HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD - REVISITED

A couple of years ago, we traveled to Southern California for a week on what we called our “Hooray for Hollywood” tour. We saw all the big landmarks, searched several cemeteries for graves of the stars (yeah, I know it’s a little weird but we both love it) and thoroughly experienced the TV & movie making industry touring all the big studios. We attended a taping of “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”, a sitcom called “’Til Death” and were in the studio audience for a “Dr. Phil” show.

The only thing that we REALLY wanted to do but couldn’t was get tickets to see a taping of “Two and a Half Men” – our favorite TV comedy.  Well, Lou had apparently been checking periodically to see if tickets were available to this most sought after sitcom taping. He finally found some and surprised me with them for Christmas! Of course, the gift from “Santa” to Kathy & Lou included an all expense paid long weekend in LA-LA Land.

We found a great deal on the Sheraton Universal on Hotwire AND I discovered that tickets were available to a new show called “The Talk” which is kind of like “The View” only without all the politics. Lou didn’t want to go since he said he’d be the only man there (which was not true – there were about ten men J) until he found out that it is filmed on an old studio which does not give tours. The only way to see any of the studio was to go to a taping.

Our room was three floors from the top....thank goodness there were no earthquakes!

Sacramento, the Bay Area and most of northern California has had a cold, wet winter and lately lots of foggy, dreary days. The LA forecast was for 78-80 degree weather and bright sun. They were wrong – it was in the mid to high 80s for our entire trip! We were sweating like crazy and dying of the heat in the middle of January! What’s up with that? By the third day of their heat wave, the bright sunny skies had given way to the brown layer of smog that covers Southern California much of the summer.

We arrived at Warner Brothers Studio for the “Two and a Half Men” taping where the security rivaled that of the Pentagon. Our ticket printout was compared with our names on their list and driver’s licenses at which point our right hands were stamped and we were issued a numbered placard. We were then marched across the street in numerical order to the studio entrance where we went through a metal detector and those of us with purses had them thoroughly searched. Cell phones and cameras were not allowed!

After being led single file to Sound Stage 25 where the taping takes place, we went through ANOTHER metal detector and our purses were searched even more thoroughly a SECOND time. Heaven forbid that Al Qaida should attempt to give us “what for” by taking out Charlie Sheen and the cast of “Two and a Half Men”!

Fortunately, all the security must have done its job since we witnessed an uneventful taping and had a great time. It’s fun to see how the making of a TV show works. Both of us wished they would tone down all the corny game playing between takes and let us just watch the process.

We took a tour of Grauman’s Chinese Theater on Saturday morning since neither of us had seen the inside of the ornate movie house. Of course, we explored the hand and footprints of all our favorites in front of the theater. I must be getting old since many of my favorites – George Clooney, John Travolta, Cher – are now immortalized there along with the old classic movie stars.

The tower of Grauman's Chinese Theater.



George Clooney's feet and hands in cement.



Cher is the latest star to have her foot and handprints immortalized.

The rest of Saturday and Sunday were spent exploring all of the sights Lou found that we missed the first time – old buildings, Olvera Street, Union Station, Frank Lloyd Wright houses, the Greystone Mansion, Paramount Ranch (where Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman was filmed) and Valhalla Cemetery (where Oliver Hardy and Curly Joe, one of the six Three Stooges ????, are buried…..call me crazy, but I don’t get it). We couldn’t find Curly Joe’s grave since our sunlight was running out, the office had no clue how to find it and there were two big graveside funerals going on. Lou is emailing the president of the Three Stooges Fan Club as I type to find out where it is. I guess it’s a guy thing.

A home designed by Lloyd Wright (Frank's son) - Diane Keaton once lived here.

Detail in the textile block Ennis House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

The Shakespeare Bridge in Los Feliz.

The Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills - now a city park.

Some of the Mexican goods for sale on Olvera Street.

A building in the western town of Paramount Ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Saturday night we headed to the Universal City Walk where we had dinner at Wolfgang Puck’s – a very nice meal – and Lou had a ball taking pictures to add to his neon sign photo collection.

This was a rotating sign that Lou timed just right when he snapped the photo.

Another of the numerous neon signs throughout the Universal City Walk.

While looking for a place to have breakfast the next morning we stumbled onto a Bob’s Big Boy Restaurant in Burbank which happened to be the 6^th one built back in 1949. A Big Boy double decker hamburger was one of my favorite treats on every trip to Southern California since way back in the 60s – so we ended up going back for dinner. Yep, I had a Big Boy and they are still REALLY good! Plus we took a bunch of photos of the neon signs all lit up at night.

Of course we had to take our picture with Bob!

Bob's Big Boy on Riverside Drive in Burbank all lit up at night.

Ever since I found the tickets, we have been watching “The Talk” which stars Sharon Osbourne (Ozzy’s wife), Holly Robinson Peete (Celebrity Apprentice runner up), Sara Gilbert (of Roseanne fame), Leah Remini (King of Queens) and Julie Chen (not real sure who she is). A live studio audience show is totally different than a sitcom taping but both were lots of fun. We caught a couple glimpses of ourselves when we watched our recording of the show at home.

The shows and sightseeing were loads of fun but I’ve got to say that there are WAY too many people down in SoCal. No matter where you go it is crowded and every road is jammed with cars – it doesn’t matter what time of day it is, there is tons of traffic. Not to mention a lot of really strange people milling about.

Our GPS is about four years old which must be 90-something in electronic years because she is losing her mind. Half the time she was more confused than we were and I had to override her navigation often. I’m adding a new travel rule to my list – always have a back up old-fashioned map and/or Mapquest directions when driving in unfamiliar territory.

After fighting the busy streets and crazy directions of our demented GPS, Lou was close to freaking out when we finally pulled into the hotel parking garage each night. We both felt like we'd been through the wringer. I think he flat-spotted my tires and stopped my heart a time or two but we managed to survive southern California and have a wonderful weekend getaway! Lou did a great job of dodging traffic and keeping us out of harm's way.

Thank you, Santa. J