Two In The Think Tank - The Hollywood Sign - Do Go On Mini

Episode Date: May 26, 2020

This is the podcast version of episode one of our new web series that we made with Stupid Old Studios. You can watch the video of the episode complete with animations, props and lots and lots of regret face right now on The Stupid Old Channel YouTube page (link below). Episode one is all about The Hollywood Sign and how a giant billboard accidentally became the most famous sign in the world.Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/6xo-33ISjkISubscribe for more episodes.Our website: dogoonpod.comSupport the show and get rewards like bonus episodes: patreon.com/DoGoOnPod Submit a topic idea directly to the hat: dogoonpod.com/Submit-a-Topic Twitter: @DoGoOnPodInstagram: @DoGoOnPodFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoGoOnPod/Email us: [e-mail] out our other podcasts:Book Cheat: https://play.acast.com/s/book-cheatPrime Mates: https://play.acast.com/s/prime-mates/Our awesome theme song by Evan Munro-Smith and logo by Peader Thomas Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hey everybody, Jess and Dave, just jumping in really quickly at the top here to make sure that you are across all the details for our upcoming Christmas show. That's right, we are doing a live show in Melbourne Saturday December the 2nd, 2023, our final podcast of the year, our Christmas special. It's downstairs at Morris House, which usually be called the European beer cafe. On Saturday December the 2nd, 2023 at 4.30pm, come along, come one, come all, and get tickets at dogoonpod.com. Most weight loss programs are short-term fixes, but managing your weight needs a long-term solution,

and that's what makes Noom different. Noom uses science and personalization to help you manage your weight for the long term. Their psychology-based approach helps you build better habits and behaviors that are easier to maintain. The best part? You decide how noom fits into your life, not the other way around. Sign up for your trial today at noom.com. That's n-o-o-m.com to sign up for your trial today.

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in months, not years. Take classes online or on campus, and financial aid is available to qualified students including the GI Bill. Now is the time mycomputercareer.edu. Welcome to DoGoOnPresents. We're all sitting back here. May Matt Stewart, him, Dave Wernicke, and her, Jace Parking. Hello, it's me, Jace. Hello, it's me Wernic it's me we're in a key or else sitting here in a dark and room it's a little library as of an open fireplace you can't say it's just off-screen

off camera but that's the sound of it flickering oh we've got a guy playing a stand-up banjo in the corner Steve Martin I believe his name is yeah and he's uh... he's playing some smooth jazz banjo in the corner. Steve Martin, I believe his name is. Yeah, and he's playing some smooth jazz, banjo jazz in the corner, but we're all here just to briefly introduce a whole new show we're doing.

It's a spin-off show to do go on. We're calling it do go on. Wow. Where do they get their ideas? We put it through a few different target groups. I wanted to help you. I couldn't think of it. They all went out. That's fine. Yeah. It's perfect. How can you improve perfection? They said. That was the unanimous feedback.

We thought, my goodness gracious, that is kind. Then we tried a different focus group because we thought that first one had obviously been bribed by Matt Ordeve or me. And then the second group, same thing. I bribed them as well. And we thought, geez, if they kept getting bribed and answering the same way, it's got to be right. So we've gone with it. But what this episode is, is of a series that is a collaboration between us and Superdoll Studios and it's a web series basically, but this is it in audio podcast form But if you want to get the full audio visual experience get it all in all three days audio visual and in the dick Then you can watch it at the link in the show notes There's a bunch of visual gags including including some animated sections, photos and whatnot.

And you get to see us sitting here and our leather-bound chairs. This week's episode, the first one, Dave tells us the story of the Hollywood sign. And it is even more exciting than it sounds. No, it's one of those things, are're like, oh yeah, but it is actually, you know, a pretty surprising story, or you found anyway. Yeah, absolutely nothing of its origins or history. Or how much Dick Van Dyke was involved.

We're so much. We love you, Dick. Thank goodness. We love these the fourth day. And the fifth in Dyke. So if you want to watch it in all five days, click on the link below. But yeah, if you're driving or something, feel free to listen to the audio version. You'll get most of it. But if you want to get those extra four days.

