Another weird thing about the Cunningham house: have you ever noticed that both the front door and the kitchen door (presumably the back door) are on the front of the house? And that there are no windows or doors on the back wall? The staircase goes up the back wall, then evidently curves about three times to form a hallway that has doors off both sides. Again, this would work if it were a duplex, but it’s clearly not from the outside. (I think Chuck probably fell into whatever is on the other side of that wall.)
Other house oddities on TV:
Brady Bunch- in one episode it’s mentioned that the attic is 4 feet high while in another Greg has his bachelor’s pad in there. (Maybe the tectonic shifting in CA raised the ceiling.) It’s an average size split level from the outside but an enormously airy place on the inside.
GOLDEN GIRLS- simply no way does this work. The bedrooms are all enormous and look like luxury hotel rooms (does NOBODY ever leave laundry or towels on the floor?) The bedrooms are located to the right rear [as you face it] of the LR, as is the garage.
THE JEFFERSONS- I never figured this one out. George once said it was a 4 BR 4 ba. apartment. Alright, Florence’s room is through a door on stage-right (about where Bentley’s apartment should be), meaning that there are 3 bedrooms down a very twisting hallway that should also go where Bentley’s apartment is. Poor Mr. Bentley’s apartment must be 90 sq. feet, which would explain why he’s always coming to the Jeffersons.
FAMILY TIES- this is the house that has the disappearing/reappearing dining room that I mentioned in the sit-com thread. Usually you step from the kitchen into the living room, but other times there’s a very large dining room off the kitchen.
COSBY SHOW- in addition to being three times as wide on the inside as on the outside, it manages to have a window by the staircase even though it’s not on the end of the townhouse row. It also has a disappearing/reappearing dining room as well as a full doctor’s office on the ground floor (no zoning ordinances in this neighborhood; I understand his neighbors operate a women’s clinic and plastics factory in their basements) and an everchanging number of bedrooms upstairs.
BEVERLY HILLBILLIES- it’s a 32 room mansion. The Hillbillies assume the billiard parlor is the “fancy eatin’ room”. Does that mean that this is the only 32 room mansion in the country without a formal dining room? (You’d think that even hillbillies who’d never been in a big house could recognize a dining room.)
VALERIE/VALERIE’S FAMILY/HOGAN FAMILY- where are the bedrooms? The staircase is to the back and the living room is two stories high.
FAMILY MATTERS- Carl Winslow is clearly a cop on the take if he lives in a house this enormous on the pay of a policemen with three (later two) children. The kitchen alone is over 1,500 sq. feet and the two staircases lead to at least five bedrooms.
ALL IN THE FAMILY- from the outside it has a stoop, but walk up and you’ll suddenly notice there’s a porch there. Judging by where the staircase is placed Archie’s bedroom would have to be on the right at the top of the stairs (facing the backyard) yet it has a bay window and Gloria’s does not, but on the exterior shots the bay window is on the front bedroom.
