The Premium Reason Behind S.F.-L.A. Feud

Many Bay Area residents reacted with shock to the newspaper photos of the airliner that slid off the runway in Burbank and came to rest near a Chevron station.

Their shock was over the gasoline prices posted there.

“The horror!” wrote columnist Scott Ostler in the San Francisco Examiner. “A buck seventy-nine for super premium! Twenty cents cheaper than Bay Area gas.”

Gee, what’s the pro football team up there called--the Forty-Whiners?

At least we finally know the real reason that ‘Friscans resent L.A.

TALK ABOUT UNSCHEDULED ARRIVALS: By the way, James Maverick writes that the airliner mishap was not the most spectacular in the Burbank area. “A quick look at the Fry’s store near the airport is proof,” he said (see photo).

MOVING ON TO DEPARTURES: Marilyn Granas of Beverly Hills noticed an airline tour for folks who REALLY want to get away for a while. And James Hale of Big Bear saw a cruise ad written by someone who was already thinking of all that food on board (see accompanying).

NOW LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT THE FREEWAYS: In the new movie, “Three Strikes,” two-time loser Rob Douglas inadvertently winds up riding with a car thief and is mistakenly identified as “the Freeway Shooter” after a police pursuit on the 101.

Some other movies that showed Southland freeways off to their worst advantage:

* “To Live and Die in L.A.”: A wrong-way chase on the Terminal Island Freeway (identified in the movie as the Long Beach Freeway).

* “Terminator 2”: Arnold does some wild driving on the Terminal Island Freeway (which was not named after the movie).

* “Speed”: Possibly filmdom’s longest bus chase, partly on the Century Freeway. Bonus: The movies’ first Red Car subway crash is in a later scene.

* “Smash Up on Interstate 5”: Buddy Ebsen and Robert Conrad encounter some serious obstacles near San Clemente.

* “The Brady Bunch Movie”: Flashing message signs on the Ventura Freeway show what the filmmakers consider traditional L.A. traffic warnings, such as “Gang War Riot Ahead.”

“Three Strikes,” by the way, is filled with mostly dumb jokes. In fact, the funniest moment is in one of the outtakes played during the closing credits. A police dog, supposedly chasing a suspect, catches up with him--then passes him and keeps on running.

SERVE THE LORD--OR THE DEVIL’S BREW? Paramount’s newsletter reports that a woman called the city to request zoning information for a liquor store she wanted to open. After hearing all the requirements, she asked if she could open a church instead. The city sent her information for each type of sanctuary.

WHY MOVIE TICKET PRICES ARE SO HIGH: On Monday near Fox Studios, Russell Clampitt of Long Beach saw a film crew using an elaborate sprinkler device pulled by a car to simulate rain dousing a couple of motorcycle cops. The crew had chosen a dry day. No doubt the thinking was that studio rain looks more realistic than Mother Nature’s.

HEY, FACILITATOR, OVER HERE! Raymond O. Mills, the Reform Party candidate for the 70th Assembly District in Orange County, had one of the snappiest job titles on the ballot: personal transportation facilitator.

(He’s a taxi driver.)

miscelLAny:

I’m wondering if the Green Party will sue to have the primary election results overthrown. After all, their ballots were colored lavender.

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Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053 and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.