I reckon the full day, the full experience on the stupid old channel YouTube page. Free to watch. Well, give it a bloody look. Give it a whirl. And why are you there? Why not subscribe to the channel? Because this is the first of nine episodes that are gonna be coming out over the next couple of months.

We may, we're not sure if we'll put the audio version in the feed, but probably will. And yeah, so listen and then watch and then listen again. And then watch again. And then have a little nap and listen again. Yeah, because it's only like half an hour or so. So you can definitely do it all in a day a few times. What's that?

Sit back, grab yourself a con-yac, and take your pants down. Just right. And enjoy this episode of Do Go On. It's the most famous sign in the world, but it started life as little more than a giant billboard. Since then, it survived neglect in pranks, witness suicide, and was saved from destruction by Alice Cooper and Hugh Hefner. Twice.

Today we're talking about the Hollywood sign. Hello and welcome. My name is Dave Warnke and I'm sitting here with Jess Perkins and Matt Stewart. And today we're talking about the Hollywood sign. What? It's surprised all of us. Mostly me, I've never read this before. Okay. No, the first question is have you ever been to Hollywood and seen the famous sign? Um, yeah, I went when I was eight, but I'm sure I saw it. Right, so tick done.

Yeah, done. No need. I don't particularly remember it, but I'm confident. I saw it. All right, well spell it then. Okay. All right, for memory. H.

Oh, H. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Miss pronounced. Got to go on to tick the Cal H. Damn it, sorry, miss pronounced. Miss pronounced. Got a one to take the Cali. All right, well played. Oh, I was there last month, and here's a photo of me eating an apple pie in front of it. That's as close as I got.

And if the tax office is watching, that was the sole reason I went to LA. It was for this report. Right, perfect, great. I ate. Written that off, OK. Right. OK.

Wait, where is the Hollywood sign there? Yeah. Red dot. We could just enhance. Oh! And enhance. And there it is. That's a big pie.

Yeah, the pie was bigger than my face. That's a big pie, yeah. There's actually debate as to how Hollywood, as we know it, got its name. What we do know is that a real estate developer called H.J. Whiteley bought 500 acres of land in the area now known as Hollywood and later on in 1887 the name Hollywood was recorded on the land's deed. But one story that I like to believe is true. It's strong. You'll see it.

Whitley, apparently, saw a man carrying wood in a wagon and asked what the man was doing and he said hauling wood But because he had a thick accent. Yes, Whitley misheard and thought he said Harley would okay I did not say where that was going I'm like what a boring story this feels pointless Well I'll strap in for the next few minutes. I enjoy any story where you miss here an accent. So often. So often. But either way, that became the name of the area, which in 1907 became home to a film industry when a small Chicago film company headed west for a film shoot.

Ah, from the windy city. Oh, Chicago. Chicago. By 1912, 15 studios had set up and the industry boomed. Americans went cinema crazy and Hollywood and the dreams and aspirations of that star-studded lifestyle that we all still want so badly. I mean, exploded. Some of us want some of us get, alright?

We are sitting in our mansion. Hollywood? For maybe for context, Hollywood is kind of like the Silicon Valley for film. Now I get it. Yeah, okay. Thank you so much. I just wanted to put in a term to nerd like you would understand. Thank you. I hear Silicon and I'm get it. Yeah, okay. Thank you so much. I just wanted to put in a term to nerd like you would understand. Thank you.

I hear Silicon and I'm into it. I'm real. So Hollywood exploded. What? And how did you... Luckily they recovered from the explosion. The local population exploded and it more than doubled in the 1920s. More than doubled. More than doubled.

Wow. It didn't quite triple. But it, somewhere between double and triple. We need a word for that. Triple? Double and a half? Yeah, double half. No.

Yeah, it's more than double. Double and a half. It's more than double. It's more than double. So was it just farmland for this? Is it pretty open area? So Los Angeles didn't exist. I haven haven't got my head around the difference when Los Angeles and Hollywood were there. Well yeah there's still people there but

what caused the city to really take off was this industry. Really? Los Angeles is the biggest city in America because of movies. Well it's not the biggest city in America. Wow I'm learning so much. I believe New York has more people. Whoa! And possibly more soul. Well, what you need to know is a bunch of people moved to Hollywood to start making films and as is often in the way, people saw this and wanted to cash in. Yeah.

