"Filmed in front of a live studio audience" - Were you ever part of the audience?

I was at a taping of The State in the 1990s. The producers yelled at us to laugh and cheer more like we worked for him. We were in HS.

Someone in another thread said they were at *gasp* a Golden Girls taping!

In the late 80s - early 90s I worked for a pop star and attended a taping of The Tonight Show (sadly Johnny was off that night) and The Arsenio Hall Show. Arsenio was nice, but thirsty. He handed my employer his cd on the way out. It was avkward. Jay Leno was guest hosting for Johnny Carson. He was an asshole. He made a scene by switching sides of the room when someone took a picture. He must only be photographed on one side of his face.

I also got to Star Search - a friend worked there. It was fun. En Vouge were performing as special guests. They were very cool.

I was an audience member of Solid Gold with Rick Dees. There was nothing but a bunch of makeup touch ups for the dancers and talent, which was John Waite. I was in the audience at the Price is Right. The set looks much smaller in person.

I was front row of the Graham Norton Show. Two of the guests, Simon Amstell and Jessie J were rather frosty/bitchy/catty towards one another. Yet watching the finished programme, you could barely tell.

It was such an amazing night. Loved every second of it. My friend got invited on stage by Jessie J but sadly they edited that out too.

[quote] I was in the audience at the Price is Right.

Doesn't that mean you were also a potential contestant?

3 Tonight Shows (Leno, Leno, Fallon) and a Will & Grace in 2001. Tonight shows were fun to watch, Leno very nice, Fallon a kid who got lucky. W&G, almost 6 hrs, taped sequentially, nice performers (Eric came up into the audience during a break, stood right next to me and did a song & dance bit). Shook Sean’s hand over the railing on the way out. Megan M. the biggest stuck up, I don’t even LOOK at the little people, shithead.

The Big Bang Theory- it's hard to get tickets and I took my best friend who loves the show. They film really fast- maybe an hour total. Everyone was incredibly nice when we met them after.

Will Wheaton and Levar Burton were guesting.

A friend and I were visiting New York City from Canada a number of years ago and as we were walking past this theater/studio a man came up to us and offered us free tickets to be in the audience that night for The David Letterman Show. We said no, that we were too busy and not interested.

[quote]Doesn't that mean you were also a potential contestant?

Yeah but we were space fillers because there were empty seats. We knew we weren't going to be called, because they fill up their contestant list with the people that got their earlier. We were just stragglers. I was twice an audience member, and each time we were near the end of the line, which meant you weren't going to be called as a contestant unless you did something outrageous to bump someone else off the list.

That 70s Show and Wheel of Fortune. Both dull.

I was in the audience of The Old Rebel and Pecos Pete Show, the most popular local TV kids show where I grew up. My parents had written for tickets and by coincidence the tickets they sent us were on my birthday. My parents mentioned it to someone on the show's crew when we got there and I ended up getting a special "Birthday Boy" close up.

Fallon, SNL, and several news/talk shows. It’s all just so much smaller in person. Not just the size of the sets, which everyone knows by now, but the whole experience. It’s hard to believe that it’s the real thing.

r2 I was at a Golden Girls taping ("The Mangiacavallo Curse" episode.) Also a taping of "The Drew Carey Show." And I was a contestant on two game shows.

The Wonder Years in 1989 as part of a large outdoor group scene (not a studio audience situation, but more like extra work) The Mickey Mouse Club in 1991 (before Britney/Christina/Justin/Ryan G./etc., but Keri Russell and JC Chasez were on at the time) Saturday Night Special in 1996 (a very short lived variety show produced by Roseanne Barr for FOX) to see Garbage perform

Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Guest was a reporter who had written an article for a new magazine. Yawn. Samantha Bee had a segment. What I found odd is they actually paused the taping for what appeared to be the length of the commercial breaks. Some technical reason, I guess. A comic warmed us up. Then Stewart did a pre-taping chat. Never understood why the studio audience must be pumped up into a frenzy. What’s wrong with polite applause?

I went to a bunch when I was a teen. (then I got over going, the are very long plus you have to line up early so it is like a five hour commitment.)

I went to the last episode of the first season of The Golden Girls. It is the how they met episode. I remember Rue and Betty at supermarket bulletin board. Betty White may have had a cat? I forget if I saw that live or in outakes somewhere. I remember the cat started to claw her and they replaced it with another one. (again no sure if I saw this live.)

I was struck with how elaborate it was since they recreated a whole grocery store practically for one scene. As expected Betty White would stay and joke around with the crew and audience. Bea would walk off when not needed. Rue was somewhere in the middle. Sometimes she'd stay and smile at Betty and the crew's antics but she wouldn't really participate. I don't remember Estelle hanging around either.

Golden Girls went faster since it was video taped. It was almost like watching it live with brief breaks. They'd do two tapings and then take the best scenes from each. (sort of why there is often continuity errors, especially with the food on the table when they are eating)

I also saw Cheers (they go to an opera) It was in the Shelly Long years. That took forever. I remember it being really annoying and boring. When it finally started Norm walks in and they all yell Norm! Then they made him do it again and again and again. Nobody really acknowledged the audience. My big memory was seeing Ted Danson go use the regular men's room and thinking he doesn't get his own? Granted it was during a moment when the audience wasn't allowed to move around so he had it to himself but still.

Two shows. Tonite with Carson. Sammy Davis sang Candyman. Remember he wore green make up because of his complexion. I asked my mum if he was from Oz. Bill Mahr show. Charlton Heston was so crippled he could barely walk. Mum was appalled seeing Moses shuffle like Quasimodo. Sad.

Oh and I also saw Murphy Brown. Again nobody talked to the crowd. Most of the audience left before it was over. A guest actress who had a few lines as a date of Eldin's had a few lines at the end of the show. I felt bad for her. It was like five hours of taping before the finally got to her. She made a mistake and the audience (desperate for it to end) grumbled. She begged them to give her a break.

I wish I remembered the episode. I wonder who she was.

All the time. I got my start as a Page at CBS. They would use us to fill the audience all the time. I remember they were shooting a talk show pilot (I forget who but I don't think it got picked up) and they asked us to seat fill because they could not fill the audience. I knew all of the crew - they were all cbs guys and those fuckers were zooming in on me every chance they got lol. Sit-com tapings are different and can take a long time if the cast is acting up. Some of them shoot in real time some don't It is an interesting one-time thing to see and most audiences are filled with tourists who got booked via a tour. With the exception of game shows and Ellen/Wendy etc shows with a live audience are usually filled by companies who are paid to get people there.

contestant on double dare

The Daily Show with Craig Kilborn. I was in the front row when he came by at the end to shake a few hands on camera, and he had a blue pallor to his skin. Patrick Stewart was the guest. I remember being devastated when it was announced that he was leaving and some nobody was taking over !

r20 was being a page at CBS part of a program like NBC has or had? That always seemed like a cool program. When were you a page?

Conan when he was still at NBC. The main thing I remember is that it looked like he had some sort of tic that would manifest whenever they went to commercial and he was sitting by himself at the desk.

Did the Letterman show that same year. He was great. The main bit of audience instruction I remember is that they didn’t want people to “woo”

I saw The View once. Star Jones was actually the nicest. She would come and chat with the audience at each break. Every break she went to a different section. She made it all the way to the back by the end.

Merideth always seemed to be getting instructions during the break. Joy just sat there and looked annoyed.

1981: Wheel of Fortune with Chuck Woolery (pre Pat Sajak/Vanna White)

I got dragged to a taping of Carol Burnett's dreadful 90s sketch show. All I remember is a brief scene with Burt Reynolds and people yellling "Hey Bernie" at the dead guy from Weekend at Bernie's who was in the cast. Also Anita Barone, veteran of several mediocre sitoms, had a few bit parts. Mercifully they zipped right along, but I don't think I laughed once.

[quote] Joy just sat there and looked annoyed.

