February 28, 2011

We started our final day in the Los Angeles area watching Charlie Sheen's weird interview with ABC, which trumped the Oscars coverage.

After breakfast, we headed to Paramount Studios, the only movie studio still in the confines of Hollywood.

When we got in line for the Dr. Phil tour, there was hardly anyone there, or so we thought until what appeared to be a school group came around the corner. Turns out they only had a few slots for those of us in line for this first taping, so we had to wait for a second taping.

When we sat down, we found out our topic was on "Left at the Altar." We also found out they have a bunch of rules, like you're not supposed to wear jeans (we did because the only thing on our card said no T-shirts -- they made us sit in the back rows). They also made people spit out their gum and put bags under chairs.

What was really weird to me having been in some studio audiences before was they didn't explain when you were supposed to clap. They put on some danceable music and the next thing you know, Dr. Phil came out. He never once acknowledged the audience or shook hands. At the end of the show, he just walked out arm-in-arm with wife Robin, who took her seat in the middle - front of the back section - right before the show started.

The one good thing about the show was that this woman who was left at the altar, only to sue her fiance, had never seen him since.  Until that day. There was an audible "oo" when Dr. Phil revealed this, and an even bigger silence when the guy walked out. To my knowledge, this show has not aired yet. I keep checking every few weeks on drphil.com. They definitely will have to edit this section as this part went on for a long time. Other parts of the show were with a woman who had dated the most recent Bachelor, and was led to believe he was going to marry her, and a woman left at the altar who has gotten into better physical and mental shape thanks to Dr. Phil.

Unfortunately, there was only one slot all day on a Paramount studio tour (studio tours only run M-F), so we went over to Warner Bros. in Burbank. I had forgotten that Warner Bros. produced both "Friends" and "ER" along with the "Harry Potter" films so we were able to see things from those sets. (The Harry Potter stuff was on the second floor of the Warner Bros. museum. The traveling Harry Potter exhibit I saw in Boston last year though, had more stuff, and was set up better for a more immersive experience. The first floor, which contained clothing and props from The Town and The Departed.) We also went on the set of "The Mentalist." I have never seen it, so it didn't have as much meaning to me, but it was cool to learn how they change "floors" by merely changing signs outside the elevator. Our tour guide locked our cameras up our golf cart so we don't have any pictures.

Batmobile used in the "Dark Knight," one of several vehicles used in Warner Bros. productions. Warner Bros.'s Transportation Museum is among the stops on the VIP Tour.

Fun fact: The crew had already dismantled the Central Perk set from the Friends stage when Jay Leno said he wanted the cast on the show... with the set. The set was reassembled.

Where "Friends" was filmed until the series ended in 2004.

Where the magic happened from 1994 to 2009: The ER Stage on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, CA.

Where all the "L" scenes in ER were filmed.

This other look at the "L" also shows you ER's "ambulance bay" doors.

Site of the best TV episode ... ever!

Turns out the episode, "Hell and High Water," where George Clooney's Doug Ross rescued a kid from a flooded culvert, was filmed on the Warner Bros.'s studio lot in Burbank, CA.

Dr. Benton's apartment

 The ER scenes were my favorite, followed by the Eastwood Scoring Stage. Apparently Clint Eastwood has had all his movies scored there. When he found out they were going to take it down, he called up Warner Bros. and allegedly said: "I hear you're thinking of tearing down the Scoring Stage. I wish you wouldn't." That was enough to convince the execs and they even named the stage after him. -- POSTED BY COLLEEN