Awesome video! It was great to see where things were and what they look like now. Plus truth in advertising! I was blown away by the dome that was once the top of the Briown Derby! That took a lot of research and hours to put together, but the ends justified the means. Thank you Rick! Well done!

Love your videos! When I was about 3 years old (1954) my Mum took me to visit some of her family who had moved to LA. We stayed with my granddad who, one afternoon, took my Mum and I to lunch at The Brown Derby (the hat shaped building). We actually sat at the serving bar in the center of the "hat" - I remember the counter being round and being a 3 year old I took a fancy to the little bottles of milk served with the coffee. The waitress saw how excited I was and gave me one of the bottles. Even at my young age I remember so much of the trip - we flew from Philadelphia to LA on a prop plane (of course) and I remember being given chewing gum to help "Pop" our ears during changes in altitude...

Fantastic! When my mom and I moved to LA in 1966 (from land locked El Paso Texas), I would ride my bike down Wilshire Blvd to the beach almost every week to go body surfing. I can still remember sometimes having to stop at the signal light where the actual Derby Hat was. Eventually our boss took my friend and I who were Schwinn mechanics working at their shop to celebrate a record sales season in the late 70s. I can remember their food was so good and our boss ordering their famed Cobb salad. Rick, Thanks for the memories. Dan

The Brown Derby should have been considered a preserved site. I would love to see you climb up there as well as more about the Brown Derby scenes with the Hollywood stars.

I love it when original items are preserved, this absolutely amazes me and thank you for the “history lesson “! I Love Lucy is my absolute favorite show, I was brought up on it and so were my daughters!

I love these videos about the actors, the sites and any other behind the scene information. Thank you so much for making them.

Another good one Rick. I came to LA in 1978 for schooling at CalArts and stayed here because I got work. I remember seeing the Derby when it was still standing as it was. Then, at some point in the 1980s and, as I recall, overnight, the bulldozers came in and by morning the Derby was gone. There was a great deal of outrage at that time but no one knew they had preserved the dome as they did. I knew they had saved the neon sign, which is terrific. So it may be mostly gone, but certainly not forgotten. 😊

Disney World Florida (Universal Studios) has a pretty awesome Brown Derby restaurant recreation, complete with a delicious cobb salad and tons of celebrity pics on the walls. Thanks for this! Great video.

Take the trip Rick!!! That would be a great vlog! Thanks for posting. This channel just keeps going and going and going. Love it!!!

This is my absolute favorite episode of the entire series! I’m a huge William Holden fan. What a nice surprise to learn some inside info on it!! So cool about the top of the Brown Derby being preserved.

Yes please make the trip love all the on location and info

Having just visited Southern California just a few weeks ago to show my niece around the Queen Mary, Hollywood and Beverly Hills (including the former home of Lucille Ball on Roxbury Drive), the former location(s) of The Brown Derby would have been brilliant to share. The fact there were two restaurants was not known. Either of these, along with Chasen's, were on the hit list for family vacations to LA, but we never managed to get to them before they shut. However, for those interested in seeing some culinary delights from Old Hollywood still in existence, Russo & Franks' Grill, opened in 1919, is still in operation and a place where some celebrities still frequent. As an interesting footnote, a small pub called The Brown Derby in London was named after the Hollywood restaurants and has a 1920s theme to it. This video has inspired me to stop the next time I cycle by to finally have a look inside. Thank you for all your amazing videos and your due diligence in research on all things Lucy.

When I was in the Marines at Camp Pendleton myself n couple of buddies went to Hollywood walk around check the sites. The Brown Derby was still there n we got free meals. This was back in the 80's while everything was still there. Yes it was cool. We about fell out over the fact mgmt was willing to do that. We really had no money. They had auto graphed photos. Very snappy. Of course everything changes with time. It was great.