So what? Who cares?

R17 Did Estelle forget any of her lines?

I don't thing she was in the episode too much r29. I think it is the one where she comes thru the door with the kitchen knife like Psycho that is used in the credits.

When I first came to Los Angeles, I did studio audiences a lot. I thought, hey free entertainment. However, i stopped when my friends told me only losers do this. Later, when i worked at a major talent agency, I had to go to tapings as part of "covering" the show. Most of the time, I just spent time in the Green Room or backstage eating and at least on some Disney shows that had a bar backstage drinking. However, for Roseanne I had to sit in some specially reserved seats in the audience. The taping took 4 hours because Roseanne had to change into a costume and was having a meltdown. The audience comedian was having trouble keeping people interested. Roseanne eventually decided to grab his mike and call him an unfunny idiot. I finally had my fill and left before it turned into hour 5.

Sure, as a tiny tyke I was in the audience of (and briefly appeared on) Wallace & Ladmo, an iconic and subversive kids show that ran over 35 years.

I forgot some I went to my grandma with- Hollywood Palace, Carol Burnett (twice) and Merv Griffin.

Omg. R15; I loved the Wonder Years as a kid. That would have been my dream.

LA for ten years; did a few studio audiences for $ (so incredibly boring). Several times at the male version of the View (Mario Lopez’; Danny Bonaduce), then often took family or visitors to Leno/Ellen, and I worked at a job where we (a theatre production) appeared on Ellen and the Talk, though I have no gossip.. went to music awards like American music awards and a warm up for the Grammys. I’m sure that I’m forgetting some. It’s just so much more boring than you’d think was my conclusion.

R34 here, I forgot to mention I went to a taping of The Soup. I just remember being in Joel Mchales dressing room and he was pretty rude and caked with makeup. He made a lot of self deprecating jokes that he hated his job. I guess he was kidding. Anyway the studio audience was tiny, maybe 20 chairs. I wasn’t a big fan of the show but I was there taking some visitors around for a job.

My friend and I went to the wheel of fortune. Pat Sajak was funny. They had a gawdy Cadillac with huge Gs on the wheels as it was a Gucci version. Pat joked about a Gucci Pinto. Van a said she liked gardening.

I was at a taping of Night Court with Harry Anderson et. al. The old bailiff, can't remember her name kept flubbing her lines. The finally quit shooting that scene and said they would tape it later.

Me too R32. I remember I took so long to pick a gift they told me to hurry up. I think I picked a book. That was before the Ladmo bag. My mom knew someone that knew someone and that is how my brother and I got on the show.

I loved The Wonder Years too, r34. I wish my experience was more exciting, but it wasn't. It was the episode called, 'Walk Out' and basically we were supposed to be junior high students who walked out of class en masse to protest the Vietnam War chanting, "All we are saying is give peace a chance". I got a t-shirt out of it (I still have it) and I think I saw a member of the cast or two. I was pretty young and it's all kind of a blur now.

Cheers with a group of friends, long and boring, we left after the second hour. Was never a fan of the show, but thought it might be fun. Tonight Show with Carson in 1984, Doc subbed for Ed. They did the "Edge of Wetness" soap parody and I was nervous I was going to be one of the audience members they would zoom in on when Johnny would say something amusing about a fictional character in the town. The curtain was much smaller than it seemed it would be from watching the show on tv and the set was very compact. It was interesting but I don't remember the guests.

My high school drama class would go on field trips to studio tapings. I remember seeing Facts of Life, Silver Spoons, Married with Children, Who's The Boss?, Solid Gold. Solid Gold was the worst, consisting of Dionne Warwick doing take after take of Klymaxx's "I Miss You."

I was in the audience for The Joan Rivers Show in NYC in the early '90s. Yeah, yeah, I know that's not what you meant, but it was the only live show I ever attended.

I worked in pr/media relations for many years and dealt with a lot of celebrities. Once I was working on a play with an actress who was booked on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. On our day off, we flew into LA together, took a limo to the NBC studios. I hung out backstage and in the green room for the afternoon/evening. Watched Jay rehearse. Hung out in the dressing room with my actress friend. Then sat in the audience and watched the show. It was an exciting day.

I was at the taping of the "Friends" episode where Chrissie Hynde guest starred as the paid performer who replaced Phoebe at Central Perk. Was a total surprise, they didn't tell us ahead of time. Had 2nd row seats as a coworker's sis was in WB publicity and scored them for me and my partner. Adam Duritz from Counting Crows was dating Jennifer Aniston at the time and was seated front row corner. NBA star Patrick Ewing showed up midway through the taping to watch from behind the cameras on the floor.

Taping was long, about 5-6 hours. They did multiple takes with changing up lines in each scene. Was surprising how much improvisation they gave the actors. The stars also screwed up lines a lot and takes had to be redone. It was fairly early on in the series. Plus all of the subplots (Ross had to take Monica to an emergency doctor visit, Chandler and Joey lost Ross' baby on a bus and had to pretend to be a gay couple to get him back from public transit).

It had tons of different sets so a lot of changes. I think it finally wrapped around 11:30pm and we were welcomed to stay to watch additional blocking scenes but we were all so tired most of the audience left.

That studio was COLD!! Freezing cold. No wonder Jen's nipples were always showing through her bra even though they should have done a better job with a padded one.

Still, watching Chrissie sing "Angel of the Morning" multiple times was the treat of a lifetime and wonderful surprise.

Eons ago, Sale of the Century, in NYC. I must have been about 10, got the announcer's autograph and then he picked my dad to be in the audience participation part of the show. A few years later, Pyramid, which was good fun. As an adult and newcomer to Southern California, an episode of Frasier with a hot date. They were quick, rarely missed lines and people involved w. the show made some comments about how long Friends took, how unprepared Friends' actors were. They brought the dog out to do some tricks and the cast was friendly. Those tickets were not easy to get; the audience is very small, under 100 people, and so many get glommed up by people who are connected with the show, studio, etc.

R45, same with Big Bang. Around 250 seats, only 20-ish leftover for common folk. Had to go through a Warner VP to get mine.

Got tickets to Letterman by answering trivia questions on the street. They’d prime people in the lobby for shouting. Explained you had to run your ass down and grab the first seat available. Some lame guy warmed up the audience. They emphatically told everyone not to give standing ovations. Letterman came out a minute to ask who had bought a t-shirt at the CBS shop that day. I almost had, but decided to wait til after. The one guy got his money back from Dave for the shirt. Dave ran back onstage, across the curtains and came out as introduced for the show. The stage was tiny. Someone was constantly buffing the wax on it. Biff smiled dutifully for the cameras, but only then. Paul Schaeffer was a complete fucking asswipe.

I”ve been to a couple.

I saw the taping of the final episode of The State, but honestly don’t remember much about it, other than Michael Ian Black giving his phone number to a bunch of different girls in the audience once it was over.

I saw The Late Show with David Letterman taped three times. Once with Ben Stiller, once with Demi Moore (who seemed to be as high as a kite) and once with Andi McDowell who I’ve always loathed.

I saw Ricki Lake being taped - one and a half episodes. The one episode was with “bad kids” who were sent off to boot camp (hence the half). I never saw that episode air, but the other one - something like My Daughter’s a Hoochie and Won’t Stop Partying - I did see. There I am, right over Ricki’s shoulder as she’s doing her intro, I was mortified. I also remember seeing the cards in her hands which didn’t have questions but a seating chart, with the names of the people on stage. Also, her producer would hold up the questions on giant cue cards off to the side.

Lastly, I saw a dress rehearsal for SNL (Blake Lively/Rihanna) which was pretty cool, because you get to see extra sketches that are eventually cut before air. Oddly, one of the cut sketches ended up on the Sofia Vergara episode three years later.

One thing I forgot to add about the Ricki Lake episode was that once the boot camp episode was shot, the producer came out and told us - we didn’t like the way the first segment went. We’re going to do it again so pretend like this is the first time you’re hearing this. And they reshot the whole thing, same questions, same reactions from the audience etc.

