As the New Season Launches, Top Studio Chiefs Fill Out The Fall TV Survey

Last year I did this with the network presidents; this year, I put the major TV studio chiefs in the hot seat. (Some were more game than others.) What new show do they wish they produced? What's their TV guilty pleasure? Which fresh face is poised to break out? We put the answers in the chart above. But for more extensive answers and additional questions, check out the full poll over at TVGuide.com.

End of An Era: NBC Ends Its Burbank Studio Tour

When my family would visit Los Angeles in the 1980s, one of the highlights for me was always the NBC Studio Tour. A trip to see the NBC lot was cool in itself -- I was steps away from the likes of Brandon Tartikoff, a name I knew thanks to reading TV Guide. But then we actually got to see the "Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" set when it was dark, plus walk past soundstages and see the local news set. For a 10 year-old, that was all awesome.

But in recent years, most of NBC moved over to the Universal lot. Leno's still there, as is KNBC (although even that is moving soon), but most of NBC is no longer there (and NBC doesn't even own the lot anymore, it just leases part of it) -- so I just assumed that the NBC Studio Tour had disappeared a long time ago. Turns out it hadn't -- but as Joe Flint reports at the L.A. Times, today's the last day:

A little bit of history will be happening in Burbank on Friday as the last tour of the famous NBC Studios will be happening at noon. For decades, tourists have been able to pop in on NBC's Burbank lot and get visits to sets including"The Tonight Show" from willing and cheerful pages. But the studio has been sold and most of NBC has or is moving over to the Universal lot so the tours are ending.

Coincidentally, just a few weeks ago I posted this 1983 "PM Magazine" report by Maria Shriver of the NBC Studio Tour:



Of course, Universal still does its famous Tram Ride as a part of Universal Studios, and the Warner Bros. studio tour (by appointment) is supposed to be well-done. But it's the end of an era as NBC continues to say good-bye to Burbank. Above and below (the old Carson set), publicity shots of the NBC Studio Tour used for postcards and promo materials in the early 1980s.

Sadness Over the Changes at KCET

KCET, one of the two last remaining TV stations in Hollywood, is now on the move -- and likely looking for cheap digs elsewhere in Southern California.

That's because the station -- which dropped its long-time PBS affiliation at the end of 2010 -- is selling its Sunset Boulevard studios in order to raise some cash. The property, first built in 1912 as Monogram Pictures, is being sold to Scientology, which plans to expand its production output there. (Terms of the deal weren't disclosed, although the property is said to be worth nearly $15 million.)

KCET president Al Jerome attempted to put a brave face on the move: "We are now implementing Phase Two of our transformation from a PBS affiliate to an independent public media center for the 21st century. New facilities and equipment will allow us to augment the quality, award-winning content that our fans love."

This is the first we're hearing about a multi-phase plan for KCET. Was Phase One the act of dumping PBS? Like I've said before, that should have been the ultimate act of last resort -- the nuclear option. Sell the studio. Downsize the staff. Cut all expenditures to the very minimum. But don't get rid of PBS. Then, when times improve, you can bring back staff and restore budgets. But it's tough to do that without the power of PBS. I have a hard time believing that there was any positive in (a) dropping PBS and (b) selling its 40-year home.

KCET's diet of mostly reruns (including 40-year-old kids shows and decade-old British dramas) coupled with a few bright spots (mostly SoCal Connected and its use of international news reports) still feels like a stopgap measure to temporarily fill the PBS void. Hopefully we'll start to see more local-oriented original fare as time goes on, and hopefully KCET will have the funds to do that.

Meanwhile, the Scientology statement is equally mysterious: "It is a perfect fit, in both size and location, for the expansion of the Church of Scientology's production of religious and social betterment audiovisual properties, and we welcomed the unexpected opportunity to acquire it."

I fear that the money generated by the sale of the KCET lot won't go far -- $15 million would cover only about three episodes of a network primetime drama, for example -- and then KCET will not only have little to show for it, but will no longer have a flagship home.

As for TV in Hollywood, just a decade or so ago the area was home to KABC, KCBS, KCAL, KCOP, KTTV, KWHY, KTLA and KCET. Now, it's home to just KTLA and KCET... and once KCET leaves, only KTLA is left. And if plans are ever firmed up to move KTLA in with the Los Angeles Times downtown, that will leave no one. Quite a change.

PREVIOUSLY ON FRANKLIN AVENUE:

Will KCET Ever Reunite With PBS? (January 2011)

Our Modest KCET Proposal (October 2010)

What's In Store for KCET Once It Dumps PBS? (October 2010)