In July. 1978 I was 22 years old and had to spend a month in Los Angeles in a ales training class; there were four of us sharing an apartment just off Wilshire Blvd ..... the classes were taught at the IBM education center across the street just past the Ambassador Hotel so we would walk past the Brown Derby and Ambassador every day ..... it was my first time in LA and while I had my first visits to DisneyLand, and Universal Studios Hollywood, saw tapings of Rhoda and Welcome Back Kotter and even did a weekend drive from LA to Las Vegas, I have always regretted not having a meal in the Brown Derby or taking a walk through the lobby of the Ambassador. At least I got to see the Derby and somewhere I have a 35MM slide or two of it. Outstanding video -- thanks for doing it.

I don't know who said to watch The Paul Lynde Show, but I noticed it was starting on Antenna TV, so I started watching it, and I love it!! So, thanks

Thanks for continuing California's rich history legacy reminisce of California's Gold with Huell Howser.

Love the trivia GOLD you shared in this video! This is my all time favorite episode. Having been to LA, even walking by it but did not see this. Kicking myself!! Love, love, LOVE this.

I wished that the city of Los Angeles had preserved the original Brown Derby Restaurant on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Alexandria. It would have made such an amazing spot for people to visit considering how everyone loves 'I Love Lucy' and cannot forget that famous scene. Thank you, Rick, for this terrific video of days gone by.

amazing stuff

Yes , Rick , I would like for you to walk to the dome . I like historical places and facts . I enjoy your videos .

In my humble opinion, I think they went to the Hollywood Brown Derby which was located on Vine Street, just south of Hollywood Boulevard. The reason I say this is because Lucy points out that location from their hotel suite and it was the only one that had the pictures of stars on their walls. The one on Wilshire did not. When I was a kid, I used to go into the Hollywood Brown Derby looking for movie stars. The maitre'd was very nice to this young man and he would point out, very discreetly, what stars were dining there. I never disturbed them, I just wanted to see them. That was a long time ago, back in the early '60s. Thank you for your wonderful KZfaq channel!

I graduated from High School in 1979. I was given $50 as a graduation gift that day. I turned to my two best friends and said let’s go to the Brown Derby for a celebration! The waiter treated us like princess’s! He let us walk all around looking at the caricatures of movie stars on the walls. Such a sweet and precious memory! 💕. I didn’t know there was a memorial to the site of The Brown Derby! Thank you for this video!!

Wow, awesome details!! I remember that show! Yes take us on the walk with you to the Brown Derby Plaza. TFS Loved this video. 👍

Another great video Rick. You make videos on topics I wouldn’t have thought of for shows like I Love Lucy. Keep up the great work!

Yes! Please take a trip to see part of the dome 😊

I keep thinking while you were showing street view... "get out of the road you are about to get hit by a car. " You exceeded yourself in this video with superb research and editing.

I absolutely loved this, great research as usual!

Rick - Thank you for doing this. It's one of my favorite episodes. I went to L.A. 20 years or so ago and would have loved to have found this. Guess I better start saving to go again and see all these wonderful gems you have found. Thank you for all you do. It is appreciated. Blessings - Judith

Great video Rick!!! I love these glimpses of the past & present!! I think that a field trip to the location of the Brown Derby & the Beverly Palms Hotel would be fascinating, especially for subscribers that live far away! I actually visited the Brown Derby many many years ago & I have fond memories of that visit. Thanks for sharing 🙂

I think its absolutely awesome that they preserved the dome and named the shopping center The Brown Derby. Love all the videos you share with us. I try to get as much info on lucy as i can. I read books. , listen to audios, etc and your videos have shown and told me alot i didnt know. There is soooo much info about Lucy. I particularly like watching her on old game shows and various shows where she was honored. Im so glad this was done before she died. So often ppl arent recognized until after they've passed away. She knew she was loved all over the world. Every show I watched gave her a standing ovation, including the game shows. I just dearly love her. Im hoping to take a trip to Jamestown some day. Thanks again Rick!!

The trip would be great! Also, your work is just amazing! I could babble on, but will just leave it at that.

