On Day Two of my trip through the Los Angeles area, we headed over to NBC Studios in Burbank, California. Located at 3000 West Alameda Avenue, these studios are home to high profile shows like Access Hollywood, Days of our Lives, and a good variety of programming for Telemundo. Before getting in line to watch The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, we went around the back of the building and into the gift shop. There, we signed up for an hour-long studio tour that would take us behind the scenes, from the production of props to the actual studios themselves.

The Studio Tour started with a brief video that showed us the history of NBC and its humble beginnings as a radio station. Clips from popular shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Friends were among the highlights, but this, of course, was not the highlight of the tour. Unfortunately, no cameras were allowed beyond this point because of copyright restrictions.

We were then taken through the prop workshop where we witnessed the creation of sets, furniture, and other things needed for television programming. We also took a quick spin through wardrobe were the seamstresses were busy creating the latest threads for Days of Our Lives. They say that Days of Our Lives is one of the longest running programs on television, having aired over 10,000 episodes. They work on a full five-day schedule, shooting an episode each and every day. That’s quite the feat. We also wandered through the backlots where we saw Jay Leno’s ride for the day: an unidentified vintage vehicle. The tour guide said that Jay stores his hundreds of cars at an airport hangar where he has full-time staff whose sole responsibility is to care for his automobiles.

We took a glimpse into Studio 3 where The Tonight Show does its thing, but we couldn’t pop into Studio 1 where Access Hollywood was currently being recorded. We couldn’t enter the Days of Our Lives studio either as they were busy working (as usual), but we did manage to take a quick peek around the corner to spot a star or two. It was quite the fascinating tour, and my first chance to walk through a working studio other than that theme park set up by Universal.

Tune in next time for my experience catching The Tonight Show with Jay Leno live and in person.