A large town square named after the imposing Courthouse building most famously seen in Back to the Future (1985-1990). The square has been seen in hundreds of Universal films (and those of other studios). In common with many other standing sets, simple changes like the arrangement of street furniture and signage can make the set appear to be a completely different location.
Prior to Back to the Future, the area was known as Mockingbird Square, after it’s appearance in To Kill a Mockingbird.
It was until recently the home of the CBS TV drama Ghost Whisperer.
Although the devastating fires in 1990 and 2008 destroyed the New York Street area, the Courthouse itself was spared, and looked even more magnificent amid the ashes.
Courthouse Square reopened after the fire on June 18 2009 with the USC Marching Band and costumed actors. See Life Magazine Photos of the reopening event and the video footage below.
To the south of Courthouse Square is New York Street.
The Courthouse Square location in Back to the Future
Courthouse Square Grand Reopening
June 18, 2009 – the first Studio Tour tram experiences the newly restored Courthouse Square after the 2008 fire.
Courthouse Square On Screen
Seen on Screen: Universal Studios Hollywood [Courthouse]
| Title | Released | Director | IMDB |
|---|---|---|---|
| An Act of Murder [Feature Film] | 1948 | Michael Gordon |  |
| The courthouse at Courthouse Square was built for this movie. Sets that were to be moved to Colonial Street in 1950 also appeared. | |||
| Ma and Pa Kettle [Feature Film] | 1949 | Charles Lamont | |
| Stage 24, Courthouse Square | |||
| It Came from Outer Space [Feature Film] | 1953 | Jack Arnold | |
| Courthouse Square, Stage 12 (sequences were shot here with painted backgrounds) | |||
| Tarantula [Feature Film] | 1955 | Jack Arnold | |
| Courthouse Square | |||
| The Monolith Monsters [Feature Film] | 1957 | John Sherwood | |
| Courthouse Square on the backlot | |||
| Leave It To Beaver [TV Series] | 1957 - 1963 | Various | |
| Some scenes were shot on Stage 30, which was demolished in 2010. Stage 17 was also used. Exteriors for seasons 3-6 were shot on Colonial Street, using what became known as the Cleaver House. The Munster House and was also seen, as was Courthouse Square. | |||
| Rock-A-Bye Baby [Feature Film] | 1958 | Frank Tashlin | |
| Colonial Street (Harvey House, Munster House) and Courthouse Square | |||
| The Twilight Zone [TV Series] | 1959-1964 | Rod Serling | |
| Season 1 Episode 1 (Where Is Everybody) and Season 2 Episode 19 (Mr Dingle The Strong) featured Courthouse Square. | |||
| Inherit the Wind [Feature Film] | 1960 | Stanley Kramer | |
| Courthouse Square | |||
| To Kill A Mockingbird [Feature Film] | 1962 | Robert Mulligan | |
| Courthouse Square, Stage 29, Stage 30 [courthouse interior], Stage 32. The courthouse interior built on Stage 30 was a painstakingly accurate reproduction of the courthouse at Monroeville, Alabama. | |||
| The whole street featured in the movie was built on the backlot, adjacent to the New York Street sets. The Boo Radley house was designed by Henry Bumstead and built at Universal, while all other houses were moved to the backlot from Chaves Ravine, where developers were clearing the land for the Dodgers Stadium. The houses were bought for $1 each from developers. The Boo Radley house remains on Elm Street to this day. | |||
| Bye Bye Birdie [Feature Film] | 1963 | George Sidney | |
| Courthouse Square (Conrad Birdie sang good-bye to his fans) | |||
| Village of the Giants [Feature Film] | 1965 | Bert I. Gordon | |
| Courthouse Square | |||
| The Reluctant Astronaut [Feature Film] | 1967 | Edward Montagne | |
| Courthouse Square (Kiddieland Scenes), Stage 30 | |||
| How to Frame A Figg [Feature Film] | 1971 | Alan Rafkin | |
| Courthouse Square was used throughout and the Sheraton Universal Hotel featured in the end sequence. | |||
| The Alpha Caper [Feature Film] | 1973 | Robert Michael Lewis | |
| Courthouse Square | |||
| The Incredible Hulk [TV Series] | 1978-1982 | | |
| New York Street and Courthouse Square (various episodes). Interiors were shot on Stage 23. Stage 04 was used for certain sequences. | |||
| National Lampoon's Delta House [TV Series] | 1979 | | |
| Colonial Street (The Delta House set is still there to this day. The Harvey house was also featured, as the Omega House.) New York Street and Courthouse Square featured in the title sequence. | |||
| The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo [TV Series] | 1979-1981 | Glen A. Larson | |
| Courthouse Square and other backlot locations | |||
| Magnum P.I. [TV Series] | 1980 - 1988 | Donald P. Bellisario, Glen A. Larson | |
| Courthouse Square and New York Street featured in series 7 episodes 1 & 2 as a film studio backlot | |||
| Simon and Simon [TV Series] | 1981-1989 | Philip DeGuere | |
