is–yes, even stranger than Lindsay LohanĢƵ barf bag–are homes and buildings used in TV shows and movies.

Before I continue on to explain why, I feel itĢƵ best to give you a short lesson in film making. If you think I’m not qualified, then you should know that I’ve been on the set of many films and even appeared on a couple of TV shows if I agreed to leave the set and not harass the cast anymore.

Now, filmmakers use something called an “establishing shot” at the beginning of a scene. The shot is normally a one-to-two second run of film that shows the audience where the next scene will take place.

For example, if you’re watching “Seinfeld” and if itĢƵ a scene where the characters are at the diner, they show the outside of the diner when that “bo-pe-chi-a-kat” music plays. Then we see the shot of them sitting at the table inside the diner. The outside shot of the restaurant is the establishing shot as it tells the audience the scene will take place in the diner.

Now, the baffling part is when people go crazy when they have an opportunity to visit locations of the establishing shots of their favorite movies and TV shows, but, in reality, the only person involved in the production who actually visited that location is a second-unit director filming the establishing shot.

Again, with “Seinfeld,” the outside of the diner is a real place in New York City, but the scene where the actors are inside the restaurant is just a sound stage on a Hollywood lot.

There are some exceptions, but if I totally ruined your viewing experience and you don’t want to be duped again, just remember that everything in Hollywood is fake. The sets are fake, the objects are fake, the characters are fake (even in biographical movies), the food is fake, the air is fake and especially the actors/celebrities are fake; they’re not even human as they’ve been the same group of extra-terrestrial aliens able to morph their faces to look like different people for decades, or thatĢƵ what the guy in the bear costume told me.

Anyway, the reason I decided to clearly define the word “memorabilia” came from the news that the house used in “The Golden Girls” was to be placed on the market for a measly $2.9 million.

The Emmy-winning series revolved around four older women–Dorothy, Rose, Blanche and Sophia–living in a Florida home where they ate cheesecake and made sex jokes at expense of Blanche because sheĢƵ an old hussy; it was brilliant.

However, not only were the interior house shots filmed on a sound stage, the establishing shot of the house wasn’t even in Florida, it was in California and was occupied by a couple for 65 years before their recent deaths.

Not only is it sad that the couple passed away, itĢƵ also unfortunate for the new owner because I’m sure the couple could have told them some interesting buyer-beware stories.

You see, there are easy ways to find the actual addresses of these places and many of them are private residences like “The Golden Girls” house. Imagine taking out the trash, getting your mail or chasing men dressed as bears off your lawn and people slow down in their cars and ask stupid questions like, “Does Betty White still live here?” or “Do you guys have any cheesecake?” or “I’ve been stabbed and losing a lot of blood…do you know where the establishing shot for ‘General Hospital’ is located?”

Think of this weekĢƵ column as a more of a guide to a little-known pitfall in the world of real estate, especially if you have $3 million to spare for a house in Brentwood where male suitors ages 70 and older routinely knock on the door and ask, with a sly look in their eye and a bottle of Viagra in their pockets, to see Blanche.

According to Hofmann is written by staff reporter Mark Hofmann of Rostraver Township. His books, “Good Mourning! A Guide to Biting the Big One…and Dying, Too” and “Stupid Brain”, are available on Amazon.com. He co-hosts the “Locally Yours” radio show on WMBS 590 AM every Friday.

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