First time was a taping of the ancient Nickelodeon game show, “Double Dare.” My classmates were competing, so the whole class went to the taping. That was pretty exciting.
Second time was a taping of Late Night with Conan O’Brien. Great fun. I can’t, for the life of me, remember anything about the guests, bits, etc. But I do remember Conan coming out to warm up the audience–he charged out and starting singing his ass off, like some rocker in a suit. Which was great, b/c it was so surprising to see how tall he was, and how good of a singer. Overall, it was great, esp. b/c it lasted exactly an hour (minus a slight wait in line beforehand), and we were out of there just in time for dinner.
Third and last time was for a pilot of a sitcom. It was to star those twins who are both stand-up comics, Randy and Jason Sklar. It wasn’t terrifically funny, took forever, and my friend and I slipped out of the audience after an hour even though we were supposed to stay for about another 6 hours (no joke).
Star Search. We part of a very enthusiastic crowd, and Ed commented on our energy. We also had to do tie-breakers in something like five categories, which Ed said was a first. I liked Ed. He seemed very friendly and mostly sober.
I wish I could remember the name of even one of the performers so I would know if any of them went on to become famous, but I don’t.
“Geraldo” Some classmates were going as a joke, and I figured what the hell. They taped several episodes in a day and the audience can apparently stay for as many episodes as they like. Only the show producer addressed the audience; Geraldo only came out once the show began, and went off-stage during breaks.
I was in a Geraldo audience.
He didn’t go off stage during the breaks but he did find random spots in the arena and “strike a pose”. The producer had us clapping non stop for the entire break(s). I guess that was to keep people from talking or something. The show was something really boring but watching Geraldo pose around was kind of funny.
My sister and I attended a taping of “The Tonight Show” in LA sometime back around 1984. Johnny Carson was on one of his many vacations, so Joan Rivers was the host. Things kicked off about five in the afternoon, I guess giving NBC a couple of hours to edit the results before being fed to the Eastern and Central affiliates.
It’s been too many years so I can’t remember who might have been the guests, but I do recall Doc Severinsen doing the warmup, and numerous admonishments from various functionaries to do whatever the light-up signs said, audience-reaction-wise. We watched the show that night; we agreed that about ten minutes of running time had been cut out of the show and no, we didn’t show up on camera.
Like someone else mentioned of another show, we were a bit surprised that the band played all the way through the commercial breaks (duh), but that was fine; Severinsen led a pretty crack outfit.
Oh, yeah, and I remember how the NBC ushers basically herded everyone out like livestock within seconds of the show’s end. I do believe that if they had been issued cattle prods they would have used them on us.
I am INSANELY jealous.
My only “LSA” experience was when my then-girlfriend, now-wife, dragged me to a taping of The Rosie O’Donnell Show when we were in New York for a wedding. We had taken a shitty red-eye on Tower Air, I was tired, we had to be at the studio by 8am which was really 5am West Coast time, and the studio was freezing. Our seats were in the second row and I was paralyzed with fear that the warm-up comedian (whose job title should really be “fluffer”, let’s be honest here) would grab me and mock me somehow, like by making me dance.
I’ll be the second person to say that I’ve been to a taping of Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher. I utterly love that guy, and I actually went to three different tapings. My fondest memory was getting shot down by Maher during a Q&A session he’d always do with the audience. Somehow, I’d inadvertently run across a very bad movie he’d starred in called “Pizza Man” not long before the taping I went to, and I made the decision to be a smart-ass (I was young) and ask him about it during the Q&A. Of course, I screw up and call it “Pizza Boy” by accident, he glares at me, points his finger in my face, and says, “That’s Pizza MAN!!!” and walks away. All done in jest on his part, but it got the audience laughing at me instead of him, so I bowed to his superiority.
The only other show I’ve seen taped that I can recall was Whose Line Is It Anyway? with Drew Carey. I used to love the show at the time, but the taping was kind of a drag. Some stuff was very funny, some really wasn’t. And after three and a half hours of sitting on your ass in a hard chair listening to hit-and-miss humor, you get a little tired of the whole affair. They made three episodes out of the material they got that night, and of course, everything is taped wildly out of order. But the Q&A with the comedians, particularly Greg Proops, was very cool.
Living in London, it’s pretty easy to go to see some great TV shows (and some pretty crappy ones too) being recorded. Anyone on a visit here should check out the BBC’s website in case there’s anything interesting on. And of course it’s free entertainment!
Back in the 70’s, my sister and her mates were always going to the BBC to see things like Monty Python and The Goodies. And radio stuff such as I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again.
I’ve been to several, both at the BBC and elsewhere, none of which anyone that side of the Atlantic will know (including Alexei Sayle’s Stuff, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Time Gentlemen Please…).
And I also managed to get in to David Letterman in New York in January, although I was up in the balcony rather than close to the action. The guests actually included people I’d heard of (BB King and Samuel L Jackson), which was a bonus.
I attended a taping of Family Feud while visiting LA for the first time. This was back in the Richard Dawson days. Significant impressions:
1.) They tape an entire week’s worth at once.
2.) This means the contestants bring a change of clothes, so it doesn’t look as if they’ve been wearing the same things all week.
3.) They take breaks for commercials, but they try to limit it to the actual length of the commercial breaks, evenm though there’s no reason they couldn’t just stop the cameras and take their time. But there’s a schedule to keep, and a lot of taping to be done.
4.) The announcer comes on beforehand to get the audience worked up. It’s not a very long bit, though.
5.) I was severely disappointed that they didn’t poll the studio audience for responses. You know – “Survey says…” I thought they surveyed the people sitting in the ranks. Obviously, they don’t. Nobody asked us to name A Type of Dessert or anything.
6.) LA Studios have the absolute worst waiting facilities. You’d think with the example of Disney so close at hand they’d learn better crowd handling techniques. But, no, it’s an endurance test. You have to prove you’re worthy of getting in to see the show. You wait out in the hot sun, without shade. Or seats. Or even water. There are no water fountains nearby, and noplace to get anythin to eat or drink (especially without losing your place in line). You’d think economic self-interest would prod the studios into setting up a hot dog stand or something, because they’ve got a captive audience – but there’s nothing. (This was all 25 years ago, so things may have changed. But I doubt it.)
I attended a taping of Crossfire at GWU. It was Kinsley and Novak. Bo-ring!
I was also in the audience of a taping of a local high school quiz bowl called It’s Academic. My wife was the Thomas Jefferson HS for Science & Tech team coach. They won; they pretty much always do.
I saw a taping of *Rosanne * about seven or eight years ago and it’s pretty bleak. Show up at a parking lot at the designated time and wait in line for a fleet of school buses to arrive and take you to the studio a few blocks away. Get off the bus and wait in line again to get into the studio. Reverse the process two hours later.
Oh, *Rosanne * wasn’t our first pick. I can’t remember what we actually wanted, but when we found the assembly location, our choices were see *Rosanne * or leave as there was nothing left.