As a kid, a taping of Gladiators in the 90s, in Australia.

There was minimal actual competition, but lots of tapping of audience 'reactions' - ooing and ahhing on command which then got edited into the final product.

Went to "The People's Court" now taping in Stamford, Connecticut to avoid New York union wages for tech staff. From 2:00-4:00PM, three cases. Later Marilyn answered questions and posed for selfies. The cases aired three months later.

I went to a taping Ing the Sally Jesse Raphael show (actually two taping because they taped two shows in one day). I asked questions of her guests just to be on TV

I've gone to a bunch of the View when family come into town. They screen people as they let them into the studio and direct them them to seemingly arbitrary seats but one time I noticed they were directing all the African American guests to one specific section. It was just weird. Unconscious bias maybe.

I was an audience member had an Oprah taping back in 2002. After the show, I asked her a question about the right to die and she paused, said that's a very intelligent question, and then completely avoided answering it. Right-to-die was a subject matter of that episode so I wasn't just pulling stuff out of my ass

I went to the taping of candid camera type show about 15 years ago. My friend had been caught in a prank. He was invited to the taping and told to bring friends. I think it was the pilot since he was allowed to bring a lot of us. The show never really took off, I don’t even remember the name of it. It was a long and boring experience. At around 10.30 after we’d been there hours, I told my friends I was leaving as I had to get up early for work. In an attempt to leave quietly without too much disruption I stood up when the hosts had a break to discuss something with a producer, but that must have given courage to all the people wanting to leave too, because within 30 seconds half the audience had stood up as well. I left the taping with a bunch of people following me. I thought the female host was going to kill me, she was livid, and the male host (I don’t remember who they were, neither were very famous) pleaded with the audience to sit back down while every last person ignored him. The hosts looked so miserable when the camera wasn’t on them and I think this walk out may have confirmed what they seemed to already know, that they were hosting a dud.

I went to another show a few years later, some talk show that also didn’t take off, and it was so dull I decided I’d never go to the taping of anything again.

"The People's Court" sat tall people in the back row.

R12, is that you in front, striking a pose with your hand under your chin?

Watched an episode of the Late late Show with Craig Ferguson being taped.

We were not front row but not too far back, right behind what they called "Lesbian Row."

I remember that it wasn't as long as people had warned me, and that it just all kind of ran smoothly. Craig seemed very nice.

Craig and the guy that did the voice for the skeleton were on stage at one point to say thanks for sitting through the taping. And then they were both chatting with a group as we were leaving the theater. I have to say I always thought Craig F was OK looking, but when I saw him in person he just looked way hotter. And the voice guy was cute, too.

But yes, the studios are always way smaller. That's always been the case for every studio I've ever seen. They do that for most news studios, too. What looks giant on TV is actually very small. The bottom of the walls in the studios are always rounded. And it's why many news studios use light blues - when blended together it looks like an endless blue sky, but it hides the fact that you're in a tiny fuckin' box.

[quote] right behind what they called "Lesbian Row."

WTF?

I attended one of Optah’s final shows. It was with Chaz Bono. His first big interview after transitioning. I kept thinking Cher would come out halfway through, but no. But the BIG moment occurred after the show when Oprah stayed and talked to the audience about her journey and the meaning of her 25 year run. Little did I know... it was a dry run for her final episode of The OWS. How glorious.

I went to a taping of The Simpsons. It was like watching paint dry.

[quote]I was an audience member had an Oprah taping back in 2002. After the show, I asked her a question about the right to die and she paused, said that's a very intelligent question, and then completely avoided answering it.

LOL

[quote]Right-to-die was a subject matter of that episode so I wasn't just pulling stuff out of my ass

LOL # 2

"Three's Company" and "The Jeffersons" It obviously was quite a few years ago.

Did you get any good stuff from Oprah? A car?

Did not want to see Letterman? What a couple of dummies.

In the audience of Phil Donahue.

[quote]W&G, almost 6 hrs, taped sequentially

Why did it take that long to tape that show?

I went to a Letterman taping and it was amazing. Jerry Seinfeld doing stand up, Barbara Walters came out to read the top 10 list and Tom Brokaw was a guest. Jerry and Dave did not speaking during the commercial breaks which was so odd. I know that was Dave’s thing, but I thought Jerry had attained a status where Dave would’ve surely chatted him up. But nope.

R58 It was an inside joke on the show. I think for a few weeks they always had lesbians sitting in that row (Craig found this out when talking to the audience) and then it just became an in joke. Like our cak and graxy, etc.

But Lesbian Row did almost always have women sitting in it, oddly.

A gaggle of friends and I went to a taping of "Designing Women". It was the episode in which Delta Burke's character t Suzanne Sugarbaker is mentoring a tiny little Asian girl to be just like her. When it aired it was one of their funniest episodes, but...

When we were seated the audience comedian directed us to laugh, really LAUGH at all the jokes. Only thing though is that they taped each scene 3 times and we were expected to laugh like that all 3 times. Well, that got boring really fast and it took a very long time. We got in the soundstage around 3 pm and by 11 pm, they were still taping. We were done, bored and starving, so my group got up to leave, the audience comic sees us leaving and starts pleading with us to not leave, that it was his job to keep us there and he'd get in trouble if we left. Sorry dude, we just kept walking out which started other audience members to do the same. I felt bad for the guy, but they were asking too much from the audience.

Never went to another taping and I have actually worked at a number of major studios and had multiple invites to watch a taping, no thanks.

BTW, no one in the cast was friendly towards the people in the audience other than a wave when they first walk on set.

I don't live so far from where the Oprah studio was. Demolished now, and the world HQ of McDonald's is in its place.

Tried for years to get into the audience but never could. My mother wanted to go and we never got tickets for her.

I did go to the Oprah gift shop, though. I have an Oprah snow globe to show for that.

[quote] BTW, no one in the cast was friendly towards the people in the audience other than a wave when they first walk on set.

I think it would be hard for them as actors if they were too aware of the audience. I mean, I'd appreciate a wave now and then too, or a thanks, but they do have to be focused when things are happening.

There's so much technical stuff that can get in the way of just acting out the part. I get both sides of that argument.

I went to tapings of Who Wants to be a Millionaire on 3 separate occasions in Harlem. First two times with Meredith Vieira (lovely, professional and intelligent). Third time was with Cedric the Entertainer who is truly a functional moron. Almost every question he read out loud had to be reshot multiple times because he couldn't pronounce the larger words. Plus he wore those ridiculous suits and hats which made him look as stupid as he sounded. They taped three episodes together and it took almost 5 hours. Even the cameramen were grimacing. Needless to say, I never requested tickets again.

For those longs shoots, can you get up and go to the bathroom?

[quote] I have an Oprah snow globe to show for that.

When you shake it, does dandruff come out of Oprah's head?

I was in the audience for the old Conan show on NBC. One of the guests was John Tesh. The show was a laugh riot from start to finish. The house band sounded incredible in that theater.

I was in the audience for The Colbert Report. Stephen was funny and affable but all-business. When he flubbed a big joke he demanded that taping stop. He then “begged” us to please laugh when we hear the joke a second time. The joke was hilarious (something about a surprise bear mauling...) so it was easy to laugh.

In the early 90s I was part of the studio audience for a taping of the Montel Wiiliams talk show. They had a slim young woman walk around town in a fat suit, and she discussed the reactions she got. I don't remember much more than that. They offered up tickets to return for another taping, but once was enough.

I went to two Letterman shows. I can't recall any of the guests or musical acts. All I remember is the studio being ice cold.

A good friend treated her Mom to an Oprah taping. This was during the height of Oprahmania when she was everywhere for being a billionaire. My friend got to shake her hand.

Me: What does Oprah smell like?

My friend: Wealth.

