AROUND HOME : A Tour of NBC Studios

THE NBC STUDIO Tour is designed to demonstrate how a television program is created and how a show is broadcast. NBC has outfitted a mini-studio specifically for the tour and equipped it with a simulated control booth so that visitors have a chance to see themselves on television. Depending on the highly variable demand for studio space and taping schedules, the tour also stops at the wardrobe, set storage and prop departments, and possibly “The Tonight Show” set, KNBC News studio and the Skypath satellite broadcast system. The tour concludes at the Sound and Special Effects Center, where TV’s great mysteries--such as how faces change color and where all those weird noises come from--are explained.

Children are welcome on these regular tours, but NBC has designated November and May as Youth Months, with special children’s tours oriented to the interests and comprehension level of elementary school students. The Youth Month tours visit the same locations as the regular tour, but guides tailor their descriptions to first- through sixth-graders. Each tour makes its own simulated TV production, with heroes, heroines, villains and production personnel recruited from members of the tour group.

Advance reservations are not required for groups of fewer than 20. The price, $6.50 for adults and $4.50 for children, includes peacock jacket patch during the month of November. There is no minimum group size for the tour, but children cannot take the tour unescorted. Picnic areas are available in Buena Vista Park, across from the studios. NBC Studios is located at 3000 W. Alameda Ave., Burbank; for information, telephone (818) 840-3537.