Warner Brother's Studio Tour

On Thursday afternoon we headed to the Warner Brother's Studios in Burbank.  We were going on a two-hour studio tour. Before the tour started we just relaxed for a bit in the courtyard of the WB Office Building.  The day was beautiful so we layed around and enjoyed the sun for awhile...making sure we had plenty of time to tour the Studio Gift Shop and play on the statues :)

We really enjoyed the tour!  Our tour guide, Emily, was awesome!  She knew a lot of information and was really nice and funny!  We were taken through on a golf cart so we could cover the whole lot, which is huge!  We drove through "the jungle" on the backlot.  WB is the only studio in town with a forested portion of the backlot so a lot of other studios shoot there when they need outdoor stuff.  She pointed out a lot of movies that have shot back there, plus she said lots of the police shows that shoot on the lot (Cold Case, The Mentalist, etc) find their dead bodies out there a lot.

Also on the backlot are a ton of houses...well sort of.  The insides of the houses are pretty pathetic and the houses have no running water or electricity.  They are made of thin wood, like particle board.  Just enough for them to remain standing to shoot in.  We couldn't see the whole backlot because Cold Case was shooting on the lot and they won't let tours around their set (shocker).  We did get to see the house that was the visual for the Seaver's house in  Growing Pain, we went into the house that was used for the Gilmore Girls, as well as many houses that had been used in old Westerns.  We also got to go into the house that was used throughout Friends as the Goeller's house.  I got to sit on the very staircase that Ross did in the prom video flashback.

Most of the sound stages on the lot were closed, but we did get to go on the set of Two and a Half Men as well as The Mentalist (which was super exciting for us!)  They took us to two sets because the set of a 30 minute comedy, which is filmed with an audience, is totally different from a 1 hour drama show, like The Mentalist.  They wouldn't let us take any pictures though, and we couldn't touch anything.  Shawn and I wanted so badly to lay on Patrick Jane's couch and take a picture...but they said no.  Boo.  It was still awesome to see!

They also took us to a building where they store a lot of the cars that have been used in WB movies and shows.  They are all working cars too...but we weren't allowed to drive them.  Here are the ones that we thought were most memorable for us.

They also have a museum on the lot with stuff from their movies.  We also weren't allowed to take pictures in there, but the whole second floor was Harry Potter stuff!  It was so cool!  They had the actual petrified Hermione from The Chamber of Secrets!  Lots of the costumes were on display, as well as the Quidditch set and...well I can't possibly name everything that was in there.  It was really cool though!

They also have a building that is all full of props that different productions can use.  In that building they set aside a small area where they store the set from Friends of Central Perk.  Emily told us that with a set like that, one that is so recognizable all over the world, no other productions want to use that stuff.  So instead of destroy it, they just set it up exactly like it was on the show in a corner of the building so excited fans like us can see it!  They even let us get our picture taken on "the couch".

We only had one star sighting on our trip to LA and it was on the WB studio.  The guy that plays  Chuck on the show Chuck was hanging out on the lot.  They shoot his show there on the WB Studio lot, so Emily said it isn't unusual to see the stars hanging around drinking coffee or whatever on their breaks or during downtime.  He waved to us and said hi.  It was pretty cool.  They also shoot the show The Big Bang Theory on the lot, but Emily wouldn't take us into their set.  Darn!  It wouldn't been so cool to meet Sheldon and the gang!

Overall, we had a great tour!  I would highly recommend the Warner Brother's Studio tour to anyone visiting LA.  It was awesome!