'Banshee' props, inventory up for sale

On a table there are baseball bats, knives, tree limbs, cattle prods and billy clubs.

And a cow's head.

The rubber props made for the Cinemax television series “Banshee” are among thousand of items associated with the show that are being sold during the series' wrap sale, opening to the public Saturday and scheduled to run over 11 days.

The sale is being held at Pittsburgh Studios, located in a former Westinghouse office complex in Churchill. It's being held in a room that had served as the show's main stage for filming.

The show's inventory is being liquidated after Cinemax announced in late July that “Banshee” would end after its fourth season, which recently finished filming in the Pittsburgh and Alle-Kiski Valley areas.

“The show has been canceled,” associate producer Kai Feliciano said. “There's nowhere for us to put it because we're closing up shop.”

The sale includes “anything and everything you could probably think of,” Feliciano said. “It's all priced to sell.”

Items for sale include furniture, lamps, housewares, bedding, shelving, art and office supplies, fixtures, steel pipe and construction materials.

There's also men's and women's clothing and accessories such as dresses, jackets, shoes, hats, bags, jewelry, ties and lingerie.

Most of what's being sold had been used just in the Pittsburgh area. Some had been brought up from North Carolina, where “Banshee” filmed its first three seasons.

Some small items start as low as $1. The cow's head is priced at $1,000.

The fake weapons include “anything we used to hit somebody with,” Feliciano said.

For $5,000, the bar set from The Forge, the bar run by actor Frankie Faison's character Sugar Bates, is up for grabs.

While sharp-eyed fans may spot things they've seen in the show, not much is instantly recognizable or marked as being from it.

Many iconic items were kept by HBO, which owns Cinemax, for use in future show-related promotions, sweepstakes and events, Feliciano said.

Some items for sale may have been bought or made for the show, but not used. Some clothing is marked as being for specific characters, some with tags still attached.

The cast had the first pick at keeping their clothing, which was custom fitted for them, Feliciano said. The crew was given three days this week to shop first.

Paul Bistrican of Hampton came to look things over with two of his daughters, and bought some tools. He worked on the show as a gang boss in metal fabrication, and said the experience was good.

“Anything made of metal, I had something to do with,” he said. “The art department thinks it up and we make it happen.”

Some things associated with the show have vanished, as often happens on TV shows, Feliciano said. Among the missing items are two of three “Welcome to Banshee” signs and a pair of boxing gloves associated with Faison's character.

Amish clothing seen in the show was given to the Carnegie Mellon University theater department, Feliciano said.

Felicanio said there's more to sell than can fit in the room. She suggested people come by every day to see what gets put out.

“If you want to make a deal, a deal can be made,” Feliciano said.

Anything that isn't sold will be donated to charity, Feliciano said.

“Banshee's” eight-episode fourth season is now in post-production. It is expected to begin airing in January.

Brian C. Rittmeyer is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-226-4701 or brittmeyer@tribweb.com.