So a syndicate of investors, led by the publisher of the LA Times, Harry Chandler, decided to launch a real estate venture. Oh, could he bear any more real estate venture? He was an upscale development underneath where the sign is today. They were basically selling house and land packages marketed as an escape from the bustling city. Oh. That was how they were selling Hollywood. That's fun. Well, this is how they were selling Hollywood.

They needed to advertise the development. And early on, it was a bit wordy. They placed an ad in it. This is what I read. See if you would buy it from this ad. Okay. Well, your family enjoy a delightful home in the clean, pure mountain air of Hollywood land.

Yes. With its wonderful climate, broad open spaces and plenty of elbow room. Yes. Or were you living a dwelling in the flat, uninteresting houses in a row sections of the city? Your family's freedom hampered by this maelstrom of human existence.

I don't want that. Wow. Do we really need to big ourselves up by pushing down on this Hollywood? Yeah, fucking. We swan on this. on this Hollywood. Yeah, fucking, we swear on this. We are now. Well, I was about to say the big swear. So...

Thank you for your restraint. Thank you for thanking me. This is what this is meant to be. Thank you, Ed. Thank you. So that was the ad that they placed. Surprisingly, it didn't really capture the public's imagination. So they decided to think outside the box. It's again debated as to who had this thought, but someone suggested a giant billboard. But not just a billboard, a sign that would put the name of the housing estate on the map. The estate was called Hollywood Land,

and in 1923, they built the giant letters that we all know today. So originally it had four more letters in red. Hollywood Land. What was the four more letters? Uh, Hall. So they say it's just Lee Woodland. Which I thought.

Hollywood Land. So it was literally a billboard for real estate. For real estate. So it may as well be like, Tayla's like, or something. Yeah! Caroline Springs. That's what Hollywood was. It was just a, it was a Henley properties.

Yes, come have a look. With Elbow room. That's wild. I had no idea about that. You could just say display homes here and then an arrow. Yeah, that would have done the job too. So I saw a sign like at about half an hour out of Melbourne for a new display village thing

and it said, do you want to live in the middle of everywhere? I'm like, yeah, so why are you advertising living in a different place? It was literally in the middle of nowhere. They haven't brackets, don't live here. They're like, no, we're gonna put in a BP, so, got everything you need? Yeah, but surely the selling point is,

do you wanna live away from everything? Yeah. Yeah, I can't. Don't be able to pay some coins. Yeah, do you wanna back, yeah? Oh my goodness. Wanna rid of that? What do you wanna live in the mouse room

of human existence? Oh my God, that is good too. Can't, I know. But wait a minute, it's really bleak. I'm surprised by this. So it is LA is an existing place and Hollywood is like, and a state on the outskirts. Well, there's an area called Hollywood, but then to capitalize on people wanting to move to Hollywood, they've bought this land and said, let's market it as Hollywood land. Right.

Yeah, right. And it's actually a long way. At the time, it's market it as Hollywood land. Right. Yeah, right. And it's actually a long way. At the time, it's like, come here for a quiet break from the rest of the city. Yeah. But obviously, over time, it's expanded. But a road had to be built to get the materials to the sign of the site. But the last bit of the journey was so inaccessible that the materials had to be carried up the mountain by mules.

Yeah. That means it's inaccessible. Yeah. Only mules. Yep, that means it's inaccessible. Yeah. Only mules will do. Get them, get them to swallow condoms full of drugs. Send them up. Are these mules had to carry 60 telephone sized poles? And they say births in their rectums. That's bad news. That's bad news. But that's on them. They will be disarmed, but the drug dealer in question. Oh, they had to carry 60 telephone-sized poles that would support the signs letters. Sorry. They are the size of telephone poles or the size of telephones.

That is a good question. Because I know it was a long time ago, telephones were a bit bigger, but still, I could carry a couple of telephones, I reckon. Easy. Like telephone poles, magic poles. Telephone, big time. What year is this again?

