"Name This Intersection"

[thenetwork]

I used to love this segment below on "The Banana Splits" back in the day for the music and still do, and now that the roadgeek in me has (sorta) grown up, the new obvious question comes up.  

Where was this intersection???  

For those of you who want to try to pinpoint this intersection, there is an obvious, unmistakable clue in one of the brief scenes to give you the city, but no other specific information.  If anyone should happen to get stumped, I can provide the name of the city, but that's all I know, except that this was shot in about 1967 or 1968, and it looks to be one helluva nightmarish intersection at rush hour -- with a bus stop at the end of a freeway off-ramp!!!

I post this not only to find out where in (mystery city) this is/was, but to also open it up as a challenge to all.  Good Luck:

[mhallack]

Definetly in Los Angeles, I'll even go as far as somewhere in the San Fernando Valley or Burbank. Intersection, don't know. There was a brief freeway shot that I tried to pause, but couldn't do it.   

[thenetwork]

Definetly in Los Angeles, I'll even go as far as somewhere in the San Fernando Valley or Burbank. Intersection, don't know. There was a brief freeway shot that I tried to pause, but couldn't do it.  

Definitely.....NOT Los Angeles!!!  

[agentsteel53]

the real question is - what's with the dancing animals?

[mapman]

Definitely.....NOT Los Angeles!!!   

I agree.  I don't think the sign bridge on the freeway is Caltrans spec.  Not sure whose spec it is, though.

[myosh_tino]

The sign bridge does sort of look like a California one but I noticed that some of the signs on that sign bridge do not "fit".  In California, all guide signs on a sign bridge are normally the same height and they fill the height of the sign bridge so no part of the truss shows above or below the sign.  Here's a drawing which shows my point...





It's quite obvious that at 0:47 in the video, some of the signs are shorter than others which leads me to believe that this video was not shot in California.

[froggie]

the real question is - what's with the dancing animals?

Google "The Banana Splits".


As for the intersection, I have a likely suspect:  Grand Blvd at N Broadway, on the north side of St. Louis, with the freeway being I-70.

[mefailenglish]

That's a good bet, especially considering this:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Pietromonaco

"He once sent a film clip to the children's show The Banana Splits entitled "Pop Cop"--this was a speeded-up depiction of a policeman directing traffic at a St. Louis intersection, and the name "Pietromonaco" can be seen on a street sign at the beginning."

[thenetwork]

the real question is - what's with the dancing animals?

Google "The Banana Splits".


As for the intersection, I have a likely suspect:  Grand Blvd at N Broadway, on the north side of St. Louis, with the freeway being I-70.

You're right on it being St Louis, for sure (there are at least 2 brief shots of the Gateway Arch in the background).  A look at Google Streetview shows the area to look very similar, though far from it's heyday in the 60s at the Grand/Broadway intersection.  I think we have a winner!!! Good eyes.

click here

Last time I was visiting St. Louis about 5-6 years ago, I was keeping my eye out for that "familiar" looking exit, but I was looking south & west of town.  

good GOD what happened to the BBCode there????