From Lucille Ball to Ally McBeal, some of TV’s classic moments have been captured at Ren-Mar Studios

It’s a week before shooting begins for the next season of the Walt Disney sitcom “Lizzie McGuire.” A teen-age boy with greased and colored hair hesitantly walks into the main entrance of Ren-Mar Studios on Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood where the production is based.

The entrance is blocked by an iron-colored gate and topped with a 1920s-style arch. The boy doesn’t seem to notice.

He nervously weaves his way through a tiny lobby, across the concrete plaza area, climbs a flight of stairs to an unmarked door, walks through another room and wanders into where casting takes place an open office-area with yellow and purple paper signs.

He’s too nervous to notice the less-than-glamorous offices at Ren-Mar.

And he’s too young to realize where he is.

Ren-Mar, which originated as backlot No. 3 for Metro Pictures in 1915, has been the home of “I Love Lucy,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” and “The Jack Benny Show.” Owned by Desilu Productions in the 1950s, the handful of buildings making up the studios were first constructed in 1946 and have changed very little since then.

“A lot of studios are now warehouses with no history,” said Stan Rogow, executive producer of “Lizzie McGuire” and “State of Grace,” both currently being shot at Ren-Mar. “Lucy was doing her chocolate factory routine here it’s subtle but you an almost touch it. You can almost feel the ghosts.”

In the 1980s, the studio was home to Witt-Thomas Productions (then Witt-Thomas-Harris Productions), which made “The Golden Girls” and “Empty Nest” and more recently, first few seasons of David E. Kelley Productions’ “The Practice” and “Ally McBeal.”

Ups and downs

With each new owner Ren-Mar has had to reinvent itself.

When the studio was first developed as the Metro Pictures’ back lot, it was home to the French village set for the 1923 film “Scaramouche,” and the South Sea island set for the 1924 film “Little Robinson Crusoe.” Metro Pictures was a New York production house that became part of Metro Goldwyn Mayer in 1927.

After a relatively dormant period in the 1930s and 40s, the studio became active again when Equity Studios built 10 sound stages on the lot, to be leased out to independent producers. But the studio really gained notoriety when Desilu Productions Desi Arnaz’s production company gained control of what was then called Motion Picture Center Studios.

In 1967, after the height of Desilu’s production activity, the studios were sold. At one point, it was used as Lambert’s Van & Storage, with only three of the nine sound stages occupied by a production company, Television Center Studios.

In 1984, Ren-Mar took over and underwent a several-year renovation, according to studio manager Carol Cassella.

Studio renovation

It took down walls to open up space for larger productions. Then, an architect was brought in to revitalize the 1920s motif already on the corners of the stages.

Still, it’s not an ideal lot.

Most producers and actors know Ren-Mar as the studio with little parking. It has a 20-car lot across the street, but moving trucks in and out has always been a challenge, said Mark Rosenthal, president of Ren-Mar competitor Raleigh Enterprises.

Also, with about 60 or so other stages with more than 18,000 square feet each in Hollywood, Ren-Mar must compete with the larger sound stages.

Cassella said its niche has been shows that are not the typical fare. “They’re the ones that are mavericks in a way,” she said. “People who break the rules and are successful at it.”

Rogow is a good example.

The jeans-clad executive producer works out of his office with his two large dogs. As he traverses the lot, building to building, the production crew whistles to his black Labrador.

That atmosphere is in contrast to the big studios like Paramount and Fox, said Hallie Todd, the actress who plays “Jo McGuire” on “Lizzy McGuire.” But that may be a good thing.

“It doesn’t have the hustle and bustle of all these people,” she said. “You don’t have the movie stars and agents. It’s just the people doing the work.”