1923. Oh, good year. Very good year. So the letters were 45 feet high, and were made up of 1,320 pieces of thin sheet metal, and the media stunt cost a pretty penny. Back then, it cost $21,000, which is over a quarter of a million US dollars now. Okay.

That feels... I love that. That feels like a good investment. And an icon. Well, they didn't know it was gonna be an icon. The plan was to put it up for 18 months. Right. Sell the properties, tear it down.

It's kind of like, awful tower was meant to be a temporary thing, but it became so much more. So much more. What is it? Let's go. Big spark in the sky. Yep. Have stand. Have stand. Place to meet people. I think someone's married to it. Australians get engaged there. Australians do. Only Australians. Mainly Australians.

Well, we only want to do my Facebook feed. You can put magnets on it. You can? Is that true? Could you put a magnet of the Eiffel Tower on the Eiffel Tower? That's a legal. That's a legal. That was illegal.

Now, something I didn't realize was the sun originally was covered with nearly 4,000 lights. And at night night the billboard flashed in four stages. It would say holly, then wood, then land, and then hollywood land. Oh, love it. It's like it's regressed as a sign. Yeah, it's good. I mean, now at night you can't see it at all. It's become super analog when it was born in Dolby's digital surround sound. It's pretty boring now. Yarn.

Well, you yarn, but for many, the sign was a symbol of the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. But as for others, it came to represent the tough industry towered over. Peg Entwistle was an actor that will be forever associated with the sign. Peg Entwistle. You know that name we all know. Peg, entwistle. Oh, sorry, I'm just pronouncing that peggy, entwistle. Peggy, yes, peggy.

You know that name? Entwistle. I don't know the name, but I love that name. That's a great name. Sadly, that name is associated with the sign for all the wrong reasons. Oh. Oh no.

Oh, okay, yep. Go on. She was a young actor in the 1930s. Change your name then. If you're an actor. No, that's a stage name. That's a stage name. I have not written down her phone name. Peggy, Entwistle.

It's like Mary or something and people call it Peg. Yeah, Peg, I can see that. She's punched it up there. Married a Peg. Where did she come from to get the Entwistle? Entwistle. Because I love it. I think I need to make that clear i love it she was well

uh... uh... so i'll probably a lot longer is that a well-shredding was yeah then she was reborn but the well you know i mean you're all reborn once you're a little bit rebrand sorry rebrand young actor in the 1930s and for a time the future looked bright She had Hollywood. Oh yeah. Rebrand, sorry, rebrand, that's what I'm looking for. Young actor in the 1930s and for a time the future looked bright.

She'd had a tough start in life moving from Wales to America to live with her aunt and uncle after her parents had died. Her aunt and uncle were in the theatre business and Peg started acting. You picked up their scripts. Beer jazz hands. Yeah, she had a talent. That's so rare these days. What am I playing the bagpipes?

I don't know what I'm doing. You try to hold a book and do jazz hands. It's not an easy thing to do. That's so rare these days. What am I playing the bagpipes? I don't know what I'm doing. You try to hold a book and do jazz hands. It's not an easy thing to do. But with my training... Yeah, I reckon you can get me there. I look like to me that you were trying to get something out of the mule. Hang on, give me a sec.

Don't move. Do not move. And I cannot stress that enough. So she started performing in plays in New York and then back in LA. Things looked really up when she was offered an acting gig in a movie. Oh, that's where you're one on stage. Yeah. Well, it was not on a street.

Well, it was so tempting that she skipped out on two plays that she was booked for to take the job. Literally. She skipped out. That's happy. That's the happiest way to leave a play. It's happy to leave anything I reckon. That's happy. That's the happiest way to leave a play. That's happy to leave anything, I reckon. That's true.

Or if you've got access to a hoverboard, hover the fuck out there. Imagine if you could skip on a hoverboard. Still, but. That's a future. Well, sadly, this would blacklist her from the theatre scene because she bailed on the plays that she would, the professional plays. She said she'd be in them, rehearsed and everything, but then got this movie and said, I've got to do the movie.

