Who Is The Most Excited Studio Audience Member?

This post is the second part of Day 2.  As was mentioned in the last post, we went back to the hotel to wait for our "report time" to get into the studio audience.  The taping was scheduled to start at 6:00 p.m., but we were supposed to be there at 4:00 to wait outside the studio.  There were absolutely no cameras or any other devices that could take a picture allowed.  The studio was on the corner of Sunset Blvd. and Gower.  It looked like a regular office building from the outside.  There is no guarantee that you will get in when you reserve your tickets, and there are limited seats in the studio.  There were only about 100 seats.  Some were taken by people who knew those who worked on the set.  We received an email as we were traveling that told us it didn't look good for getting in.  There were going to be very few seats available.  We emailed back to see if it was even worth our time to come stand outside the studio.  They responded right away and told us we would be put on the Audiences Unlimited list, which should ensure that we would get in. Audiences Unlimited is the company that we booked free tickets through via the Internet ahead of time.

The wait was not too bad.  Once we were able to enter the studio complex, it was very interestijng.  There was a labyrinth of exterior corridors.  There were several different studios within the complex.  The complex probably took up a block.  The studio that we were going to be in was very small.  We were all surprised how small it was.  They have what looked like two by four and plywood risers on which they set up chairs.  Oh, it looked like they had stapled some carpet on the plywood.  If you looked up, you could just see very old wooden beams.  It reminded me of an old barn.  On the concrete floor were three sets. By the way, the show was "A Pair of Kings".  This is a Disney XD show.  I didn't know if I had seen it or not, but once I saw the set, I realized that I had seen it.

They had two emcee-type people to work with the crowd as the cast and crew worked through their takes.  Our job was to laugh!  They explained that it is easier for the cast if there is a live audience reaction.  The emcees explained what was going to happen and gave some directions to us, while entertaining us in between takes.  They wanted the crowd loose and ready to laugh.  They asked, "Who is the most excited person in the audience?"  Kristi jumped up and screamed her excitement and was dubbed the most excited audience member the rest of the night.  They interacted with the crowd all night.  We all just became known as "Michigan."  We all took home small prizes to remember the experience.

Another interesting thing was that they provided a slice of pizza and a small water to everyone.  They passed out a stack of paper towel sheets and told us to take one and pass them on.  After that, they started a large box of pizza at one end of the aisle and told us to take a piece and pass on the box.  I thought, "Are you kidding me?"  But, that was what we did!

It was very interesting to see the director, the camera people, all of the assistants, the equipment, and of course, the actors: Mitchell Musso, Ryan Ocho, Kelsey Chou, and Doc Shaw.  Three of the four stayed after to sign autographs. Apparently Mitchell Musso had to leave right after the recording.  It was interesting to see the actors when they made a mistake and had to start over and how quickly the director would tell them where to restart.  There were times when they would do a scene, listen to the crowd reaction, and then try it again with a little tweak to see if there was a better reaction.

All in all, it was very cool.  Our second day was done!