And it was, hands-down, the BEST date we've had so far.
The Ellen Show.
We were in Santa Monica for two glorious weeks visiting our younger son (J), his lovely wife (K), and our precious 6 mos grandson (M). We also hung out with their great friends and family members.
J has a fabulous female friend and former roommate (D) whom we absolutely love. J&D went to college together, and they were born in the same week which has meant years of celebrating birthdays together.
D works on one of our favorite TV shows that is filmed at NBC Universal. One of her co-workers went to high school with Ellen's brother, Vance. So, despite the months-long wait list that even studio employees must sit on for tickets, this friend-of-a-friend-of-a-brother scored us four VIP passes to a taping for the Ellen Show.
Unfortunately our daughter-in-law had to work and couldn't join us, but her mom (B) was kind enough to keep our grandbaby so that J and TH and I could attend the taping with D.
Our day started at the Universal Lot where the guards actually had our names on their clip-board and gave us passes and reserved parking.
How cool?
(I covered D's name with a straw wrapper.)
After we picked D up at her office, we toured the lot a bit (right past all the tourists on the Universal Studios Backstage Lot ride) and then we drove over to the Warner Bros. studios where The Ellen Show is taped. The show wasn't taping until 3:30, but we had to arrive two hours early. Fortunately, we were able to sit in the area reserved for VIP guests while we watched all the other audience hopefuls (with guaranteed or stand-by tickets) wait in maze-like lines that snaked through the holding area.
That's J's hand giving the thumbs-up!
While in the holding area, we learned that the guests on the show were Tina Fey and Mike Posner. Now I didn't have a clue as to who Mike Posner was, but I ABSOLUTELY LOVE TINA FEY! This was too cool. Two of my favorite ladies on the same stage in living color....Ellen and Tina. I knew that Tina would be promoting her new book, Bossypants, and I secretly wondered if maybe Ellen gave her guests freebies (like Oprah) and maybe we would score a copy of the book.
From the holding area, we moved across the street where we had to pass through security and metal detectors. They confiscated all cameras and Ipads, but strangely enough allowed everyone to keep their cell phones. From there we went into the lobby of the studio, which also happened to be the gift shop, where they sold all things Ellen. We had another wait period there...apparently they wanted to allow sufficient time for everyone to buy souvenirs. And then it was showtime.
We filed into the studio in order, with VIP guests leading the way. The assistants took our VIP passes, verified our names on the clipboard, and then escorted us down the stairs towards the stage. And they didn't stop until we'd reached the second row. We couldn't believe it....awesome seats. And sitting directly behind us was....Ellen's mother (we had better seats than she did, tee hee)!
And although we had great seats, we actually spent very little time sitting in them. We were on our feet dancing constantly...before the show started and through every commercial break. Reminded me of Mama Mia (the stage play) where the entire audience dances through the final number. It was such fun! Even TH, who never dances, Mr. Rhythm himself, was on his feet and swaying.
But that was only the beginning of the excitement. Before Tina Fey came onstage, Ellen did a segment called 'Tweets and Asks' where her fans ask questions via Twitter. One of her assistants read the tweets using the new Blackberry Playbook which was going on sale the next day. And since the show she was taping was going to air the next day as well, Ellen announced that she had bought 400 playbooks for every member of the audience. WHAT!! This really was like Oprah. That's $200,000 worth of technology the audience just scored. And all I had been hoping for was a book.
And then it was time for Tina. She was hysterical....and so talented (and pregnant). She did not miss a beat. Both women are comic geniuses and it was truly entertaining. Together they did an improv skit that was hilarious. I can't imagine a better guest I would have preferred to see with Ellen. And then, YUP, my wishes came true when Ellen announced we were all getting our very own copy of Bossypants. I was almost as excited as I'd been about the Playbook!
The musical guest was Mike Posner. I didn't recognize the name, but I knew his music and he serenaded Ellen with a rousing performance of his hit, Bow Chicka Wow Wow. Once again we were up and dancing....the fun never stopped. Watch his performance here.
And then to top it all off....Ellen announced that each member of the audience would also receive a copy of Posner's newest CD. Wow, this was like Christmas in April!
But wait....Ellen wasn't finished giving out freebies. Turns out that the next day (when the show would air) was also the day that the King's Speech would be available on DVD so, Yes, you guessed it, as the credits were rolling Ellen let us know that we were all taking home a copy of the Oscar winning flick.
And then it was over. What struck me most about the show was that Ellen was truly as genuine in real life as she appears on television. Not once during commercial breaks did she have her hair and make-up touched up. Neither did Tina Fey. I'd been to tapings of the David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel shows and the hair and makeup folks were constantly hovering around the show hosts and their guests. But not Ellen and Tina.
As the audience members filed out, J snapped a photo of the set. He was immediately reprimanded by a production assistant, and for a minute I was afraid they were going to confiscate my cell phone, or at the very least ask me to erase the shot. But they didn't, so here it is.
As we left the studio, we were handed our loot.
And nobody complained that we didn't get a bag to carry all our swag.
We took home a lot more than memories from this date....lucky #13.
...Special thanks to D for making this date possible, and for taking these photos.
She makes it to our list of Angels Among Us
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