I was a stagehand at CBS and worked many of the Playhouse 90 productions. The Old Man was interesting from a technical standpoint in that one whole sound stage was turned into the Mississippi River. Plastic sheeting covered the floor, then plywood sheets covered the plastic. Walls were constructed of plywood after which tons of dirt were poured into the formation. Next came water; as I remember the water and mud were at least 3' deep. Once the "river" was formed, then various sets were placed in the water. The sound stage had a concrete floor, but beneath all of the sound stages at CBS TV City was a basement storage area. The weight of the water and mud actually cracked the floor of the stage and the whole thing nearly collapsed into the basement. Special beams were constructed beneath the stage to support the floor so that the show could be completed.
Review of Old Man
