Behind the scenes at Paramount Studios

Braved rush hour traffic this morning to get to Paramount Studios.  It's always tricky driving the Los Angeles freeways because you never know where things may backup.  About five miles from the studio, I got caught up in one of those bumper to bumper headaches.  I consulted my GPS and exited to travel the rest of the way via city streets.  I love my GPS! 

When I got to Paramount, since I was taking their VIP tour, I got to park in the studio's visitors lot.  Made me feel a bit special getting to go through the same security gates at the actors!  I was met by my tour guide for the day, Caitlin.  I was joined by a group of six other people, which made for a much more intimate tour.  We entered the studio lot via the Bronson gate and proceeded to visit different workshops that provide materials needed for movie and television productions. 

From set construction, the sign department to props, the secrets were revealed to our attentive group.  Caitlin proved to be a very witty and informative guide, and we had a lot of fun.  Of particular interest was visiting the sets of the TV shows, Community, Happy Endings and Dr. Phil.  The only set we were allowed to take photos was the latter, but it's not like you would normally get to take photos in the studio anyway! 

We were provided lunch as part of the tour experience, which was nice. After our meal break, we were shown the studio archive, where all the movies and television shows filmed by Paramount Studios are stored.  They were filming one of my favorite shows, American Horror Story on the lot today, but sadly, I didn't see anything from that one. At the end of our tour, I was given a couple of mementos of my visit to the studio.  I received a photo of me standing in front of Bronson gate and a free movie poster...I picked Paranormal Activity 4. 

Afterward, I headed over to Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank to attend a live taping the the TV show Two And A Half Men.  Like my previous experiences going to live tapings, I really enjoyed watching the process of filming a TV episode.  Of course, I wasn't there just to watch...I was expected to help provide a laugh track.  Even if a punchline isn't real funny, you still should laugh anyway.  It was wonderful seeing two actors familiar to me...John Cryer and Ashton Kutcher...doing their thing.  It took roughly 2 1/2 hours to film the half hour episode, and we got our slice of pizza snack, too.  Tomorrow, is my last day in southern California before I make the slow drive north along the coast.  And, it will be another easy day...two museums!