Thursday, November 21, 2013

The Big Bus (1976)

Check out the all new page for THE BIG BUS at SET-JETTER.COM



















If you have not seen The Big Bus, stop what you are doing and watch it!    One of my favorite comedy spoofs that pre-dates Airplane, the movie features a nuclear-powered bus on it's initial non-stop from from New York to Denver.   And is shot in Los Angeles, of course.  First up, the warehouse where the bus is built is no longer there, but you can see the Port of Los Angeles in the background, and the small round building in several shots....







Screenshots....







Up next, the bus depot from which the Cyclops departs is no longer there, it is just a parking lot, but you can see the buildings surrounding it here in downtown LA....















Screenshots....











And some publicity shots from the same area....


The area where they use foam to slow the bus down is up on Main Street in Santa Clarita.   A lot of the buildings have been updated, but some are the same....




Screenshots....



And my favorite location of the film, the cliff where the bus teeters perilously....








Screenshots....








Check out this cool vintage article on the making of The Big Bus....















12 comments:

  1. The ten year old kid inside of the 52 year old man thanks you for your time and research. I was in love with that bus . and the pictures was great nice to know some of those places are still around

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  2. The 9 year old child and the 52 year old man in me thanks you for the great pictures. I all ways wanted to visit that cliff. And see the great places THE BIG BUS was made thank you!

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  3. Replies
    1. It is the Big Tujunga Dam, the cliff was at these coordinates: 34°17'35.8"N 118°10'50.9"W

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  4. Even if it was "anchored with tons of concrete and steel" it still looks touchy. It was amazing to see the actual principals standing out on that pick-up bed overlooking the Big Tujunga. An amazing real-world set. Perhaps second only to the dragon's nest built atop the Chryler Building for 'Q- The Winged serpent'.

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    Replies
    1. 100% agree - it is a pretty scary set up, especially considering it's a comedy.

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  5. Shortly after the bus left the depot, it drove right past 'Saugus Speedway' in Saugus, CA near Magic Mountain Parkway.

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  6. Any idea when this first aired on TV? Wikipedia says March 1978 but I am looking for the exact date. This was the first time I saw the movie. I too was fascinated by the bus.

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    1. Good question, I'm not sure either, but that was probably the first time I saw it.

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  7. I found the original TV air date on Ultimate70's.com. The Big Bus first aired on CBS on Wednesday March 22, 1978 at 9 pm. I was 8 at the time and remember being baffled by the talk of eating someone's foot. I also recall Harold Gould commenting on the coyote facing the wrong direction. That particular scene was deleted from the DVD release. I wonder if that was a TV only scene used to add time to the TV edited film.

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