...this time to the CBS Studios for
The CBS Studios are directly next door to The Grove, the trendy outdoor mall in Hollywood where you are sure to spot a celebrity or two. From The Grove's parking garage, you can look right down into the CBS Studios back lot
and, if you are there on taping days, you can watch the prizes for the show as they are wheeled in and out of the studio. On many of our past visits, we'd also seen the long lines for the contestants and I'd made a mental note to someday apply for tickets. The 35 Dates project seemed as good a time as ever.
Several months before our trip to L.A. (and before I knew we were going to see Ellen), I went to The Price is Right web site and discovered they were having a special Mother's Day taping on one of the days we'd be on the west coast. I called the number to see if my son J and I could be contestants, but they already had a full audience. However, the woman I spoke with offered me guaranteed seating to the following day's taping for the three of us. It was that easy!
I received an email with all the rules/instructions:
we would have to arrive no later than 12 noon;
look for the employees in red jackets and tell them we are on the 'guaranteed' list;
no cameras, cell phones, or computers allowed anywhere on the studio property;
and all potential contestants had to present their social security cards and go through an interview process.
Now I haven't watched The Price is Right in years, and never since Bob Barker retired, but I did remember that contestants often wore tacky T-shirts on the show. So I ordered a set for TH and me, in bright tangerine, to maybe increase our chances of making it up on stage. I included the url for this blog on the back and, since I didn't want Th to see the shirts in advance, I had them delivered to our son's home in Santa Monica.
As always, TH was a good sport about wearing them (remember, this is a man who wears velour in April...not a fashion plate) and, when we learned we had tickets to Ellen in the same week, we decided to wear the shirts to both shows.
Here's a photo of us wearing them in the waiting area for Ellen.
While sitting there, TH happened to read the back of my shirt and could not figure out what the small print said. Finally it dawned on him that it was a web address for this blog. He asked for a pen and paper, but of course I ignored him. When we finally made it across the street and into the studio, however, one of Ellen's production assistants came over and told us we couldn't wear the shirts in the audience. Really??? I asked. He just repeated that we couldn't wear matching shirts, and I wasn't going to argue with him. Luckily we both had other shirts underneath. I quickly stashed the shirts in my bag out of site (and out of TH's mind).
Two days later, we donned them again and headed for CBS. Our son had to work, so it was just the two of us. We parked at The Grove and made it to the studio gates about five minutes before noon and saw a line that stretched down the street. However, with our guaranteed seating, we were able to bypass the line and were immediately ushered onto the lot where we were given numbers 111 and 112.
From there we were directed to benches where the employees in red jackets had us fill out a brief form, checked our identification and social security numbers, and issued our Official Name Tags. It was a young man who handwrote each and every name tag and I was very impressed by his neat printing. TH was really perturbed that they used his full name, but that is one of the requirements (for tax purposes, I guess).
After that we waited. And waited. And waited.
Like The Ellen Show, CBS also had a food cart on the lot so TH was happy that he didn't have to miss lunch. I was happy that I'd brought Tina Fey's book with me...and I read the ENTIRE book in one sitting while we waited. That's how long we waited.
I think there were ultimately about 350 of us waiting to enter the studio. There were several large groups, all with matching shirts, and there were quite a few show-offs in the waiting area. Apparently they thought if they were excited and energetic in the waiting area, that they would be selected as contestants. They danced in the aisles, they raced down the rows high-fiving everyone, they danced down the rows with their ass sticking out for everyone to pat them, they hooted, they hollered, and some of them made damn fools of themselves. And you know what....not one of those bafoons were asked to 'come on down.'
They moved us around quite often during the wait process, to different areas outside the building, so that occasionally we stood up and actually thought we were going somewhere. One of the stops was a photo session.... where they took photos of every group against a green backdrop. Finally, after more than 3 and 1/2 hours, we made it to the interview process which consisted of one man walking behind a barricade while his assistant took notes. They lined up about a dozen of us, called us out in order by the name on our tag, and asked us each our occupation. That was it....didn't ask where we were from, didn't ask why we were there, didn't even ask about our silly tangerine shirts.
But that was the final step in the wait process as we made our way around the back corner of the building and into the studio. Once inside, I was shocked to see how small the seating area actually was....it always looked much larger on TV. And once again the seat fairies were kind to us as the ushers escorted TH and me all the way down to the front row....directly next to the money seats! Wow...that was (almost) worth the wait.
From there, everything moved very rapidly. The seats were filled, we were given instructions for cheering, applauding, running down the aisles, etc. The announcer was introduced, and then it was showtime. The announcer started to call the first four contestants, but it was so loud in there you could barely hear him. Luckily, there are two producers on stage with giant cue cards that they revealed every time a new name was called. That's why the contestants look so confused on TV. You are trying to hear your name above the noise and read the cue cards in all the excitement. Very surreal.
And then it was time for the host's grand entrance. I was quite shocked to see this tall, skinny gentleman appear. I think the last time I saw Drew Carey was when he had his own sitcom and he was a fat slob of a guy with plump overly made-up secretary. This Drew Carey was almost anorexic. They are not kidding when they say the camera adds pounds! And our seats were so close we could easily reach out and touch him (but we didn't).
The show moved along at a rapid-fire pace. There was absolutely no down time. As soon as one game ended (and they broke for commercial) there was a frenzy of activity on the stage as they set up for the very next game. I always presumed the process took much longer, but they move along at an amazing clip. And Drew Carey stays on stage the entire time chatting with the audience. He was really funny and personable, and didn't require any touch-ups to his make-up or any bathroom breaks.
It turns out that the day we were at the taping was April 20th, and the show started to tape at 4:10pm. When the first game ended about 10 minutes later, Drew Carey asked the audience if we all knew what the date was. Then he looked at his wrist, asked if it was really 4:20, and pretended to take a toke. He pantomined smoking during several of the breaks in the show....but I don't think half the audience got his joke. (TH didn't until days later when we were on the Venice boardwalk and he saw the 420 signs everywhere).
I'm sure you figured out by now that we were never called to 'Come on Down' but it was still a fun date. Other than the excessive almost 4-hour wait to get in, it was a great experience. It was fun watching the big wheel and the showcase showdowns, and fun yelling out prices even though absolutely nobody could hear us. But truthfully, as I watched the prizes up for grabs at each game, or even to get up on stage, I decided I wouldn't want to take any of that crap home with me (other than cash or cars), especially if I had to pay taxes before I could enjoy them. It was the thrill of the win that provided the excitement.
I won't tell you if there were any big winners on our show. But you can watch for yourself this week. Our episode airs on Wednesday, May 11th, so set your DVRs. I'm guessing that TH and I will be on camera as we were sitting directly next to the money seats (that's where the bidding contestants sit while they wait to make it up on stage). If you are looking down from the stage, we are to the left of those seats, wearing our bright tangerine shirts.
Remember those group photos we posed for in front of the green backdrop?
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