The Lot on Sunset, Part I

Now that the move to the new location seems to be close to occurring some of us who have worked and volunteered at the studio should recall some of the highlights of the studio. I have seen so many events take place and have heard even more stories of events that took place and rumors of things that occurred that make interesting stories
My first time at KCET was to help at Auction. It was an annual event that gave the views a chance to bid on all types of items at just about any price level. Sometimes we had such a variety of items on the same cart that it was funny. One incident was five buckets of roof sealant as a group. Well each had five gallons of sealant and were very heavy. The producer insisted that we take all five to the set for each of the groups and they had donated a whole pallet of the product. Yes, it was uphill from the warehouse to the stage. One year it was apparent that not all of the volunteers were equally honest. We had a group of people who would be given the contents of one set-up to take to the stage and help arrange to make them look good for the camera and see that the talent knew what they would be describing. It appeared to the production staff that a few of the more valuable items had disappeared on the way to the set. A couple of us had to be designated to bring the more valuable items to the set and that led to confusion about what was on each cart. It all just added to the confusion. The two camera people who came close destroying the two cameras when they had a near collision while on the air will remain nameless.
Then I started to volunteer to answer the phones for pledge. It was actually more interesting and we were first trained by the director of volunteers Dotty Kemp. Dotty made working pledge fun and she always was in a good mood despite what was going on around her. She tried to make the breaks look different by moving the people around so that the front row looked different each break and besides gave all the people a chance to be seen close up on camera. She did her “witch act” to get people to move and it usually worked. Not all people were happy but it did work. It was always a pleasure to work with Dotty. Her work was at so respected that the award for the volunteer leader of the year at PBS (Public Broadcasting System) was named in her honor.
One time they had designed the set to look like a beach. Well the company mascot was KCAT who was a black cat that had moved onto the lot and took charge. She liked to sleep on the warm control counsels and became very mad and retaliated if locked in an office. The cat decided that the sand beach on the set was a great big litter box. The audience never did realize why all of the volunteers started to laugh, but it was apparent to everyone on the stage what the cat was going to do. The laughter did deter her from doing her thing and she actually looked very upset about being disturbed. I understand that the stage hands were not very pleased when they discovered that she had been using the sand pile on several occasions when she was not disturbed. KCAT was loved and taken care of by several people. That led to a fat cat who was very independent. I know that she hated the cat carrier and her visits to the vet. I’m sworn to secrecy about her final resting place, but will say that she will not be moving to the new location.
KCAT may be one of the ghosts that will remain on the lot. People have several stories of hearing and seeing strange things on the lot. One said that items on his desk had a habit of moving while he has out of his office. That ghost is the original owner of the studio who still likes his original office. Others roam the corridors and the stages. Some of the places on the lot did feel spooky and would lead themselves to a feeling that someone was present when no one was around.
Before this becomes a book let me just say that there are many stories and I will do several installments before the move from the historic lot. Many people who have worked at the station have taken this opportunity to revisit the lot and many more will come before the move. The bottom line is that the station may be moving locations, but the independent feeling of the station is getting stronger and will become more evident as time goes on.