Because at the time, wouldn't a theater have been the more respectable thing? Well, yeah, and I think it was sold in the olden days. And two separate scenes, you know, the theater scene, the movie scene, but she's transitioning to film or so she thinks. The movie role turned out to be not the big break that she'd hoped for.

Oh, no. She played a woman in a lesbian relationship, but due to the motion picture production code at the time, thinking that this was too controversial to show to the American public, the studio was forced to drop that storyline and Peg went from a main role to a small background cameo.

She was just a barista in a Starbucks in the background of a scene. That was, yeah, and that was actually the first on Starbucks. Yeah. It was a fictional, yeah. Bar history. It actually started, yeah, it actually started as like a,

which is also a, that's what they used to call cafes. Bar history. Bar history. Love that. I love history. Yeah. I love Bar history. I love Bar history history.

I got a read and write a book on it. And he has. I don't know how to read it. I don't know how to read it. I don't know how to read it. I don't know how to read it. I don't know how to read it. I don't know how to read it.

I don't know how to read it. I don't know how to read it. I don't know how to read it. I don't know how to read it. I don't know how to read it. I don't know how to read it. I don't know how to read it. I don't know how to read it.

I don't know how to read it. I don't know how to read it. I don't know how to read it. I don't know how to read it. I don't know how to read it. I don't know how to read it. I don't know how to read it. I don't know how to read it. I don't know how to read it. I don't know how to read it. I don't know how to read it. I believe, didn't you? Yeah. There we go, turn up the right way for a bit of a challenge.

Oh, okay. The bar history industry was getting hot. Oh! Much like the milk that they frothed. People were moving to town. Which town? Sorry, you don't ask questions, the song is reading a book.

I'm reading your book? I'm really sorry. I was assuming the book would get to it. Do you want me to get a page 12? I'm sorry, I'm going to get a page 12. She's your own adventurism? All the men and women loved living in the foam, which is what they call a barista feel. And I hate little bickies. And I hate little bickies. Right. And they couldn't have been happier with their choices because they were living it up and they were ringing wrong.

Wow, I mean, you could have gotten editor but you didn't. And that's fine. I wrote it. I wrote it. Stream of consciousness and I have no regret. Yeah, well, like all the great James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Matt Stewart. Hey, little biggie. Is that available in audiobook form?

It is, yeah, it is. Right. Who reads it? Is it you or Stephen Fry? No, it is me. Couldn't get Stephen Fry. No, I could. But I refused to meet begged. He begged to be invited, said, Stephen,, but I refused to make begged. He begged to me and Valdor said, Steven, could but wouldn't. This is my book, How Dare You Try And You Sop Me. Yeah, I could call.

You know nothing of the bar history. Yeah, and I, the research, Steven. I don't like to slide in and take the glory. Well, if I can slide in here to take us away from Fannen, into tragedy, please. Okay. She tried to return to the theatre, this is Peg in Twistle after being put in the background of the Bristery, but was not looked upon kindly for skipping out on the previous theatre

role for cinema and she was blacklisted. Sadly, on Friday 16th 1932 at the age of 24, what she hiked up to the Hollywood sign and took her own life by jumping of the top of the age. Oh. That was why she's forever associated with the sign. Right. I wonder if you specifically choose a letter, or you wouldn't think about it.

Yeah, I guess. I mean, a deeper day. Yeah. It's what she could have thought. But there's a bit of an around an edge, at least the age you've got that middle level and then you can sort of get up. You do, you've just got a big sort of

and avoid in the middle and then you know, you're just like, Dave, yeah. And I'm devoid in the middle. From here to here is empty. Yeah. So as I said, the originally times I mean, it meant to be out for eight or a month and they planned to tear it down.

But it stayed standing, becoming a bit of a landmark, but no one wanted to pay for the upkeep. In 1933, the owners had stopped their maintenance, they only paid for that first 18 months. The marketing purposes had long gone and were starting to cost money and over the years the sign fell into disrepair. For a time it actually became a bit of an eye-saw, visible from all over Los Angeles. In 1936, the second owe fell over. Haha, fell over. Before two more letters joined it on the ground.

