# Universal Studios Lot

Universal Studios Lot is a television and film studio complex located at 100 Universal City Plaza in Universal City, California and is part of the entire Universal Studios complex, which also includes the adjacent Universal Studios Hollywood theme park. It is the production site of Universal Studios and is owned by Comcast through its subsidiary NBCUniversal. The lot officially opened the gates of Universal City on March 15, 1915. The lot began offering its modern studio tour in 1964, which eventually evolved into the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park. Today the Universal Studios Lot is made up of 400 acres, which includes more than 30 sound stages, the Brokaw News Center and 165 other separate structures.

## Background

On March 15, 1915, Carl Laemmle opened Universal City Studios on a 230-acre ranch in the San Fernando Valley and called it "Universal City". The site later became known as Universal Studios Lot and Universal City was considered the first self-contained community dedicated to making films.
In 1950, Universal Studios Lot increased its overall size to 400 acres after Universal acquired additional land at the southern border of the studio. Music Corporation of America (MCA) bought the Universal Studios Lot in 1958. Universal then leased back its property from MCA until MCA and Universal merged in 1962.
Shortly after the MCA–Universal Pictures merger, accountants suggested that a new tour in the studio commissary would increase profits. On July 15, 1964, the modern Universal Studios tour was established to include a series of dressing room walk-throughs, peeks at actual production, and later, staged events. This grew over the years into a full-blown theme park now known as Universal Studios Hollywood.
Over the next decades, numerous television shows and movies were filmed in Universal Studios Lot, notably at the Courthouse Square and Colonial Street sets. This includes Psycho (Paramount Pictures), Back to the Future (Universal Pictures), The Perfect Storm (Warner Bros.), War of the Worlds (Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks), Desperate Housewives (ABC), and The Good Place (NBC). Today, Universal Studios Lot is one of the largest full-service production facilities. It has continued to modernize and grow with plans to expand by adding additional soundstages and building facilities.
Since 2016, the NBC show American Ninja Warrior has filmed their Los Angeles city qualifiers and finals courses on the lot.