Thanks for bringing this video to us! When we had our family trip to LA years ago we wanted to eat at the Brown Durby. We were saddened to find out it was no longer there. One other thing you can see the original Brown Durby in the back drop from the Ricardo's Hollywood apartment.

Great video! I love vintage Hollywood/Los Angeles and I love "I Love Lucy", so this is definitely the place to be!! Thanks for all that you do 🙂

I love that they kept something of the Brown Derby. Thank you Rick 🤗😘

Absolutely, my favorite video. I had visited L.A. and Hollywood many times as a kid, and I remember driving past the Brown Derby with my parent and thinking that it was the coolest looking building. Later, when I saw the reruns of I Love Lucy and that episode, it really brought back fond memories. Thanks for the video as it too brought back fond memories of my childhood and my deceased parents in particular.

As a lifelong Angelino, I hate how we demolish, erase and rebuild in LA. Sad that we lost so much of the cool old buildings. Bunker Hill comes to mind.

I love what you do Rick, I always find these kinds of things interesting, thanks and always enjoy your videos and the education behind them!!

I'm sick and I can't really get out of my room, so this is so much fun to keep me occupied! Video's pretty interesting too

Cool video!! I love seeing film and TV locations. I didn't know there were two Brown Derby's. It's cool the dome still exists!

Thank you. Would love to see the dome😊

Honestly, I think Hollywood is like any city and it must progress. Just because our collective memories are of stars and movies, citizens call it home. It's wonderful that local government kept the derby. That's more than most localities would do! Great job as usual Rick!

Wow, Rick! Another mind-blower! For some reason I’d always thought the Brown Derby was at Hollywood and Vine! Life will never be the same... and heck yeah-go check out that derby!

Thank you for this! I love "before" and "after" shots of historic locations. I grew up in Los Angeles in the 1950's, my dad was a musician who worked with all the greats, and incredibly, I never went to The Brown Derby, Romanoff's, or Chasen's. However, Don the Beachcomber on McCadden Place in Hollywood was our family "go to" restaurant for special occasions.

Notice the "first" frame had our very familiar extra Hazel Pierce in the right booth. I've passed the Brown Derby on Vine near Hollywood Blvd. countless times. The main Derby was shaped like a derby located on Wilshire near Crenshaw. It's no longer there. It was a landmark and should have been preserved. It was near another very famous restaurant called Perinos on Wilshire. The other Derby is located in Beverly Hills. The final Derby was located on Los Feliz near Vermont and is now called Michaels a steak house with a past specialty of low priced filet mignon which I had in the 1970s. Unfortunately I've never eaten at any of them. The only remaining and oldest restaurant is Musso and Frank on Hollywood Blvd.(I've eaten there once in the 1970s). This is where Bill Frawley dined frequently since he lived a few blocks away. One time they had raised one item by ten cents which infuriated him and he loudly said he'd never eat there again!

I truly regret not dining at any of the Brown Derby restaurants especially since I am a native southern Californian born & raised. At least I got to taste a Cobb salad at Paty’s restaurant in Toluca Lake. This is one of my favorite episodes of I Love Lucy with Bill Holden from beginning to end. Thanks for the memories. ❤️🙏🏻🌈

I’ve been to the boiling crab there never even once paying attention to those details. I am shocked! That’s in the Koreatown section of Los Ángeles. Thank you Rick for your informative awesome videos. I’ve walked the same steps as Lucy and celebrities from yesteryear and didn’t even know

It actually does tell you on the outside of the building that it’s the Brown Derby Plaza. I’m happy to see that you did a video of this!

I love seeing the areas where old things like the Brown Derby was. I didn’t know there was more than one Brown Derby and how wonderful the dome was saved! Please do go to the shops in the Brown Derby plaza and thank you for taking us to fun places!

I so enjoyed your video Rick! I had often wondered about whether the Brown Derby place and restaurant still existed. You answered my questions! I guess, back in the day, it was one of the most famous restaurants in the USA. Thank you Rick! May you have a safe week...Godspeed.

