A Rainy Day in ....Hollywood, CA
While sunshine is the norm in Los Angeles in the summer – at least after the morning haze burns off – winter brings its share of drizzly days and torrential downpours to La La Land. The last thing you want to be doing in LA in the rain is driving around on the freeways. Angelenos really don’t know how to drive in the rain. So I’m breaking Rainy Day L.A. down into neighborhoods that can be navigated without getting on the freeway.
This month we’ll look at things to do on a Rainy Day in Hollywood since that’s the place most visitors start and there’s plenty to do to keep you out of the rain.
Even though you can address mail to Hollywood, CA, Hollywood is not a city; it is part of the City of Los Angeles. Like many Los Angeles communities, it has a personality of its own. With glamorous beginnings as home to some of the earliest movie studios in L.A., Hollywood’s reputation took a dive into sleaze in the 70s and 80s. Since the late 90s, Hollywood has received a major face lift and staged a comeback as a glitzy destination representing the heart of the entertainment industry. There are still remnants of sleazy Hollywood with strip clubs, lingerie and sex toy shops interspersed between the tourist attractions, upscale restaurants and A-list nightclubs, but that’s part of what makes Hollywood, Hollywood.
For more rainy day Hollywood alternatives, check out the Southern California links page.
Kayte Deioma
If you’re interested in Hollywood memorabilia, the Hollywood Museum is a great way to spend a few hours on a rainy day. Located in the old pink stucco and green marble Max Factor factory building, the Museum maintains some of the original displays from the Max Factor Museum as well as rotating exhibits from the Museum’s Hollywood History collection and some traveling exhibits related to Hollywood history.
The Hollywood Museum has a wonderful collection of Hollywood memorabilia. Although each exhibit has a theme, the individual pieces are rarely identified. Actor bios are placed around the exhibits - usually too close to the ground to be easily read - and sometimes reference which item displayed was worn or used by that actor. Despite the shortage of interpretive information, the collection is worth exploring.
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What could be more “ Hollywood” in Hollywood than attending a TV show taping? Depending on your timing, you could take in a live taping of your favorite sitcom, be in the audience of a talk show or cheer on the contestants in a game show.
Some shows tape at studios up in Burbank or on the west side, but many tape right in Hollywood. The Jimmy Kimmel Live! Show tapes at the El Capitan Entertainment Center next to the El Capitan Theatre. Various sitcoms tape at large and small studios around Hollywood. The largest in Hollywood is Paramount Studios with its memorable entrance on Melrose Blvd. at Gower.
Where the Hollywood History Museum has a heavy movie and memorabilia focus, the Hollywood Entertainment Museum features sets from some of America’s most popular TV shows and information about what goes into the production of television shows and movies. The $12 admission price to the Hollywood Entertainment Museum includes a guided tour, which is the only way you get to see all the “back-lot” areas.
Your docent-led tour starts out in the prop room with various monster heads looming on shelves above you and glass encased shelves featuring props from various movies. Helmets, facemask and breast plates from "The Shadow" are next to dental headgear from "Problem Child III," with a mask mold from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" opposite. Unfortunately, you get rushed through this area without any time to stop and examine the various prop displays.
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