this feels like grade-school all over again...
my day at The Big Bang Theory!
I won’t give too much away in this report of what I saw at the taping. I will give a generic TV guide blurb:
This week on the Big Bang Theory, Sheldon uses positive re-enforcement to change Penny’s behavior. Meanwhile, can going GOTH change a man? Find out…
Anyway here is how it all went down.
We drove up from San Diego, leaving our house around 12pm. We got up there around 3pm and ate a Mexican café. Then we went over to Warner Bros and parked at a parking complex across from Gate 8. We got in line, inside the covered parking lot, and waited for the show reps to check our tickets. (Which we got for free, by the way, at TVTICKETS.COM. All you do is look at the calendar on the site, pick a show, and use your own printer to print your ticket with, with your name on it)
The show reps make sure your name is on their list and on your ticket. At 430pm we were taken over to the studio. We passed many sound stages (Two and Half Men/Hank) as we weaved our way past many sound stages on the way to the where they taped Big Bang Theory. The one we were taken too had a plaque that listed all the movies/tv shows filmed there in the past. Casablanca, Alien, V, Disclosure, Gremlins, and many more TV shows/movies, all through time, were listed on the plaque. By the way; I was wearing a GREEN LANTERN shirt, my wife was wearing, get this, a CAPTAIN KIRK shirt.
There was a group of Marines, about fifty I guess, from 29palms. Talking with a few of them and/or their wives/girlfriends, it was clear they had never seen Big Bang because of how busy they have been in recent years. But I will give Warner Bros kudos for treating them with respect. We got to meet the main cast members, all of them, when they came out to meet the marines.
We were taken into the studio and got great seats. Not in the front (which was saved for VIPs) but still very good. The sound stage had tons of scaffolding, which had TV monitors and mics all over them. As they record the episode, they show it on the monitors with the actual camera angles used, but I hardly looked at it, instead looking at the actors/camera/writing folks who are all around the stage.
I know what job I want; the person with the little rectangle thingy and snaps it. You know what I mean. “Big Bang Episode, ACBDX, take-one!” SNAP. I don’t know what the ACBDX was, but she said it every time before they filmed. It looked like an easy job.
There were 216 seats in the small section. Large black movable boards are arranged between the audience and the sets, though you can still sea over the top of them. A comedian come out and sort of MCs the entire event. He is there to entertain the crowd during set change and between scenes.
Just before taping, the MC/comedian starts reading off a list of who makes the show (producers—writers—directors) and the main cast. And then they remove the black barriers.
For those of you who watch the show, you will know what I am talking about next. There are three sets, connected, in the center. From right to left (just as on TV) Penny’s apartment…the hallway with the elevator...sheldon/leonard apartment and their kitchen.
The episode was filmed in scene order. So the first scene was filmed their kitchen. In this opening scene we find out that oatmeal is served on Tuesdays!!!
They filmed each scene twice. Usually, I thought, the first take was the best. We, the audience, have to laugh the second time as if it were the first time and just as hard. Sometimes they had to film a pick-up scene, a smaller version of the main scene. Only one actor cussed when he made a mistake; Jim Parsons AKA Sheldon. He only did it a couple times and he was really funny about. Both times he goofed said “shit!”
At the end of the second take of each scene, and pick-ups, and if it was good, the director will announce “MOVE ON” and that means the scene is done. While they set up the next scene, the MC/Comedian will entertain the crowd. He had some people compete in dance competition (including my wife in her Kirk shirt), the winner getting $20….Then the comedian had those in the audience from other countries come up and sing a song from their country. We had people from Hungary, England, France and Canada. But this nerd from Italy was really funny and won $100 after singing his song from Italy.
After the second scene was wrapped (move along was announced) they served us Pizza, water and candy-bars. Then they did scene three-four ect ect.
A part of the episode takes place in a tattoo parlor. This set, at the far left of the stage, (just to the left of Penny’s apartment set) and is the ‘temporary’ set that can be the cafeteria at the university or cheesecake place, or in this case, a tattoo parlor. Perhaps the best line, and there were many, is when Wolowitz is there getting a tattoo on his ass. When Koothrappali asks if he’s afraid his mom will get mad if he sees it, Wolowitz responds; “No, my mom takes my temperature orally now.”
The crowd, and actors, laughed so hard it took nearly twenty minutes to compose to calm down.
There were thre cameras in play most of the time, on the other sets, but only two being used, and then during the retake, just one camera was used, in the small tattoo set.
They started filming at 630pm and were done by 930pm. It was very funny. The jokes were well timed, and the writing was very witting. We had a very fun time. The audience was well behaved. No one under 18 is allowed. Before you go in, purses are checked and you go through an airport style scanner. This is to insure that no weapons, duh, are brought in. But they are also making sure that no cameras or cell phones are bring brought in either, for obvious reasons.
If you are in the LA area someday, I suggest you try and see one of these shows taped. We are going back in October. We might either see this show again, because its just so funny, or Conan O’brien. My friend, who saw that show taped a month ago, said that Conan only takes an hour or two to do because, since they are on a tight schedule, they have to be done in time so they can broadcast that night. Two hours may not be worth a three-hour ride and three-hour ride back.
But the BIG BANG THEORY was. Two thumbs up; lots of fun. And it was fun to watch the behinds the scenes stuff too.
Rob
Scorpio
