NBC Studio Tour and Much More

Jill's Journal: We began our day today in downtown Burbank, where television and movie studios take up block after block after block. Many studios throughout the L.A. area offer tours to the public, but most don’t allow children as young as ours so we were limited in what we could visit. The major television network of NBC is an exception.

Unfortunately, what NBC doesn’t allow is photos on its tour, so I can’t show you much of anything (apparently I’d have to kill you if I did). However, it was very interesting and surreal to walk through television sets and rows upon rows of faux walls, fireplaces, and floors in storage, along with hundreds (maybe thousands?) of pieces of furniture and props used in t.v. shows.

The highlight, by far, was the set of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. It’s filmed in NBC’s Studio 11 (this picture is from a distance away and not on the tour). The set is actually quite large and 387 audience members are allowed for each late afternoon taping. The entire ceiling is covered with over 400 lights which hang down to get just the right effect for every moment of the show. The cameras are numerous and a few cost as much as $500,000 apiece. It’s very, very cold in there, as colder is better for the cameras, plus the lights add a lot of heat when on. Leno’s car was parked just outside the studio. Apparently the place was crawling with secret service yesterday as the First Lady was on the show.

Johnny Carson used a different studio on the lot for his Tonight Show, of which we also got a glimpse (along with several of the other studios). Access Hollywood and something for the Telemundo (Spanish-speaking) station were the only shows actively on air, or in the middle of taping, while we were there. Days of Our Lives, the incredibly long-running soap opera, uses two studios to maintain its very prolific schedule and looked to possibly be on lunch break during our visit.

While in Burbank, a visit to the oldest remaining Bob’s Big Boy in the country is a must. I have so many memories of my family eating at Bob’s on Sundays after church when I was a kid, so this really brought it all back. The one my family frequented is 100 miles from here, but this one even smells just like I remember! For our Kentucky friends, Bob’s Big Boy is almost identical to Frisch’s Big Boy…but somehow Bob’s is better. Maybe it’s the nostalgia.

This Bob’s was built in 1949 and is now a California “point of historical interest.” The sign is 70 feet tall. On weekend nights, car hop service is available and apparently the parking lot fills up with classic cars.

In the Bob's parking lot on this random weekday afternoon, it was easy to spot cars that came from studios.

Practically around the corner from Bob’s and all the studios is Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills. This lovely cemetery literally overlooks Warner Bros., Universal Studios, and Walt Disney Studios.

We stopped to visit the final resting place of Rob’s paternal grandmother, who passed away before he was born. Imagine our surprise to walk by the grave of Bette Davis –yes, the famous actress– on our way. We later learned we should have kept our eyes open even wider. Other celebrities resting here include Buster Keaton, Liberace, Andy Gibb, Ricky Nelson, Brittany Murphy, John Ritter, Gene Autry, Sandra Dee, and many more. Lucille Ball was also here until about 10 years ago when her family members decided to move her ashes to her hometown in New York. This cemetery was in the extreme spotlight a few years ago as the funeral for Michael Jackson took place here, although he’s actually buried at a different Forest Lawn (about 10 minutes away in Glendale).