I really like Craig Ferguson a lot. His talk show is on a totally different league from all the others.

I saw “The Late Show with David Letterman” at the Ed Sullivan Theatre twice in the mid-1990s. This is all I remember about either of them:

1. Madonna made a cameo appearance on one episode where she gave Dave a huge bouquet of roses. It was a Valentine’s Day Show—I think it might have been Madonna’s first Letterman appearance since she and Sandra Bernhardt did their infamous lesbian schtick (making out and wearing identical short shorts—shocking at the time!) on one his shows.

2. One featured a skit called “May I Press Your Pants, Please?,” where a staffer approached a random guy on the street and offered him a free pants pressing at a nearby dry cleaner. The “random guy” turned out to be one of those street hustlers selling counterfeit watches, which ended up being the only funny thing about the skit.

3. I caught one of the guitar picks band member Anton Fig threw into the audience (think I still have it somewhere)

4. Other than a quick, perfunctory “hiya folks!” before taping began, Dave had very little interaction with the audience.

'Filmed before a live studio audience' as opposed to filmed before a dead studio audience?

I did a ton and got sick of them.

The talk shows were better because they moved pretty quickly. I saw Conan's Late Night a few times; Saturday Night Live (Will Ferrell's last episode), Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report (when it was so new my friend didn't realize it was satire), whatever that Comedy Central show was with Colin Quinn and some talk show with a black VJ, Amanda something. I got into one of the final Lettermans and was sitting in the second row. Had I been in the first Bill Murray would have covered me in cake because he jumped out of one.

Sitcoms take longer, I saw a taping of the Cosby show that was on CBS that went on forever and wasn't funny. I saw this short lived comedy with Sara Gilbert and Jim Gaffigan. I feel like there were more.

Not a taping, but I've taken the Warner Studio tour several times, and they usually walk you through a set that's dressed, but not in use. On this tour it was the George Lopez Show, and as we were walking through, George Lopez wandered in, saw us, and proceeded to do everything short of inviting us all for lunch. I'm 99% sure it was completely unplanned, but he gave us all bottled water, talked to everyone, posed for photos (I didn't really want one, but he had his arm around me before I knew what was happening). This went on for so long the tour guide tried herding us out several times, but Lopez just kept talking and talking.

I know he was a producer, but he really went above and beyond for 20 random tourists in for the tour, and I've always thought highly of him because of it.

[quote] I've gone to a bunch of the View when family come into town. They screen people as they let them into the studio and direct them them to seemingly arbitrary seats but one time I noticed they were directing all the African American guests to one specific section. It was just weird. Unconscious bias maybe.

I went to The View YEARS ago. Bo Derek was the guest and this was when Meredith and Star were on. I remember they separated me and my friend, she, a pretty woman was seated in the front row, me, a guy was sat in the last row. I do remember the ladies coming out to sections of the audiences and saying hello; except for Star.

I saw a taping of the David Susskind Show in 1972.

Back in the late 70s, I was on a trip to California.. and in LA, my friend and I saw a taping of Three's Company. I don't remember it much, but it was different, in the way taping was done on TV. It was my first experience. In the 90s, I went to a live show.. The View, and during the commercial breaks, the hosts stayed quiet.. but Star Jones talked and was very personable with the audience. When Martha Stewart had her show on Hallmark Channel, I went to two live tapings. Martha was standoffish (not surprising) during the commercial breaks.. but what I remember most is Joey, who would do gestures to applaud, do a yummy sound "mmmm", or some reaction. He had a ton of energy, ran all over the place, and was entertaining. Most recently, I got tickets to Antiques Roadshow, at Jacob Javits Center in NYC. I was told to bring two items. There were staggered times for people to arrive, my time was late morning. My items were determined for what category to be appraised, and was led to another line for the appraisals. I didn't have anything super valuable, and didn't get on tv.. but they were worth more than what I paid. The people, crew and appraisers were very nice. With all the people there, everything was handled efficiently.

In late 80s, I was at taping of Arsenio Hall show and Whitney Houston -- who was not a guest -- was just hanging out sidestage.

Steven & Chris -- a Canadian talk show. They had to move sets around, but they filmed straight through once it was set up. No re-takes.

They had the warm up person who stayed by the audience throughout, really forcing us to cheer and wildly applaud beyond the end of the take.

Afterwards, you could go up for a pic with them. They both seemed very sweet.

Years ago I went on the “NBC Experience” tour of 30 Rock. You buy tickets at the NBC Experience Store.

The tour is led by an NBC page and you get to see the inside of the empty studios which included SNL with its infamous yellow stadium seats.

Totally boring and too expensive unless you want to see empty TV studios.

[quote]In late 80s, I was at taping of Arsenio Hall show and Whitney Houston -- who was not a guest -- was just hanging out sidestage.

"Where THE FUCK is that fuckin' dealer???"

I was on an on-set tour of The Guiding Light and saw episodes being filmed.

As said elsewhere, studio is always a lot smaller than they look on tv.

Not a taping in front of an audience, but I watched a Doogie Howser episode being filmed. A friend of mine was friends with N P Harris.

After the thrill of seeing television being made wore off (quickly), it became quite boring to see them do/say the same thing over and over, and then sit around waiting for the next scene to be set up.

Harris was very nice -- and so was the guy who played his best friend, who was very funny.

The David Susskind Show was great R84. A 1970 show with Mel Brooks, George Segal, Stan Herman, David Steinberg and some others, was one of his best ever. Mel Brooks was insanely wonderful.

I'm dating myself but the Golden Girls the episode where Blanche dates a man in a wheelchair. I can't remember a ton of what happened now, but I know it took a couple hours to tape the episode and they weren't able to do all of Estelle's scenes because she couldn't remember her lines. Betty interacted with the audience a lot and so did Rue to a lesser extent. Bea came across rather cunty and disinterested in the entire process.

If only one of our DLers had seen either a taping of Alice with Cunt Lavin or a taping of the original One Day At A Time with the legendary Bonnie "Bundt Cake Mold Hair" Franklin.......

I was in the audience for "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee" in the nineties. I was with my mother, aunt, and a friend of my Mom's. We had "VIP Passes," which just meant that we were cordoned off in a separate area from the other ticket holders before getting seated. The studio was small. they had Miss Universe on, and I remember Mrs. Greenthumbs, who gave advice on gardening. Kathie Lee was very nice, as was Regis. They interacted with the audience between commercials. At the end of the show, they told us that they needed to tape another show, and asked us to stick around. So, we saw another show.

Gelman, the producer, before the show gave the audience instructions about clapping. He or an assistant were off camera signaling us to clap. I always suspected he was gay. I remember he wore a speedo when they were taping in some tropical climate. I was/am a swimmer, and we wore speedos when competing, but very few straight guys wore them when not competing/training. Plus, he was/is particular about his appearance.

I'm dating myself (lit/fig) too but I recall being at a taping of "Maude" back in the 70s. I can't remember how I got there, whom I went with, or anything about the show itself which leads me to think I may been under the influence of non-prescribed medication. I only remember one thing. Maude had plastic plants in her living room. When the guy who was warming us up asked if there were any questions I raised my hand. "Maude would never have plastic plants!"I declared. (yep. gay.) The guy looked around, shrugged his shoulders, and said "It looks like she does."

R96

MARY!

I was in the courtroom audience of "The People's Court". In the case I was seen onscreen for, a woman was being sued because she crashed into a guy's garage because she was being strangled by her boyfriend. The garage owner was the one suing-he lost.

It’s funny how everyone forgets the details, including me. The show, the hosts name, the episode they were there for, the guests. For those who have never been, let this be an indicator of interesting these tapings are.

Uh R87, it was Chris that died.

My friend, an actor, is obsessed with Michael J Fox. Being in the audience for the filming of Spin City was a highlight of his life. He still mentions it once in a white after all these years. He said that it was an uncomfortable, all-day experience but more than worth it.

