I went to a taping of Nickelodeon Guts, which was an indoor “extreme sports for kids” type show. The contestants kayaked and climbed rock walls and did all sorts of neat stuff - kind of like a junior American Gladiators minus the Gladiators themselves. I was probably 10 years old or so at the time and thought it was a great show.
We got the tickets because some guy at Universal Studios came up to us and asked if we wanted to go see a taping, and we were like, “cool, why not?”
A good reason would have been because it ended up being crazy boring. The audience and the events were completely separated from one another. They just wanted big crowds in the backgrounds while they filmed and every now and then they’d have us cheer, but they weren’t actually broadcasting any of the commentary or really letting us know what was going on. The kids did their events in no discernible order (I’m pretty sure they were doing multiple episodes, too) and we more or less sat around until we were told it was over.
It was really lame and a pretty big let-down for a kid who was way into all of the Nick game shows.
David Letterman (5? times)
Saturday Night Live (2 times)
Jerry Springer Show (3 times)
Oprah
I had connections for Letterman and SNL. For Jerry and Oprah, they were just easy tickets to get if you knew where to be (before Oprah took off that is).
Letterman was the most enjoyable and definitely the shortest line-waiting. It was less than an 1.5 hours total, the others had much more of a herding-activity going on. The thing that is most surprising in all cases is, the sets are tiny and really far away (back of the stage) in order to have all of the cameras and producers between the audience and the action. I haven’t even considered going in 10 years and probably wouldn’t again- especially with HD TV as you don’t gain anything by being there.
Just went to a taping of Dr. Phil. 1st show, funny as hell. Celebrity Babysitters. 2nd show: not so funny. Not sure if it will air. Tickets were free. Visit the website, sign up for being in the audience, and they will call you back.
Bonus: We sat within 3 person radius of Robin, so we might be on camera, and I got a Dr. Phil mug…WOOT!
The process took about 5 hours, from entry to exit. It’s COLD in there, so if you go, bring something warm (your spouse will do in an emergency).
Yes, it was. Robin Williams was funny as hell, best I’ve ever seen him. And then Bette Midler came out and completely stole the show with sincerity. And talent.
Sorry I took so long to get back to you.
Not a sitcom, game show, or talk show, but I went, at the invitation of a friend who’d scored free tickets, to the taping of a Comedy Central standup show in a small off-off-Broadway theater in the early Nineties. Judy Tenuta was the funniest person in the lineup, and the only one I remember now. The taping ran long and some people left despite the production staff begging them to stay; I remember production assistants racing back and forth to fill vacant seats so that none would show on air.
We were there a bit over two hours for what ended up as an hour of TV. Overall, it was fun.
I got on Bozo The Clown in the mid-70’s. When they called out for the ‘girl in red’ to come down, I about had a heart attack, I was so happy. Until the girl behind me in red went down.
Pfft.
I don’t remember how I got the tickets, but SOMEONE had to have driven me all the way into Chicago for this, and I don’t seem to recall my mom being there, so…maybe from a neighbor who took her kids, too? I really just remember me, the stage, and my overwhelming disappointment at not being able to go on stage, lol.
When I lived in LA after college, my wannabe actress self got paid to sit in the front row of talk shows and game shows. Hollywood Squares (became a fan of Joan Rivers forever), Pyramid with Donny Osmond (really nice guy, exactly as expected), Wayne Brady show, Tony Danza show, and a few others I don’t remember. On one Tony Danza show he made meatballs and then passed them out, he had a kitchen at his show, and they were delicious. Pretty fun way to make $80.
Got in to see Letterman in… '96, I think. I had tried to get standby tickets in previous trips to NY, without luck. (Got to meet Emma Thompson at the I’d door after one failed attempt, so not a complete failure.) Got in line very early and at noon, someone came out with a clipboard and took down my name. Was told to comeback at 5 and get in line in the order we were in that morning. My friend and I were 4th and 5th. A guy was going up and down the line offering $100 for a ticket. Keep in mind these were standby tickets and had no guarantee of getting in. The guest that night- Bruce Springsteen.
Got on the set of the soap Guiding Light quite a few times when I happened to see one of the actors coming out of the studio and told him I remembered seeing him in the James Bond film, “The Living Daylights”. He must have been impressed at my Bond knowledge because he gave me his schedule and invited me to the set the days he was working. I went 3 times and watched them film. Everything was shot once and they only had three areas to make sets.
The Late Show with David Letterman
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
The Price is Right (Barker era)
The Big Bang Theory
I have a feeling like I’m forgetting one…
Anyway, I had a great time at all of them. They work hard to keep the audience energized, so it never really gets boring, even at a sitcom taping where they may have to do several re-takes. I was at TPiR with a large enough group (20?) to guarantee by rule that one of our group members would get on stage. (He didn’t do very well.) The Daily Show tix I just called ahead for (a few weeks of lead time, if I recall). Letterman tix were spontaneous. I was walking past the Ed Sullivan theater with a friend, and a guy with a clipboard stopped up and asked us a few questions that we quickly learned were related to that night’s guests. We seemed like a good fit, I guess, so he gave us two tix.
I completely agree. I was on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in 2000. I didn’t need to buy tickets, but the process to get there was quite a journey. When we walked on the set for a practice run, I thought it was a “dummy” replica. Plywood, duct tape, wire ties…if it wasn’t involved in a close-up shot it didn’t need to look nice or be structurally sound. We were even instructed on how to get up intot he “Hot Seat” so it wouldn’t fall over. TV is fake…I’m crushed.
A late-night talk show in L.A. circa 1989 (Gary Shandling maybe?). Marsha Warfield and George Wendt were guests. I don’t even remember getting the tickets but I guess my relative had known when and where to get them, or else we stumbled into them at one of the other SoCal attractions. It was interesting but also a little uncomfortable because in no way did I want to be involved in any audience participation a la Letterman.
