`WEEDS' CULTIVATES LOCAL EXPOSURE STEVENSON RANCH IS SMOKIN' AS LOCALE FOR SHOWTIME'S HIT ABOUT SUBURBIA.

Byline: CAROL ROCK Staff Writer

STEVENSON RANCH -- It's not the first time the song ``Little Boxes'' has been hummed when someone overlooks the sprawling community of Stevenson Ranch.

But Showtime helped put the Santa Clarita neighborhood on the map, featuring the '60s era protest anthem -- inspired by either hillside homes in Daly City or the nation's first housing tract in Levittown, N.Y. -- as the theme song for its homage to suburbia, ``Weeds.''

In the first season, Malvina Reynolds, who wrote the song in 1961, sings it over the titles. As the second season unwinds, the song is crooned by artists like Elvis Costello and Death Cab for Cutie.

``Weeds,'' now a cult favorite probably headed for a third season, tells the story of a suburban widow (Mary Louise Parker) who becomes a marijuana dealer to make ends meet. Stevenson Ranch provides the suburban home for a cast of characters.

Melanie Sedam lives across the street from the Chaucer Drive house that ``belongs'' to Parker's character, Nancy.

``They shoot from my palm tree,'' she said. ``They do the exteriors at one house, then the interiors at another house further up the street.

``I watched one time and they took all of the (owner's) furniture out and wrapped it in plastic so they could put in their own. I asked her why they couldn't just leave her stuff in and she said just in case they ever had to come back, things had to be just the same.''

Sedam said the few days of filming haven't bothered her and that her neighbors seem flattered by the attention. On a recent Friday morning, the street was nearly deserted, spare a gardener here and there.

Jason Crawford, film liaison for the city of Santa Clarita, says the company has started to spread into the city, frequently using College of the Canyons and various shopping centers.

According to supervising producer Mark Burley, that migration is being done to take some of the pressure off the one or two Stevenson Ranch neighborhoods that they've been using repeatedly.

``We've found another neighborhood closer to Magic Mountain that looks like the same developer built the same style houses -- even Nancy's can be filmed over there.''

``Stevenson Ranch was selected because it epitomizes our view of Egrestic (the name of the fictional town that pops out to viewers in the opening credits, digitized over the real `Stevenson Ranch'-lettered fountain).

``It's a modern, clean, planned community that we have found welcoming,'' he said. ``But the neighbors have been long suffering. We know it's a big imposition.''

Asked if any of the townspeople have objected to the subject matter of the show, Burley laughed.

``Funnily enough, we haven't had that from any of the neighbors,'' he said. ``That would have been more distinct in the first season, when we were getting established. But we did have a little hesitance when we tried to get product placement (the practice of featuring name-brand items as set decoration).''

Karen Briden, a location scout paid by the Stevenson Ranch homeowner's association, said that she wasn't surprised the ``Weeds'' company came and settled in.

``I would imagine they chose the neighborhood because it's a nice, upscale, clean quiet community of residents who are exceptionally nice and open to filming,'' she said.

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(color) Stevenson Ranch serves as the setting for the fictional town of Egrestic for the popular Showtime series ``Weeds.''

David Crane/Staff Photographer