If you’re a fan of a TV performer, get a ticket.

R101 Sounds like meeting MJF was an experience he just can't.....shake

Interesting to read. I live nowhere near LA but have always wanted to be a member of live audience, until now. I couldn’t sit for hours watching re-takes. I had no idea it takes so much time to tape an episode. I understand it is difficult but with few sets and changes. I rather keep the illusion of 24-minute episode.

OT I’ve read never go to see how porn is being filmed. Long hours endless camera changes. Bottom has to take cock-s 8 to 10 hours. Boring actors some guys need to watch straight porn to keep it hard. I rather keep the illusion in this one, too.

Kelly & Company in Detroit.

I was at the taping of Graham Norton's show with Jennifer Lopez as one of his guests. She was sweet, short and small, but really had a glow about her. Graham was a pissed off old queen who seemed sick of the show and the audience. Seemed to not want to make eye contact with anyone other than the guests.

Was also in the audience as a teen for MTV garage party or something like that. We were supposed to be a bunch of hardcore grungers. They would set the band up, we would come and and jump around while they played, and then we wold get sent off set to a bar that served nothing but soda, for an hour or so before doing it again. It was pretty boring and took ages. I saw a young pre-Hollywood Russel Crowe there. Tall and amazingly handsome, but even then he had a self important wanker vibe about him.

I agree he always had that self important vibe r105 There was clearly no doubt in Crowe’s mind he was going to make it in Hollywood even in the early days. According to a friend who knows him, Chris Hemsworth had the same undefinable “star power” that made him stand out in a sea of wannabes, but without the obnoxious self importance that oozed out of Crowe.

r23 cbs page program was not a program. they were contracted out. They used to be CBS employees but they got rid of it and just contracted it out.

R56, that's not me. I've had thick sandy blond hair my entire life and amazingly I still have all of it. Did you get that pic from tvparty.com?

I don't remember a clown on The Old Rebel and I wonder why Pecos Pete (aka Jim Tucker, who eventually left the show to join the local NBC affiliate as an announcer and talk show host for adults) is wearing shades.

I'm a Leo and thought all the attention they threw at me was only natural.

Went to a taping of The 5 Mrs. Buchanans in '94 after getting shut out for tickets to Roseanne. I think it was only the second or third episode cause I hadn't heard of it. Their rhythm was a work in progress and it was a lengthy shoot. Judith Ivey was very nice. Charlotte Ross not so much. The others didn't mingle much with the audience. My friend won a script for answering a trivia question. He used some of it to wipe his ass on the way home but that's a story for a different thread.

[quote]BTW, no one in the cast was friendly towards the people in the audience other than a wave when they first walk on set.

Well excuse me for not coming up into the bleachers and entertaining you while they were setting up for the next scene.

Fuck you R69.

In college my best friend and I attended a taping of The Late Show with David Letterman. The guests were Johnny Noxville and The Go Gos. The whole taping went by very quickly...

The audience received instructions on how to react. They didn’t tell us we had to react, but I think there was a light and whenever it went on we were told to be as enthusiastic as possible (we practiced a few times).

[quote]I was front row of the Graham Norton Show.

John Bishop is one of my favorite guests. He's on occasionally. He's maybe early 40s, usually sitting on the end, and, to me, devastatingly handsome and funny. Assume he's a comic of some sort.

Years ago I went to a taping of The Montel Williams show when Sylvia Browne was the guest. I was young and believed in all that mystical psychic stuff at the time so a friend pulled some strings and got my sister and I in. This was in her early days before she was virtually a guest every few weeks on the show. Because I had been tipped off in advance that she was the guest, I brought one of her books with me for her to sign. An assistant took it backstage to be signed and returned it to me after the taping. I still have the book somewhere and since discovering what a grifter she was, my sister and I have a good laugh over that the assistant probably signed it.

I also went to the taping of the very first 'spec pilot' of The John Edward's show. I had never heard of him and was invited by a PR acquaintance. I remember thinking that the guy was an absolute douche, and thought he was terrible at readings. We all sat there like befuddled statues while he floundered, "somebody over here knows someone who has passed, whose name begins with a 'J' .."

Complete silence.

"Okay, somebody over here knows someone who has passed... a woman perhaps, whose name begins with an 'M'..."

More silence.

It was awkward and endless. Of course the show got picked up and was later scandalized when it was revealed that they had been secretly taping the audience members talking amongst themselves before the show

Whatever happened to him, btw?

I was invited to watch some filming of Dynasty. One scene with Joan and another with John Forsythe and Gordon Thompson. All the furniture looked beat up in person and there was nasty carpet on the floor. 2 short scenes took hours.

R79 I was at that David Letterman show where Madonna brought the roses too. I think she was apologizing after saying "fuck" over and over during the show a few months before.

Dynasty was filmed in front of an audience? I don't think so.

I was in the audience for a taping of the sitcom "Ellen." It was the one where her mom goes to a video dating service and goes out with Lyle Waggoner. Lyle looked good and did a dream scene wearing black leather.

David Anthony Higgins came out before and talked to the audience. He did an imitation of a water bong.

Trisha Yearwood sang "Everybody Knows" in the western bar, and sounded great.

What I remember most was Ellen's acting ability. She never forgot her lines, and the show flowed most of the time as it does on TV. She's had her talk show forever, but I still think of her as an actress first because of that taping.

That sounds more like she remembered her lines, R118, not that she was a gifted actor.

I went to a taping of full house when I was a teenager and it was shocking to me how I found myself laughing at the shitty jokes and Going awwwww At the cheesy moment near the end of the episode. The rest of the audience was doing it as well but it was weird how the instinct kicked in Because there was nothing genuinely funny or emotionally touching about it, it’s like we all knew how to provide a sitcom laugh track

Serious question: Why do they tape sitcoms in front of a live audience? Isn't it more comfortable for actors to perform in a private setting? It seems like the actors do not interact much with the audience anyway. So why do they need a live audience? They could easily add the laughter digitally afterwards. They could also avoid spoilers. I get that you need a live audience for talk shows bc they actually interact with the audience and show their reactions....but sitcoms.

Also, it only takes 5-6 hours to tape a 20mins sitcom? What do the actors do the rest of the time? Some of them make a million per episode for 5-6 hours of work? Unfair. At least actors on dramas have to work 6-8 days on an episode.

It's easier for actors to perform in front of an audience, the audience "carries" you.

I went to a Will and Grace filming the first time around. It was torture. Friend got us tickets but the catch was the filming would take 3 to 4 hours. Only once we got there we were locked in, literally and told if we leave for any reason to get air for example, we could not come back in. They had only one bathroom break and the whole time they kept feeding us free candy and fruit juice to get everyone all amped on sugar. No water.

But wait, there is more, it was the last show of the season so it was going to be a special. They doubled the stage time and it took 8 HOURS to get out of there. People kept leaving by the end of the taping there was only about 1/3 of the audience left. It made me never want to go to another live audience taping again.

Look up the episodes of the Big Bang Theory with the audience reactions removed, R121, and then ask your question again.

Remember the last season of All in the Family when it was "played to a studio audience for live responses"?

Years ago, when they filmed a bunch of game shows in NYC, they used to have people in midtown Manhattan try to solicit audience members off the street. I remember being in the audience for THE 25,000 PYRAMID and TO TELL THE TRUTH. I also sent away for tickets to SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE and got to see a dress rehearsal (with Strother Martin, of all people, as the host). The game shows filmed 5 episodes at a time, with the guest stars going off between episodes to change outfits, so if you watch any of these old shows on Game Show Network and you see them compliment the star on their clothes, you'll usually catch a wink or a little glint in their eyes because they know it's basically just a costume they are wearing for the 30 minutes of taping.

I also don't understand the point of filming TV shows like this, especially because it's obvious the laugh track heard in the finished version isn't the one that was captured live during the taping.

R117, I never said Dynasty was filmed in front of a live audience. I said I was invited to watch them film.