How did they fall? In the wind. Get out. Up on the hill. You know, nobody bolted down. Well, they didn't build it properly because I thought we don't want to spend too much money on it. Yeah, and it's only going to be up for a short time.

Yeah, scrappy wood at the time. Yeah. Much like the awful tower. Yeah. crappy wood at the time. Yeah, much like the awful tower. Yeah, fell over, fell over. Twice, crappy wood. Cappy wood. Yeah. That's why the magnets instinct.

Yeah. Don't know why we thought they would. Because the wood was crappy, not that sweet magnetic wood. Yes. Oh, man. Hey guys, this is Paige from Giggly Squad. This episode is brought to you by the new L'Oreal Paris Bright Reveal Dark Spot Serum and Broad Spectrum SPF50 Daily Loathing.

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You're driving, cleaning, and even exercising. But what if you could be saving money by switching to Progressive? Drivers who save by switching save nearly $750 on average, and auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Multitask right now, quote today at progressive.com, progressive casualty and trans company and affiliates, national average 12 month savings of $744 by new customer surveyed, who saved with progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary, discounts not available in all safe and situations. So, three letters have fallen over,

and the company that built it gave into public pressure and paid for small fortune to have it repaired. In December 1944, the owners of the sign, sick of having to pay this upkeep, donated it and the 425 acres around it to the city of LA, for the token price of a single dollar. And the city then added it to Griffith Park. A dollar? That's an absolute bargain.

Yeah, it's funny when deals like that get done and it's just for legalities, right? They have to pay something. You've got to pay something. Yeah. But you think now was under the control of the city, this is where it's icon status really took off. It would surely get the respect it deserves. Yeah.

And it still got land? Still got land. But not long after acquiring it, the H was knocked over in the wind and then lay on the ground for nearly six years. What? So for six years it read, Oli would land. Oli would land?

I like it. All right, Governor. Welcome now, Oli will land. Dude, black out for a bit there? Come back to us, come back to us, Matt. And you're back in the room. Well? Yeah. Sorry about that.

In 1947, the City's Recreation and Parks Commission suggested the whole sign be torn down. But residents luckily rallied against this decision. Really? So they... But they liked it even though it had fallen over and it had been not saying Hollywood for a long time. For six years I said, Oli would land and people were like, I love Oli would land. I love it. Wow.

Dick Van Dyke. I love it. Dick Van Dyke actually played. There was a man whose job was to live up next to the sign and he was his job for many years when I had lights to change the nearly 4,000 lights and Dick Van Dyke actually played that guy in a film. What? Seriously, yeah. I wasn't going to include that, but there it is, bit of a bonus. What can't, so what film was that?

It was a short film. Okay, very short. Possibly educational. So, 4,000 globes, he's got a change. And they're not all going out at once. Dracon, every day at least one of them's out. A reckon. God, I've been annoying.

That's your full-time job. Oh, today I'm going to change one globe. Great. I'm Dick Van Dyke. Fantastic. Actually, that's pretty good. Yeah. Happy to be Dick.

Oh, I say that too. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, President John Kingsley, entered the argument by offering, on behalf of the Chamber, to finance the resurrection of the H, provided the last four letters land were removed, so it would represent the whole city. Oh, OK, yeah, that's smart. So there was years of debate, but this finally happened,

and this is when the sign went from Hollywood land, just plain old Hollywood, as we know it. What are we up to in our year was? Well that was the 1940s and it went through a couple of small facelifts and minor repair jobs over the next two decades. And despite being recognized as a historical cultural monument by the city of LA in 1973, by 1978 it was obvious that the sign had seen better days.

It was never designed to last for this many decades, and the wood supporting the letters had rotted away and was further damaged in a storm. So in 1978, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce launched a Save the Sign campaign with a goal of raising $250,000 to replace the old sign with an exact replica built out of stronger materials. Right. Rock and Royal Legend, Alice Cooper pledged $27,700 to repair the third O. 27,700.

We demand a money. Well, I think it's kind of one-knife. He basically bought one letter. I see. He said you you're right. Okay, I still hate it. I love it. It's such a weird number. Like give 25 grand. And he said, give 30, 27,700. Oh, sorry. He just explained it so perfectly. You want to get that? I said that I get it, but I still don't like it.