Great stuff Rick.... Always love the nostalgia in these shows. Keep up the good work 👍

Thanks, Rick, for another well-researched trip down memory lane! While I always knew the BD interior scenes were all shot on a sound stage, I always wondered how they replicated the framed caricatures on the Derby's wall! Any insight into that? Did they trundle real ones down from the Derby to hang on the sound stage wall, or did the art dept simply "dummy up" some dupes to display? Thanks again, and a trip to the BD shopping center would be cool!

I remember hearing of the Brown Derby as the place where George Burns, Jack Benny, Groucho Marx, Jimmy Durante, Milton Berle, etc. met on a regular basis for lunch. It would be interesting to see who owns that particular piece of property and whether there is ownership connection with those comedidans.

Amazing!! Also I note that the show sure managed to capture shots of them driving into LA without TRAFFIC!!

Please take the trip!!! You're doing an amazing job. I love how put in so much detail into the videos. Thank you!

A relic from the past. That's all that remains, aside from the bank in Los Feliz. Great episode.

I knew these L.A. episodes were not shot on location, but for some reason the shots that were filmed made me think the motel would be bigger, taller, more imposing, but that's the late 40s early 50s architecture for you.

Great video! It's sad that the Brown Derby restaurants are gone. But I was amazed to see that the dome of the brown derby is still there! And that the shopping center is called the Brown Derby Plaza. And that there is a picture of the brown derby hat on top of the sign. Amazing!

This is one of the best episodes, if possible, I've ever seen, but I believe I could say that about countless other episodes. It doesn't matter how many times you see it you still laugh, laugh, laugh. I'm an old man now but I was a young kid when the series was new and it is just as funny now, if not more so, as then.

Great job, as always Rick. I loved the TV show. I lived in LA for 33 years, and recognize some of the locations you video recorded for us. Thank you Rick.

REally fun to see. I ate at The Brown Derby a number of times with friends while an Undergrad Student at Loma Linda University near Redlands. I used to sing in the Christian Science Church in LA, and would go to the Derby afterwards. Thanks for the trip down memory lane my friend!

This is SUPER cool. I love stuff like this. Thanks for this awesome video

I love these. And would love to see that brown derby.

That is so cool. 4 years of watching I Love Lucy I always thought that when they were eating in the restaurant it was the real restaurant. But I do remember years ago hearing or reading that it was demolished. And that's so sad because it was a true icon were people gathered and they 8th and a sad nostalgic goodbye I guess. But having been a California resident in Southern California it does bring back a lot of memories so when you do these little videos of where things were shot and added information it's great and thank you so much for doing it.❤👍👍

Thanks for this Brown Derby, Lucy history. As a kid, I wanted to visit this famous restaurant I saw on ‘I Love Lucy’.

Thanks Rick for all of your research. I love Lucy fans really appreciate it!

I'm floored and I've always wanted to know about the Brown Derby. Thanks Rick 👍

Thanks for posting. Love videos with history facts we never knew! 👍🏼

SO COOL! Love all of these videos that show old footage and what it’s like now. That Derby dome is so fun to see! Thanks!

WOW, I can honestly say that I love this video and can't wait for the other two parts. Did you say you did a video on season 4 when I love Lucy was in Hollywood??? This was my favorite season along with the European tour.

The parking lot entrance also says brown derby. I do go there sometimes just to look at it. It’s peaceful and quiet , no one really goes up there. There are 2 sports type bars up there that I have never seen people enter. So if you go I recommend eating at the boiling crab . Go on a weekday or weeknight and it’s very empty there . Thanks for sharing . I’m a huge Lucy fan and I have admired this wilshire corner my whole life . I’m happy you shared this with others ❤️

That is fantastic that the builder preserved the brown derby and named the plaza "The Brown Derby". Kuddos to the builder. Please do a video up close of the dome.