Most sitcoms hire professional "laughers" to sit in the audience for rehearsal the day before the live taping, where all of the exaggerated laughing is recorded.

R129 I’ve watched GG way too many times because I remember hearing one guy who had some kind of horse laughter and it is heard in several episodes. One was when Blanche tells she went to her prom with a yankee!

[quote] For those longs shoots, can you get up and go to the bathroom?

Most shoots aren't that long. You can go between takes. I wouldn't go to a taping if you have ulcerative colitis.

They all don't take that much time. Like I said upthread, TBBT was 45 minutes filming. An extra 15 for the comedian to warm up the audience. I was really impressed with the guy that plays Sheldon. He had 2 fairly long complicated monologues and didn't mess up either.

I was talking to one of the ushers and he said be thankful you aren't at 2 Broke Girls- they tape until midnight, lol.

The Bozo Show, WGN version. Once as a child with Frazier Thomas and then as a teen with family - my cousin played the Grand Prize Game but choked on bucket three and is mocked at family gatherings to this day.

Family Double Dare on a Florida vacation - they filmed two “upfront” games but not the obstacle course.

Leno in college in 1995 - Mike Meyers, Harry Hamlin and Tori Amos were the guests. Hamlin was soooo boring. He talked about shark diving.

Letterman just before he retired - Martin Short was the main guest and made his entrance flying a la Peter Pan. Dave warmed up the audience himself. And I also remember the “no wooing” rule.

SNL is the one I still want to go to - I enter the lottery every August but have never gotten in.

Oops... thanks for the correction R100.

Um, R121, they don't just speed read the script, then go film it and call it a 6 hour work week, dumbass. Day 1 is the table read and writer's notes. Days 2, 3 and 4 are rehearsing, camera blocking, run thrus and dress rehearsals and Day 5 is final run thru, notes and audience taping.

[quote]And I also remember the “no wooing” rule.

I assume that's because "woo" can sound like "boo" when its recorded?

[Quote] I never saw that episode air, but the other one - something like My Daughter’s a Hoochie and Won’t Stop Partying - I did see.

Lmao

[quote]Trisha Yearwood sang "Everybody Knows" in the western bar, and sounded great.

Was she singing about Ellen's lesbianism, or had that already been acknowledged by then?

[quote]Why do they tape sitcoms in front of a live audience? Isn't it more comfortable for actors to perform in a private setting?

What you're talking about is multi-cam (on a stage, in front of an audience) vs. single-cam (filmed like a movie.) You'll notice that, other than "The Big Bang Theory," "Mom," and some of the reboots, most successful sitcoms of the past five years or so have been single-cam: "Modern Family," "Young Sheldon," "black-ish," "The Middle," "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," "Fresh Off the Boat," "Life in Pieces," "American Housewife," "Grace and Frankie," etc.

Yeah, multi-cam sitcoms look pretty antiquated these days.

[quote]I assume that's because "woo" can sound like "boo" when its recorded?

I recall them just saying it sounded fake and Dave didn’t like it. He’s right, once you notice the difference.

R114 I was in San Antonio a few weeks ago and saw a billboard promotion for a casino where he would be doing readings. Frauds never seem to get an honest job...just skulk in the shadows.

"I did go to the Oprah gift shop, though. I have an Oprah snow globe to show for that." When you turn it upside down, does Gayle show up?

I'll take I Love Lucy- first multi-cam with live audience. Still fab after over 60 years. Many episodes seem fresh as yesterday.

When I was 10 I sent away for a bunch of tickets to everything (we lived about an hour out of L.A.). My mom wasn't pleased but finally agreed to a taping of "Laverne and Shirley." They'd sent four tickets so we invited a school friend and her mom. The tickets specified "16 and up," but we took a chance and no one questioned it.

The plot of the episode was that L&S need to earn extra money, so they became "taxi dancers," which I had never heard of. Garry Marshall came out first and welcomed everyone before turning it over to a comic who would entertain the audience between shots. He introduced the cast and then we were in for a long evening.

Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams didn't interact at all between takes. I seem to remember Eddie Mekka came out and sang a song while the crew did setups. The comic kept asking for questions from the audience until no one had any more, so I raised my hand and started to ask something. He interrupted me and said "How old are you? How did you get in here?", which got a laugh.

The last scene was a Lucy-and-Ethel style choreographed slapstick dance with Laverne and Shirley at a cheap dance parlor. One of the gags included Laverne's partner lifting her overhead and banging her head hard on a disco ball. After a couple of takes the comic showed us that the back of the disco ball had padding so Penny Marshall wouldn't be hurt.

On the very next take the guy missed and hit Penny's head HARD on the metal disco ball. She stomped offstage in a rage. Then Cindy left in the other direction. We'd already been there for hours, gamely laughing at the same jokes and the same stunts, and were irritated.

I just watched the sequence on YouTube and it's clearly all patched together from various takes. I think they used the take where Penny really hit her head.

I've never been to a tv show tapping but always wanted to. Back in the late 90s as a kid I was really into Nickelodeon and the Disney channel. But Nickelodeon was the network with all of the studio tapped shows at the time.

The shows I really wanted to go to we're All that, Kenan and Kel, and The Amanda show.

But I was a kid so why wouldn't I have wanted to go to those shows tappings at the time. I loved those shows along with my friends and siblings.

I'm 30 now and I have a really exciting life. And ironically enough, I actually know people who worked on some of those shows. And I've even ended up becoming friends with some of the people who stared on those shows too. Not surprising given the business I'm in.

It's really funny where life will take you.

r129, that is not true. where would you get that idea, If they needed a "special" laugh, they'd just used an audio tape and edited in? I have worked in tv production in Hollywood for over 20 years and have never heard of this. You clearly aren't in the industry.

Hello r110 asshole... if they want us to laugh 3 times after each spoken gag/joke, then the actors need to come out at some time (in the 12 hours we are being held hostage) and be nice to us. fuck off you Cuntzilla!

What a lame-ass, not really on topic story, R146. Sorry you didn't get to go to any tappings, but it must be great fun to hang with people who have stared on television.

R135 Why do you motherfucker have to call people names for simply asking a question? Just answer without calling someone a "dumbass" or shut the fuck up and move on. You're an uncultivated prick. This is a discussion board.

R149 Like R150 Stated this is a discussion board and people are telling their own stories.

You must really not be happy in you're life. People aren't nasty like you for no reason. Lame-ass? Really? Ok yeah you're definitely not happy in life. Don't blow you're brains out tonight.

It gets better. Only if you want it too.

They give out tickets to be audiences of shows on Venice Beach. I think I've taken tickets from time to time and never shown up.

There was once a short-lived talk show in England with Gloria Hunniford. I once made an inquiry about being in the audience and I remember getting a phone call from someone weeks later, BULLYING me to turn up. Clearly, no one wanted to go, which was quite funny....and I don't respond well to bullies so I never went.

I was on To Tell the Truth in the 70s as a kiddie. About 10 years ago I found a way to get a recording of the show which I never saw at the time. I wish I hadn't bothered. I looked so nervous I was sort of twitching....and I've never shown it to anyone else. I was a liar and someone on the panel voted for me - she was just being sweet. I think he took pity on me. Kitty Carlisle totally ignored me.

Age five I was taken to see them recording an episode of Thunderbirds...but it was a private thing. No audience. You need to be an English kiddie of the 1960s to know what a BIG DEAL that was. I remember every detail. I could probably even drive you to the studio from memory.

Somebody help those of us not involved in the business understand about the one camera vs multiple cameras. How can you tell when watching a show and why do you think one is better than multiple?

R145 You deserve an Emmy for laughing at that.

R147, I'm not R129, but he is correct. I don't understand how you've worked in tv for 20 years and not known this. A friend of mine has been hired many times by Central Casting to be a "professional laughter." Fast forward to 28:26 in the clip below. Textbook example. So much sitcom writing is bad, they need they professional laughter to try and make it contagious.