It just doesn't sound like he get it. I'm not sure if I get it, but I still don't like it. It doesn't sound like you get it. I'm not sure if you get it. Do I need to get the calculator out? So he said, I want to rebuild the third O in honor of Graf show marks. The legend who had died the previous year. Yeah, classic third O. He was the third out of the marks brothers.

We've all said it. Yep. Bruno and Cedric with the other two O's. Yeah. They're the other master's. Yep, yep. Zippy-Gippy, Cedro and Gwokmolley. What a bother records announced they would also contribute 27,700 for the replacement of the second O. Playboy magazine found a Hugh Hefner

held a fundraising night at the Playboy Mansion to support the sign. At the event, Moon River singer Andy Williams announced that he would pledge to rebuild the letter W. For Williams. I didn't think you would play it and then ban. Second on call. System Systems reference, thank you so much. Heftness event raised over $45,000, and they're letter Y with dedicated to him.

So now all these letters are dedicated to these celebrities. What's going to be the last letter chosen, the poor little last kid picked for the sports team? People got to step up. I mean, we all have favorite letters. Sure, but aren't they all necessary? It's the second owl. It's just a stick.

Oh, good point. One point. Good point. They only use sticks. Yeah, well, that's part of why they need to rebuild it because they literally just put sticks out. Yeah, just so. Other donors came forward including Terence Donnelly, a publisher of the Hollywood Independent Newspaper. Italian movie producer Giovanni Mazzar, an actor, Jean Ortrich, and eventually the money was raised. The old sign was ripped down and for the first time in 55 years Hollywood had no sign. It took three months for the new sign to fully go up. This time supported by steel girders dropped in by helicopters.

That makes sense. It was mules on the end of a helicopter. Yeah. Lowered down. But wearing hard hats this time because we've learned and our safety is better now. We respect animals. And at being Hollywood, they also had bellies for a coke. Yeah. Classic meal. This time without content. And so they also had big dreams. Yeah.

There's Hollywood. That's why they were there. They put all the dreams stuffed into condoms. Swollen one by one. It was unveiled in November 1978. 1978, cool. This new song was built to stand the test of time and the only real threat to it since has been commercial development around it.

In the 2000s, it looked like housing could be built close to the sign, but a fundraiser called Save the Peak was launched to raise the money to buy the land. Hugh Hefner again came to the rescue and it was his $1 million donation that got the $12 million fundraiser over the line. Hugh Hefner later said, it represents Hollywood dreams. Oh, that's beautiful. Heff.

It does seem like it'd be shortsighted to muck with that with housing, right? Just places where people can live, you know? This is letters on a hill. Yeah. There's so much more than that. Yeah. He makes such a good point.

This is letters on a hill with a small shack nearby where a man used to live that was later played by's so much more than that. Yeah. He makes such a good point. This is Letters on a hill with a small shaknie about where a man used to live that was later played by the band-eye. A man, yeah. Play a bitter respect. I like to think it was Dick Van Dyke. Who looks after it now? Dick Van Dyke's son Barry Van Dyke,

who was also his son in diagnosis murder. Which is one of the greatest shows of all time, which just would be well. I'm sure you're right. Of course. The son Barry Van Dyke was a cop, Dick was a doctor. No. Dr. Mark Sloan, he's son.

The two of them solved a crime every week. Yes. Dr. Dad, cop son, coming together. Beautiful. It's real nice. Beautiful. And makes sense. And then of course the doctor's solving the crime.

Of course. I think we've also got nearly every other one of Dick Van Dyke's relatives to play characters on the show. I think they're... Sedric Van Dyke, Bruno Van Dyke. Gwokomolli Van Dyke. I believe that Barry Van Dyke's son,

to Dick's grandson, whose name is Shane Van Dyke, played I think eight or nine separate characters on show throughout the series. Let us keep bringing him back. Dick Shane and Barry. Name a more iconic true. Groucho, Gokomole and Zippy. Wow, it's close, but I think Dick Barry and Shane

got the chocolates. Dick Barry and Shane. That's the chocolates. Holy shit, that's so good. That's my favorite fact of all time. The Van Dyke, three generations, Dick Barry and Shane. That's sort of like an old school version of Fuck Married Kill. Which one we did?