## Studio stages
### Current studio stages

| Studio | Production | Notes | Area |
| Stage 1 | The Jack Benny Show, The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, Chelsea Lately, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon LA Shows, Steve, The Kelly Clarkson Show among many others | | 10,635 sq ft (988.0 m$^2$) |
| Stage 3 | Desperate Housewives, Heartbeat | | 12,237 sq ft (1,136.9 m$^2$) |
| Stage 4 | The Incredible Hulk, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Desperate Housewives | | 10,534 sq ft (978.6 m$^2$) |
| Stage 5 | Dragnet, Desperate Housewives, Ghost Whisperer | | 8,919 sq ft (828.6 m$^2$) |
| Stage 12 | Broadway (film) King of Jazz (film) Dracula (film) Frankenstein (film) The Bride of Frankenstein (film) So Goes My Love aka A Genius in the Family (film) Harvey (film) It Came from Outer Space (film) Creature from the Black Lagoon (film) Spartacus (film) Flower Drum Song (film) Thoroughly Modern Millie (film) Sweet Charity (film) The Andromeda Strain (film) The Sting (film) Airport 1975 (film) Earthquake (film) The Hindenburg (film) The Incredible Shrinking Woman (film) The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (film) Scarface (film) Back to the Future (film) Legal Eagles (film) Psycho III (film) Mobsters (film) Batman Returns (film) Jurassic Park (film) Casper (film) The Lost World: Jurassic Park (film) Psycho (film) How the Grinch Stole Christmas (film) Jurassic Park III (film) Hulk (film) Jarhead (film) Serenity (film) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (film) Die Hard 4.0 (film) Evan Almighty (film) National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (film) Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (film) Tropic Thunder (film) Couples Retreat (film) Land of the Lost (film) The Voice (TV series) | Production stopped in 2020 due to redevelopment of area. | 29,070 sq ft (2,701 m$^2$) |
| Stage 16 | Jurassic Park (1993) Meet the Fockers (2004) | | 11,553 sq ft (1,073.3 m$^2$) |
| Stage 17 | Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Leave It To Beaver | | 10,090 sq ft (937 m$^2$) |
| Stage 18 | | | 10,669 sq ft (991.2 m$^2$) |
| Stage 19 | | | 10,032 sq ft (932.0 m$^2$) |
| Stage 20 | | | 10,640 sq ft (988 m$^2$) |
| Stage 21 | | | 19,701 sq ft (1,830.3 m$^2$) |
| Stage 22 | Hairspray Live!, Will & Grace reboot, | | 17,582 sq ft (1,633.4 m$^2$) |
| Stage 23 | Hairspray Live!, America's Got Talent Judge Cuts and 2020 Live Shows, Will & Grace reboot, | | 18,170 sq ft (1,688 m$^2$) |
| Stage 24 | | | 17,452 sq ft (1,621.3 m$^2$) |
| Stage 25 | Quincy, M.E. | | 17,469 sq ft (1,622.9 m$^2$) |
| Stage 26 | | | 17,523 sq ft (1,627.9 m$^2$) |
| Stage 27 | Die Hard 2, Jurassic Park, Apollo 13 | | 17,515 sq ft (1,627.2 m$^2$) |
| Stage 30 | | | 17,452 sq ft (1,621.3 m$^2$) |
| Stage 31 | | | 34,921 sq ft (3,244.3 m$^2$) |
| Stage 32 | | | 17,523 sq ft (1,627.9 m$^2$) |
| Stage 33 | | | 7,200 sq ft (670 m$^2$) |
| Stage 34 | | | 7,181 sq ft (667.1 m$^2$) |
| Stage 35 | | | 7,208 sq ft (669.6 m$^2$) |
| Stage 36 | | | 7,181 sq ft (667.1 m$^2$) |
| Stage 37 | | | 13,763 sq ft (1,278.6 m$^2$) |
| Stage 41 | | | 14,246 sq ft (1,323.5 m$^2$) |
| Stage 42 | | | 14,252 sq ft (1,324.1 m$^2$) |
| Stage 43 | | | 14,253 sq ft (1,324.1 m$^2$) |
| Stage 44 | McMillan & Wife (1971-1977) | | 14,253 sq ft (1,324.1 m$^2$) |
| Stage 747 | Die Hard 2 | Formerly an interior mockups of a Boeing 707 and a 747 | 8,201 sq ft (761.9 m$^2$) |
| 1220 Studio | | | 5,800 sq ft (540 m$^2$) |
| Studio K Digital Studio | | | 1,000 sq ft (93 m$^2$) |

### Former studio stages

| Studio | Production | Notes |
| Stage 2 | | Studio Tour |
| Stage 6 | | |
| Stage 7 | | renamed to Stage 747 |
| Stage 8 | | renamed to 1220 Studio |
| Stage 9 | | renamed to Studio K Digital Studio |
| Stage 10 | | dubbing stage; ADR facility |
| Stage 11 | | dubbing stage |
| Stage 13 | | Universal's House of Horrors |
| Stage 14 | Airwolf | no longer exists |
| Stage 15 | Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein | no longer exists |
| Stage 28 | The Phantom of the Opera | Also known as The Phantom Stage (1925 – 2014); demolished |
| Stage 29 | | |
| Stage 30 | | Now Transformers: The Ride attraction |
| Stage 31 | | |
| Stage 32 | | Demolished in 2010 to build Transformers: The Ride attraction |
| Stage 50 | | |
| Stage 52 | | |
| Stage 55 | | |

## Studio Tour

The Studio Tour is a public attraction both as a VIP and at the adjacent Universal Studios Hollywood theme park that offers visitors a behind-the-scenes look at the historic studio lot. The tour first opened in 1915 when Carl Laemmle invited visitors to see the studio in action. The Universal Tour was halted in the late 1920s and revived in 1964. Since then, it has evolved through countless iterations, including new tour hosts, movie sets, and experiences.