Television & Movies

During lunch, we went to the WB Commissary.  When I hear the word commissary, I am thinking it is this cafeteria where lots of people are being pushed through a food line and you have to sit in this rowdy lunch room.  Boy, was I tremendously happy I was completely off-base.

It turns out that the lunch included at the WB Commissary is actually a near fine-dining experience with nice table cloths, cloth napkins, and formal silverware with first-class service.  The menu and selection were those you would find from a formal restaurant except that this is the place were executives, producers, actors, other higher echelon employees would eat.

To give some perspective, the soup I ordered was $5.00, the salad was $8.00, the Diet Coke was $2.75, and the NY Steak was $24.00.  Remember, this is LUNCH, not dinner!  When I tallied my own bill, I easily had a $40.00 lunch without gratuity.  We were provided with a complimentary dessert (slice of pear pie) which by my estimation would have cost $6.00 on their menu.  Basically, if I had to pay for this entire dining experience with gratuity, this would have been close to a $60.00 lunch tab!

When I thought about the $150.00 ticket I purchased for the 5-hour tour, easily 1/3 of that cost went to the WB Comissary lunch experience.  I told the tour guide that I had expected a cafeteria or a box-lunch experience, not a fine-dining experience.  The food was good but the service was rushed mainly because the tour guide said that we did not pay to sit at lunch for over an hour.  Although I thoroughly enjoyed lunch, I had to agree with him.

He took us to a screening room which had an large-size mixer stretching to what I estimated to be at least 20 ft.  It was a very stylish and elegant room where there were many computer monitors connected to a network of Macintosh PCs.

We eventually went into another studio where a small orchestra could fit in and play music to be recorded.  Supposedly, this room was one that Clint Eastwood favored to record music for his own movies.

We visited a few sound stages.  We visited a huge sound stage where they made “The Perfect Storm” minus the filled tank of water.  We visited a sit-com sound stage similar to what they used when they made “Friends”.  We also visited the set of “Cold Case” where it looks a worn office of a city government building.  Once again, the attention to detail was extraordinary.  The furniture, cabinets, paperwork, books, folders, floor tiles, telephones, etc.

During one of our last stops, we went into the private WB Museum.  Being a fan of the Superman and Batman movies, I had the opportunity to closely inspect the superhero costumes.  The detail on the costumes were amazing.  You see way more in person than you can see on the movie screen.  There were costumes from “300”, Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions, and many other movies.  The 2nd floor was entirely dedicated to the Harry Potter movies.  I have to confess I have never seen a Harry Potter movie, nor have I ever attempted to read a Harry Potter book.  So, the whole Harry Potter thing did not do much for me.

In this review, I clearly cannot cover everything in the tour because I cannot remember every thing.  Even if I did, this is only a review, not a blow-by-blow account of my tour.

Overall, I felt I got tremendous value out of the Warner Brothers VIP Studio Tour (Deluxe version).  It is designed to be an attraction but it is also close to a 1-day educational experience.  I liked the fact there was only 10 of us on the tour and we really got VIP treatment.  It is actually kind of funny.  I thought the 5-hour Deluxe tour is the true VIP experience with a more personalized experience, not the 2-hour version they call the VIP tour where I saw up to 20 people on those tours.

The Warner Brothers VIP Studio Tour like the other movie studio tours are really under-promoted and under-marked in my opinion.  I don’t recommend young children going on most of the movie tours.  I don’t think they would truly appreciate the grandeur and sophistication of the movie-making process.  Because of the prices, I would not bring any children under 15 on most of the movie tours.

Otherwise, I highly recommend this great experience.

Prior to leaving on my final day in Los Angeles, I went to the Warner Brothers VIP Studio Tour in Burbank, California.  More specifically, I signed up for the 5-hour Deluxe version of the studio tour at a cost of $150.00.  Only 10-people are allowed in a Deluxe Tour.  This followed my Sony Pictures Studios Tour the day before.

Because I am in the publishing industry where I deal with Internet, print, audio and video media, this was an easily justifiable business expense.  Without question I am a movie buff but I was very much there for educational reasons.  I looked at this tour as a one-day seminar of how the “big boys” create these multi-million dollar productions.

This tour begins with a 15-minute retrospective of the origins of Warner Brothers.  There literally were 4 brothers with the last name Warner.  These brothers originally began in the East Coast with their movie theatre business .  And then they decided they might be able to make more money if they were able to also create and produce their own movies to show in their own theatres.  Clearly, that was the beginning of a legacy which has lasted to this day.

The Warner Brothers exterior sets were more extensive and impressive than Sony Pictures.  In fact, the WB lot is so large, we were taken around in a cart by the tour guide.  Our tour guide was clearly passionate about his job and it showed.  However, I did think he was a bit regimented in that it was very difficult to ask questions.  You would think that in this longer tour, there would be ample opportunity to ask questions but that was frequently not the case.  He was clearly in charge of the group and rattled off trivia after trivia as we visited various sets.

One of the most impressive sets I have ever seen is the Chicago set used by the producers of E.R.  E.R. is a long-runnning medical drama.  I am not a big fan but I have seen a few episodes of it.  The exterior sets of E.R. is very impressive for the detail that was put into it.  Although the sets have been around 12+ years, they looked like they had been around for 50 years with considerable wear and tear having that aged, filthy, back-alley look in Chicago.  Even up close, it was difficult to tell that these sets were artificially aged and worn.  The authentic look was simply amazing.

The set also had the back entrance to the E.R. hospital where ambulances roll in patients.  That set was also amazing.  It really looked like a hospital E.R entrance with the wear and tear of one.

Being a fan of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, we had the chance to see the actual sets of where the characters live.  We even see the scars in the street as a result of the explosion in the season finale.

We passed by the exterior sets of Uncle Jesse’s and Boss Hoggs’ home from Dukes of Hazzard.  In the TV show, they were two different buildings in two different locations.  In actuality, they are the same building!  One is filmed from the front, the other from the rear.  Again, move movie magic.

We went through an exterior set of a suburban neighborhood which actually had office workers in each of the houses.  When you are walking in those sets, it really does feel like you are in a suburban neighborhood, not a movie set on a movie lot.

We eventually broke for lunch.  End of Part 1.