Dick Barry and Jolly Shane. Well, I'm definitely shaining Barry. Probably enough, a Dick Dick. Leaving Barry for Shane. That's the game over the top. You're going to dig Barry and shine, dig Barry and shine. Ooh. It's a tough one.

The combinations are endless. I'm going to stick with what I said yesterday when we played it last. Dick and Dick. Barry and shine and shining Barry. So So these days it just says Hollywood and it looks like the letters won't be falling down again any time soon. But if you look up at Mount Lee, the Mount where it is, it doesn't always say Hollywood. Over the years there's been some pranksters of thought. Oh!

And they've changed the lettering. Oh, what have they done now? In 1976 and 2017, people have pranked it to say, holly weed. Ah! Both times to mark, Lucifer State Marijuana law is being passed in California.

It's 420 somewhere, isn't it? How do they do it? How do they make osu like ease? Are they hang stuff over this? That makes more sense, yes. What is that? The hang stuff. I was just like, but isn't it?

Oh, I didn't even put the thing in. You're the temporarily marketer. Yeah, I got it. Other times, let us have been hung over the existing characters to change it completely. Other times, it said, in 1987, it said Caltech to represent the California Institute of Technology. Okay, that's less than me. Go Caltech.

That would have had to hang a lot of things in front of the change. Yeah. It looks completely different. It's just a different sign. It was changed to Perot Wood when Ross Perot was running for US President in the 90s. Oh. Yeah, and that went really well. And we'll always have President Perot. The man you just said, we all remember him well. And we'll always have President, the man you just said.

We all remember him well. Ross Perot. What a great stintie had there in the old, over-office. Which is the place that they do. They're business. They hung a sign over it. It was actually the square office. He was.

That's fun. I love Hollywood Traxxas. My personal favorite is when in 1993, it was changed to read, jolly good. Oh, that's good. Johnny Good. That was when Dick Van Dijk was in. In my head, Dick Van Dijk is permanently his English character from Mary Purpose. Jolly good.

That was as good of an English accent as he did in the film. That was actually a little too good. That was offensively good. So accent as he did in the film. That was actually a little too good. Yeah. That was offensively good. So it said jollywood in 1993, something that Richard Branson would organize again in the year 2000 when Virgin started flying nonstop from LA to London. Another man with an unconvincing English accent. Richard Branson. So it said jollywood. Hello, I'm Richard Branson.

Yeah. Oh, that's a good Richard Branson. Oh, let's fly on a plane. Ha ha! I'm a man. I'm a madman. I'm all right, good on me. He is famously evil. Is he really? And mad.

That's not true. Don't see me Richard. So, and you know, I first I read that that it was changed for a media stunt to advertise something. And also Pepsi have had a figure input up there, a figure put on there, a movie's have been launched by putting things up there. And at first I was like, well, how awful they've taken an icon and turns it into little more

than a bit of marketing. And then I remember that the whole reason it's there was for marketing in the first place. And marketing something pretty dull too. Land, house and land packages. Yeah. Unless you're into that. But I mean, as an artist, you'll never own a home.

It's not particularly interesting. Yes, it's Chorda Selvanartis. That's the... That's the... That's just a little razzle. We're sucking you in. She did it. We caught it.

Wrap it up. Well, it is time to wrap it up. Thank you so much for joining me in the library. Thanks so much for having us in your library. It's our library. Our library. We'll never own a home, but we will own a library. Yes.

All of those books are real. Yes. Yes, but that is it for the Hollywood sign. If you want to hear more from us, this is the spin-off from our podcast, DoGo One, which has over 200 episodes. We've covered other classic Hollywood topics like Marilyn Monroe, the drowning of Natalie Wood,

the black Dalian murder, and who could forget the life of Hugh Hefner? Subscribe for free on your favorite podcast app, and be sure to subscribe to this channel to check out our other episodes. Are you gonna be nailed it? Well done Dave. Thank you.

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