[quote] He used some of it to wipe his ass on the way home but that's a story for a different thread.

I'll say!

What R150 said. R135, are you not capable of informing people without flying into a rage?

R153, Multicamera shows will usually have sets that look like they are on a soundstage, that is they have a proscenium/play like appearance, meaning in a long shot, you can usually see the entire space the performers are in, and there is always a 'fourth wall' missing, which is the audience's perspective. Think of the one part of Roseanne's kitchen that was never shown, the area where the tv set allegedly was on All in the Family, or the space in front of Murray and Mary's desks in the office on The Mary Tyler Moore. They will always have a laughtrack/or audience laughter, whereas single camera shows will rarely/if ever have audience laughter. Single shot shows look much more like a theatrical release film, in that the sets usually seem 'real' and you rarely see the entire space the actors are in, e.g. the office in The Office, it feels like a real space and doesn't seem as 'stage-y' as a multicam show.

"Life with Lucy" with guest John Ritter. The show was not very good, but it was a still a thrill to see Lucy in person after a lifetime of watching "Lucy" reruns on TV. Ruth Buzzi also had a small role.

I live in NYC and whenever someone from out of town visits, I usually take them to a taping if they are interested (and they usually are).

Live with Kelly - Can't stand her, but she interacted with the audience during nearly every break, so she gets an A+ from me now. Since it is live, we were in and out quickly.

Letterman - It was freezing because Dave liked to keep it like a meat locker in the theater. During breaks he took off his jacket to cool off from the hot studio lights. Dan Rather was a guest. I had never noticed his drawl until then (he kept it more under wraps when he was on the "CBS Evening News). Nothing too exciting.

Dr. Oz - Even though he seems like a quack these days, he was very efficient and rarely had to do retakes. Another show that we were in and out of quickly.

Jimmy Fallon's 1st Show (Was it the "Late Show?") - The first time I went was early on when he had started the show and he was eager to please the producers and the audience. The second time (a year or two in), he looked bored/blase and like he wanted out of there (plus his eyes were really blood shot). Soon after that he was selected for the "Tonight Show."

Match Game - No one was funny or gave interesting answers. In the spirit of the original "Match Game," none of them were stars, but they also didn't have any personality. A real dud.

Joan Rivers - My first show taping. Joan interacted with the audience during every break. I had always thought she was a really mean person until I saw her during this taping.

The View - Pretty boring because none of them spoke with the audience. Also, it was difficult to hear them during the show....the mics were obviously only picking up for the tv equipment, not the studio audience. Most of us had to strain to hear what they were saying.

Price is RIght - My father was sure we'd get picked because we were from a very small town, but nope. The studio (this is back toward the end of Bob Barker's time) was run down/tacky and very small. Toward the end of the taping, it was difficult to get the audience up and acting like we were excited.....because we weren't.

I'm sure there are more, but those are the ones that spring to mind. I've never been to a sitcom taping, but I've never wanted to sit for that long.

R158, Thank you very much for the explanation. I've seen people mention this before but didn't understand the difference. Much appreciated.

[quote]Letterman - It was freezing because Dave liked to keep it like a meat locker in the theater. During breaks he took off his jacket to cool off from the hot studio lights. Dan Rather was a guest. I had never noticed his drawl until then (he kept it more under wraps when he was on the "CBS Evening News). Nothing too exciting.

I always found it weird how Letterman rarely showed cut to his audience. Why have them there?

Lol r149, I was thinking the same thing.

Careful, R163!!! We have been taken over by the "everyone gets to participate and everything they say is equally important crowd"! Pointless bitchery has been replaced by participation medals.

R147 you've never heard of professional laughers? They've used them for decades, I know people that do it, and have been there while they are recorded. Usually people who work in loop groups. Get a clue fool.

R164 Bitching is ok, but you should also remember from time to time that there're actual people behind the post numbers and not senseless robots.

Yeah, that’s okay, R15. You’re off-topic but just give us your resume anyway.

I was on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

R168= Gayle King

[quote]Interesting to read. I live nowhere near LA but have always wanted to be a member of live audience, until now. I couldn’t sit for hours watching re-takes. I had no idea it takes so much time to tape an episode. I understand it is difficult but with few sets and changes. I rather keep the illusion of 24-minute episode.

Oh, you can go see a taping of the Price is Right. It is quick and to the point. The most time you waste is standing in line. That's the thanks the early birds get and a possibility of being on the show. The stragglers won't have to wait and have little chance of being on the show.

Sometimes the big laughers are the show's head writers. I was lucky when the performance of a play of mine that was filmed for the archives featured a big laugher in the audience. It helped that the play was meant to be a comedy.

[quote]Never understood why the studio audience must be pumped up into a frenzy

Pretension or coke....

R171 there were some shows I watched as a kid with some very distinct laughers in the audience. It turns out they were the writers. It’s was in their best interest to laugh loudly at their own jokes.

[quote]they fill up their contestant list with the people that got their earlier.

Oh, dear!

[quote]Sorry you didn't get to go to any tappings, but it must be great fun to hang with people who have stared on television.

Oh, DEAR!

[quote]You must really not be happy in you're life.

Oh, DEAR, DEAR, DEAR!

*passes out*

R173 is also correct. On the show Seinfeld, Larry David had a very distinctive laugh that featured in all episodes he was involved in.

Most of the time when you hear the same laugh throughout different episodes, it’s someone who’s affiliated with the show.

I don't think it's always as self-serving as writers laughing at their own jokes for the sake of it. They can be genuinely amused by how the actors deliver the lines.

Absolutely, R176. Couldn’t agree with you more.

My post (R175) was just pointing out why sometimes you hear the same laugh on multiple episodes.

I'll remember that next time I read a post from a Trump supporter, R166.

“The Nanny,” “Married with Children” and “The Price is Right.”

“Married with Children” went relatively quickly; “Nanny” was endless.

“The Price is Right” was fun because the audience is part of the show. The other two were dull after the buzz of seeing the performers wore off. It’s basically like attending the rehearsal of a theater production.

[quote] I was on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

I was on Oprah!

R178 Even Trump supporters are real people. Try beating them with arguments, not insults. Or you are not much better than them. *Basic elementary school knowledge*

[quote] Even Trump supporters are real people

Fake news!

R182 Unfortunately THIS is not Fake News!

To R133 - You were on the WGN-TV Chicago "Bozo's Circus" show?!?!?!? It took almost 10 years to get to be in the audience for that show!!!!! I bow to you!!

Anyway, November 1978, a taping of "Alice". My mom was a big fan of Polly "Flo" Holliday. I remember when they introduced the stars before the show, my mom cheered for PH. It was the episode where Tommy runs away. The taping didn't last too long, IIRC.

Also, during the same vacation, "The Tonight Show". The guest host was Gabe "Mr. Kotter" Kaplan. The musical guest was Stephen Bishop.

This thread was one of my favorites to read until posters started bitching at each other twenty posts back or so. :(

The recurring loud laugher on "I Love Lucy," was Lucille Ball's mother, Desiree.

You can totally hear the same laughers on original episodes (and entire run) of Will & Grace- one lady has SUCH a great laugh that it works! She was definitely a producer or writer.

Examples of single-camera shows that DID have laugh tracks are MASH and Hogan’s Heroes

If you watch them with the laugh track removed, they seem very modern

When Ellen first came on the air we tried to get tickets. We were planning a trip to LA in the fall and wanted to go see the taping. We went to the website and wrote for ticktets. This was about 7 months before our trip. We never got tickets so we decided to see if we could get in. We drove to burbank and found the line. A woman with a clipboard came up to us and asked us if we had tickets. We said no, we wrote months ago and never got them. She said "sorry we are full" and that was that.

