Twenty years ago, when I was in Los Angeles with my friend Sarah, we stayed in Hollywood and were part of the audience for the Roseanne Barr show. Ha! Yes, it was that long ago. This time around the kids wanted to do a studio tour. I did my research as all of the major studios give some sort of tour. We wanted a studio that produced shows and movies we liked. Warner Brothers had them all for us: Gilmore Girls, Friends, All American, The Big Bang Theory, Westworld, Shameless, Lucifer, Batman, Pretty Little Liars, the Ellen Show…the list is close to endless.
The tour starts with a tour guide and ten guests (we were five of those ten). Our tour guide was Tim. Before venturing too far into the tour, he asked us a bunch of questions regarding what we watched. (I had read in a review that it is best to be upfront and chatty with your tour guide as they will customize the tour to your liking.) And we are so glad we spoke up. The girls and I had started watching Gilmore Girls during the pandemic and fell in love with Stars Hollow and its characters. We visited the outdoor set of what was once Stars Hollow. Luke’s Diner sat on the corner where Rory and Lorelai would get their daily coffee. We walked inside Sookie’s and Lane’s house. The girls and I stood on the front porch of Lorelai’s house and we had a family shot on the gazebo in the center of town.
For our sound stage tour, Tim brought us inside the Baker’s home from All American. It was a bit surreal walking into the Baker’s kitchen and family room or their outdoor deck with pool (the pool is only one foot deep on set). The girls were touching the countertop and stairway railings so the next time we watch the show they can say they’ve been there. Tim gave a great explanation as to how things worked–like lighting and sound when the cast is present. (Unfortunately, we were about two weeks early for the cast to be back on set.)
As we started the self-guided part of the tour, a woman approached me and asked if we were the family with tour guide Tim. I said yes but didn’t know quite what was going on. She asked me to gather my family and brought us to another All American sound stage that contained Spencer’s house, Crenshaw High and Slauson Cafe. It was so cool! The only down side to these sound stage tours is that no photos are permitted. (Warner Brothers is very strict about this part of the tour. Photos can be taken anywhere but in the sound studios. And this is for real. Trust me, you don’t want to be the person who takes a photo on set – we witnessed this and it was embarrassing for that person.)
Stephanie returned us to the self-guided tour where we sat on the Friends’ couch in Central Perk, messed around the world of Harry Potter, Lily got to fly on a broom, the girls were sorted into a house, and we got to see the actual costumes of the Marvel Superheroes. It was a wonderfully entertaining day!
Smithie Adventures 