It’s like the holiday season for TV fans: The new television season officially kicks off this month, and the 71st Emmy Awards get handed out at downtown L.A.’s Microsoft Theater on Sunday, September 22. While there are ways to get an up-close peek at the red carpet—or even get a gig as a seat-filler at the awards show—there are countless ways to soak up the energy of the TV industry in Hollywood these days.
This week, for instance, you can catch sneak previews of this fall’s buzziest shows at PaleyFest (Sept. 9–15), held at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills. See screenings of Matt Groening’s Disenchantment for Netflix, NBC’s reboot of Mad About You, and the CW’s Batwoman and Nancy Drew, among others, or take part in panel discussions and meet-and-greets.
Or, snag yourself a free seat at the live taping of a variety of shows—including Emmy nominees Jimmy Kimmel Live! and the Late Late Show with James Corden. You can also get seats at classics such as Dancing with the Stars and The Price is Right, or new series Carol’s Second Act (starring Patricia Heaton), Mad About You, and Lights Out with David Spade. Year round, you can also do the Warner Bros. Studio Tour, which features both TV and movie sets (including the Central Perk set from Friends), or play at Universal Studios Hollywood, with its rides and shows that celebrate TV icons like The Simpsons and The Walking Dead.
A few heavily nominated shows even focus on the Hollywood scene, making it fun to follow their tracks around L.A. HBO’s Barry—starring Bill Hader as a hitman who goes into acting—has filmed at locations ranging from Pacific Park at the Santa Monica Pier to the Residuals Tavern, a neighborhood pub in Studio City. Netflix’s The Kominsky Method, starring Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin as aging Hollywood players, has been filmed at classic spots such as The Musso & Frank Grill, Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and even the Pechanga Resort Casino, when the two leads took a road trip through the Temecula Valley.
Want to take your own Hollywood-inspired road trip? Check out our Movie Locations Road Trip that goes from L.A. to Mammoth Lakes, or take a trip inspired by one these filmed-in-California hits: Big Little Lies, Wine Country, and Birdbox.
