Nothing would have given me more pleasure than to lounge in the Brady's sunken livingroom, enter The Munsters' trap-door staircase by pulling the griffin-shaped newelpost, or park my blue Chevrolet convertible in the driveway of Samantha and Darrin's Cape Cod on Morning Glory Circle. Indeed, in many cases, the houses that TV sitcom families lived in are as distinctive as the shows themselves. This makes sense, given that a comedy centered on home life should, by definition, establish a strong sense of place for the viewer.

Today, as an adult, I am constantly struck by the fact that many people I talk to still believe that these houses were real, and that the shows were actually filmed inside them. And so, in true TVparty fashion, I thought I would "demystify" our television heritage a bit by leading us through a "where are they now?" of classic TV sitcom homes.

Most of the famous TV sitcom houses we know and love were located on movie studio backlots. Beginning in the mid-1950s, when television proved itself to be a profitable venture, movie studios established television production units and began generating series. Columbia and Universal appear to have been the most active in this arena, largely because they could use their existing facilities, rather than build new ones, to handle the production load. Among these facilities were outdoor sets on the backlot, built years earlier for motion pictures and still sitting there, ready to use.

Outdoor sets such as the Bewitched home are known in the industry as "shells": that is, they generally are constructed of three sides and a roof, and often are missing the back wall and/or one of the side walls.

Inside, the interior is one big raw, unfinished space (no rooms!), and the structure's matrix of scaffolding, pipes, electrical wires and beams is fully exposed. Usually ladders are built into the structure, allowing actors to climb to the second floor to do a scene from an upper-story window or the roof.

When in use, the homes are "dressed" by adding front doors, window treatments and landscaping, and an L-shaped temporary wall is placed inside the front door to give the illusion of an interior. When not in use, however, the shells are usually stripped of their doors, curtains, and landscaping, and in many cases appear neglected and poorly maintained.

Not all studio backlot houses are facades. For example, several newer homes on the Warner Bros. lot are complete, with four sides and a roof. During inactive periods these structures are used to store lighting and other production equipment. It can be disheartening to see these old sets in person. They always seem surprisingly small and, as I mentioned, poorly maintained - studios fix them up only when they're about to be used.

A number of classic houses have been structurally altered over the years for use in other productions. Remember, Hollywood studios are not museums. In general, they maintain very little regard for history, and often have no qualms about altering or even destroying vintage sets for a project as fleeting as a network pilot.

One need only watch the upsetting 60 Minutes segment documenting the demolition of the legendary MGM backlot - to make way for a housing development -- to understand. Therefore, you will be disappointed if, for example, you expect The Partridge Family house to look now just as it did in when the series was in production in the early 1970s.

PART TWO: Universal Studios in California