| Colonial Street, Courthouse Square, New York Street, Elm Street (as Industrial Street), Old Mexico, Six Points Texas, all on the Universal Studios backlot. Stage 25 | |||
| Knight Rider [TV Series] | 1982 - 1986 | Glen A. Larson | |
| Along with soundstages, the backlot was used extensively including Colonial Street, Courthouse Square, Denver Street, Boragora and Six Points Texas. Stage 28 appeared in Season 4 Fright Knight episode. Stage 01 was also used. | |||
| Psycho II [Feature Film] | 1983 | Richard Franklin | |
| Black Lagoon (dumping of the body), Courthouse Square (as Fairvale), Psycho House on the Universal backlot. | |||
| Still the Beaver [TV Series] | 1983-1989 | | |
| Colonial Street (the Cleaver house), Courthouse Square (Mayfield town square) | |||
| Gremlins [Feature Film] | 1984 | Joe Dante | |
| Courthouse Square featured heavily as the town square of Kingston Falls. Colonial Street is also featured. | |||
| Back to the Future [Feature Film] | 1985 | Robert Zemeckis | |
| Courthouse Square featured as Hill Valley. Stage 12 (Interior Doc's house). | |||
| Street Hawk [TV Series] | 1985 | Virgil W. Vogel | |
| S1E4 (Vegas Run) Featured the Courthouse Square backlot | |||
| The Midnight Hour [TV Movie] | 1985 | Jack Bender | |
| Courthouse Square | |||
| The Monster Squad [Feature Film] | 1987 | Fred Dekker | |
| Colonial Street and Colonial Mansion was featured, along with Courthouse Square | |||
| Elvira, Mistress of the Dark [Feature Film] | 1988 | James Signorelli | |
| Courthouse Square (TBC) | |||
| Sneakers [Feature Film] | 1992 | Phil Alden Robinson | |
| Courthouse Square | |||
| Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman [TV Series] | 1993-1998 | Beth Sullivan | |
| Courthouse Square, New York Street | |||
| Weird Science [TV Series] | 1994-1997 | | |
| Courthouse Square, Singapore Lake The main house for the movie was built on a hill north of Park Lake, possibly where the Prop Warehouse currently stands. | |||
| Three Wishes [Feature Film] | 1995 | Martha Coolidge | |
| Courthouse Square | |||
| Escape from L.A. [Feature Film] | 1996 | John Carpenter | |
| Courthouse Square (as defunct theme park), Singapore Lake | |||
| Jingle All The Way [Feature Film] | 1996 | Brian Levant | |
| Courthouse Square and New York Street (as Minneapolis) | |||
| The Nutty Professor [Feature Film] | 1996 | Tom Shadyac | |
| Courthouse Square, Stage 23, Stage 25 | |||
| Amistad [Feature Film] | 1997 | Steven Spielberg | |
| Courthouse Square | |||
| Batman & Robin [Feature Film] | 1997 | Joel Schumacher | |
| Courthouse Square and New York Street on the backlot. | |||
| The Offspring: Why Dont You Get A Job [Music Video] | 1999 | McG | |
| Extensive shooting around the backlot - Colonial Street, Courthouse Square, New York Street | |||
| Bruce Almighty [Feature Film] | 2003 | Tom Shadyac | |
| Brownstone Street, Courthouse Square, Falls Lake, New York Street on the backlot and Stage 01, Stage 19, Stage 29, Stage 41. | |||
| The Cat In The Hat [Feature Film] | 2003 | Bo Welch | |
| Courthouse Square, Stage 23, Stage 27, Stage 28 [interior of the Walden house], Stage 29, Stage 31 | |||
| Scream Play [TV Series] | 2004 | David Basinski | |
| Courthouse Square | |||
| Nintendo DS [Commercial] | 2005 | ||
| The Collapsing Bridge featured (not collapsing at all) in a UK Nintendo DS advert, December 2005 (the advert also used Courthouse Square and Brownstone Street) | |||
| Ghost Whisperer [TV Series] | 2005-2010 | John Gray | |
| Based on Courthouse Square, this series also filmed in the Chicken Ranch, on Colonial Street, on Elm Street, in the Underwater Tank and on Stage 05, Stage 06, Stage 18, Stage 19, Stage 20 at Universal. | |||
| Lady Gaga: The Edge of Glory [Music Video] | 2011 | Lady Gaga and Haus of Gaga | |
| Filmed on a Brownstone set just off New York Street on the Metropolitan Sets backlot and a tenement fire escape behind the gas station on Courthouse Square at Universal Studios Hollywood. | |||
| The Little Rascals Save the Day [Feature Film] | 2013 | Alex Zamm | |
| New York Street and Courthouse Square filming in October 2012 | |||
| Colonial Street | |||
| Saving Mr. Banks / Saving Mr Banks [Feature Film] | 2014 | John Lee Hancock | |
| Backlot sets Six Points Texas and Courthouse Square are featured in two short sequences. | |||
| Hairspray Live [TV Movie] | 2016 | Kenny Leon, Alex Rudzinski | |
| Shot on the New York Street backlot (making use of the new practical sets) and Courthouse Square and on Stage New 25 and Stage New 26, which had just been built, adjacent to the backlot. | |||
| Rutherford Falls [TV Series] | 2021- | Ed Helms, Sierra Teller Ornelas, Michael Schur | |
| Courthouse Square | |||
| Bel Air [TV Series] | 2022 | Andy Borowitz, Susan Borowitz, T.J. Brady | |
| Courthouse Square, Colonial Street, Stage 16, Stage 17, Stage 27 | |||
| Ted (TV) [TV Series] | 2023 | Seth MacFarlane | |
| Colonial Street, Courthouse Square | |||