Nice video. 'L.A. At Last' is one of my favorite episodes. Glad to see they preserved that little bit of history there.

That was very cool. It would be fun to see a tour of the Brown Derby Shopping Center.

I love the “before and after” comparisons.

Thank you for everything you do to inform the Lucy fans Rick. Very interesting. I am always looking forward to your videos and commentary. Great information . 👍👍I ❤Lucy👍👍

I went to The Brown Derby (the Hollywood one I guess) in the early 80's. It was nice if a bit faded. They had all the pictures on the walls. It was fun and I'm glad I got to see it, didn't realize they were going to tear it down. They did a really nice service.

This was fascinating! Yes please do go visit the site! It would be interesting to see it close up.

I love all of your “behind the scenes” videos and information. Thank you for sharing. My vote is, yes please visit the Brown Derby location!

I've been to Los Los Angeles a million times and did not know that. I didn't realize it was so far from the Center of Hollywood. Not that it's a million miles away but I thought it was closer to one of the studios. I guess it's close to Paramount Studio, but i always thought (assumed) that is was on Hollywood or Sunset Blvd. I will have to check it out the next time I'm there. That is one of my favorite episodes as well. I always wished they would have shown more stops on the way to Hollywood. Those were the funniest episodes. The old restaurant with stale cheese sandwiches, The cabins that were parked right next to the train. Bent Fork Tennessee, Albuquerque. All great episodes.

This is so cool! I want to go to LA and see where the Beverly Carlton was. Crazy how it looks so similar to this day!

Do you know what happened to all the caricatures that hung on the wall of The Brown Derby?

Thank you for your great video! I used to drive by the original derby many times as I worked near there so many years ago. This was very nostalgic for me and much appreciated to see what has been preserved.

Awesome work. Thank you Rick.

Thank to ILL, Brown Derby's legacy lives on. Thank you for the insightful video of Brown Derby. I have always interested to see whatever associated with Lucy.

Wow! I love this video! Sad that the Derby is gone, but I totally think it’s cool that the original Derby roof was preserved! Yes, you should do a walk up to show us the hat.

Wow!!!! Thank you for this wonderful video. I love learning new facts and the history behind these classic shows. Your videos are a special treat and I always enjoy watching them. I had heard about the Brown Derby for years as a child and remember seeing a news story when the restaurants closed years ago and its great to learn about them now. Please take a trip there if you can find the time. Thank you for your hard and effort.

Hey Rick. You did a great job with these. You’re a true fan.

OMG ! That was so COOL ! Thank You for doing this ! Such a GREAT episode...

Wonderful video. Yes I would like to see the Brown Derby done😀

Fun and fascinating video! We would love to see The Brown Derby dome! Thank you so much! Always great videos packed full of information and fun facts! 🤗🤗🤗

After I moved to LA in 77' I was at The Brown Derby on Wilshire Bl with some friends for lunch. Wow, memories coming back. "The body never forgets!" I had my first Cobb salad there.

Thank you so much for this! "Hollywood At Last" is one of my favorite episodes and a lot of the questions and things I wondered about, you answered in your video clip 😊 so much fun!

I think it's pretty cool that they kept a portion of the Derby.

Very cool! I went there with my grandfather, Richard Wiggins, in the late 60’s

You always do such good work into the history of the shows which brings them to life once again! Thanks once again for a job well done!

So very COOL! Thank you!

Absolutely amazing that you found the preserved dome of the original Brown Derby! I've always enjoyed "L.A. at Last." With just a single line, Eve Arden made television history by being the first "star" to be sighted by Lucy, Fred, and Ethel.

Loved this!! Can’t wait to go see the old Derby.

Thank you...the Hollywood at Last episode is amongst my top 5...great you shared the intel on the Derby!

Great video! The infamous and historic Cocoanut Grove nightclub was a part of the Ambassador Hotel complex, before it was demolished in 2006. Just more colorful history of Los Angeles that are now parking lots and modern office buildings.