Then we were watching one day and say Ellen say she was proud to say they have never turned away anyone. Lies I tell you. We were turned away. Funny part is about 6 months later I got a call for tickets to the Ellen show. He told me they had this date available, like one day, not when are you coming , but we have the 16th, that is it. I explained to him we wrote for the tickets over a year ago for a trip to California (we lived in NC at the time) ...he just said "do you want the tickets or not?" I told him thanks but we are not making a special trip to California to see Ellen and hung up the phone.

[quote] I told him thanks but we are not making a special trip to California to see Ellen and hung up the phone.

You tell them, gurl!

Did you hang up the phone viciously and flounce off in your caftan?

But she was right R189. They did not turn you down, they just expected you to wait a couple of years and spend a fortune when it fitted THEIR schedule.

There are only so many seats. Doesn’t excuse being rude to an intern making a call

[quote]Or you are not much better than them. *Basic elementary school knowledge*

I love irony. Don’t they teach punctuation in elementary school as well?

All of mine were in the 90’s. First, a little-remembered Fox sitcom called “Roc.” It had a gimmick: all episodes were broadcast live in the eastern and central time zones. The cast were all theater veterans for whom this was not intimidating. Thus, these were the shortest sitcom tapings ever: exactly 30 minutes once the taping started.

Second, “Newsradio.” This took forever, with a lot of waiting while the writers came up with new material. We left after about 2 or 3 hours. They probably went another 2 hours after we left.

Finally, “Jeopardy.” I was a contestant and at the time they taped 5 shows a day. I appreared on the first episode taped one day (and lost), then stayed and watched another taping. “Jeopardy” was 20+ years ago, but the standout memory is that they had to stop the taping to have Alex re-record the reading of a clue that he botched. Mr. Know-it-all pronounced the New Jersey city Piscataway as “Piss cah TAH way.” Otherwise, the only breaks in Jeopardy tapings are for commercials, which they observe in real time even though the broadcasts aren’t live (actually done about 3months in advance, in my case).

R194 Whatever. Enjoy your bitching, your irony and your Sunday. Cheers.

Roc was not always broadcast live. They did it to goose ratings once and it worked so they did it for most of the rest of the run

"The Carol Burnett Show," which was taped at CBS Television City. I've written about this before, but the audience was disappointed once we settled in and were told it was going to be a clips show.

Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, Carol and Vicki Lawrence just sat in a row on stage and "reminisced." Then they'd show a clip. That was the pattern for the day.

Korman and Conway were friendly enough with the audience. Carol knew everyone was disappointed and spent a LOT of time when they weren't taping to talk with the audience, answer questions, and just be a nice person in general. Vicki didn't talk with the audience and ignored the other three when they weren't on camera — just a sourpuss.

This thread reminds me of the Bill Maher show and the cunt in the audience who was screaming repeatedly.

Guess they don't tell anyone not to woo or scream at THAT show.

My college roommate got us tickets for David Letterman. I was surprised at how much smaller the studio looks in person.

Billy Crystal and some science professor from NYU were the guests. The science guy asked David to help him demonstrate a scientific principle and had him hit a golf ball with a club towards a wall at the back of the stage. Now common sense would tell you that the ball is going to rebound off the wall and straight into the audience. But I imagine David thought, like I did, that the science guy was trying to demonstrate something surprising and unexpected, otherwise why would he ask David to execute this seemingly dangerous maneuver? David was visibly annoyed when the ball ended up flying into the audience, and said that they were going to a commercial break while they carried out the dead and injured.

R198 Someone else on here met Vicki and said she was a bitch. I guess that's her natural personality. Too bad, I loved her as Thelma Harper.

R187, I know exactly who you are talking about. God, that cackle annoys the shit out of me.

A few late night shows - Leno, Craig Ferguson, Kimmel, Carson Daly. I had no opinion of Leno going in but afterwards I liked him. Instead of a warm-up guy he did his own warm-up and chatted with all the tourists that bused in. The chat shows are a quick taping.

I went to a Married with Children one and it didn't seem too long. What stood out was that Katey Sagal sisters, the twins from an 80s series Double Trouble were there that day so they would hang out on the stage while shots were being set up.

I went to a taping of a pilot years later and it was five hours of hell. The jokes weren't landing so rewrites were going on you can see the desperation on the actors' faces.

I was in the audience for a taping of "Cybill." Unexpectedly, Audra Lindley , who played Mrs. Roper on Three's Company, was there and was the unexpected star sighting. She came out and talked to the audience before the show. Cybill's daughter Clementine was also there with braces.

It was a Christmas episode shooting in October. There was a dinner scene and Cybill sat down and ate a full turkey and potatoes meal right in the middle of the set. It was odd because Christine Baranski, Dee Dee Pfeiffer and Peter Krause stood and walked around the set while they waited. It was a real queen moment watching Cybill eating alone gleefully downing major mouthfuls of food surrounded by 200 people.

“People Are Talking” with Tom Bergeron. I don’t remember a thing about it.

“The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart. One thing I remember was how LOUD the music was when it was played between segments. The guest was a conservative writer who wrote a book saying that W was like a cowboy.

R204 OMG Audra and Christine!

Could you feel the tension between Cybill and Christine?

[quote] The guest was a conservative writer who wrote a book saying that W was like a cowboy.

I vaguely remember watching this!

I would have liked to.have been in the audience of Stop Making Sense or The Last Waltz.

The CBS Morning Show when Harry Smith was involved. It was actually quite nice and of course was broadcast live so there was no extra time involved. Very low-key compared to its rivals. CBS is still somewhat stately compared to the others.

Why is nothing ever filmed in front of a dead studio audience?

R210 You must have missed "Life with Lucy."

I wonder how many of the cast and crew spit in that turkey dinner that Cybill was gobbling down.

I went to Uni High and there were lots of kids of celebs and producers there. This was in the '70s so we saw most of the CBS shows, i.e. Maude, AITF, MTM, Bob Newhart and Carol Burnett. The best thing was seeing the show you saw taped on TV. Everybody wanted to go to Carol Burnett's show because they hoped they would be caught on camera during the Q&A sessions. A few knew what questions to ask to get on the show, namely to do her Tarzan yell.

Good Morning America, a few years ago. Mandisa, an American Idol contestant, performed. It was Robin Roberts last show before her bone marrow transplant, and she was all bubbly and dancing. Josh Elliot was a stiff stick-in-the-mud.

Yes.

"The View" and "GMA" staff move audience members around to get the desired on-camera front rows. "GMA" is also SRO, for hours.

The one "Martha Stewart Show" I went to, they didn't have enough "parting gifts" for everyone in the audience, even though the rows and seats were finite and numbered. The Queen of Details lost points that day.

[quote] Josh Elliot was a stiff stick-in-the-mud.

He's perpetually sad about his tiny penis.

[quote] "The View" and "GMA" staff move audience members around to get the desired on-camera front rows. "GMA" is also SRO, for hours.

Is it attractiveness? Diversity?

Pizazz

[quote] The Bozo Show, WGN version. Once as a child with Frazier Thomas and then as a teen with family - my cousin played the Grand Prize Game but choked on bucket three and is mocked at family gatherings to this day.

Hilarious. How old is the cousin now?

R211 They weren't dead. Quite the opposite: they reacted out of proportion to what was being presented just because they were excited to see Lucy.

R220 And that's one of the things that help doom the show -- the audience reaction made them think the public was going to accept this poor quality show.

the ill fated Carny Wilson talk show which I left after 15 mins. the security guard said "you can't leave a taping" I said "Just watch me" and exited. she was awful.

As a kid, I remember Ms. Miller, who was this old lady who would go to every taping of the Merv Griffin Show. He often talked to her during the opening. She really had the life, didn't she?

I too was part of the audience in The Price Is Right. During Q & A time (not on camera), someone asked a question about how the contestants get chosen. It's not random. People who work for the show talk to the audience members while standing in line to enter the studio. The show workers choose people who they think will be good for TV. The studio was smaller than it seems on TV.