Originally posted on MySpace on November 12, 2009.
Now that the Five For Fighting portion of my road trip has concluded, I'm continuing my vacation doing other interesting stuff. I had an early lunch at Neptune's Net in Malibu. I try to make a trip there every time I visit southern California...at least since the Two Lights album. In the song California Justice, Neptune's Net is mentioned. I had the calamari/scallop basket...I LOVE scallops! Afterwards, I went to the La Brea Tar Pits and Page Museum. I last visited the tar pits back in 1973...I was only 12 years old. A lot has changed. They didn't have the museum back then, which now houses the fantastic collection of bones excavated from the tar pits. One thing that DIDN'T change was the mammoth replicas in the tar pits...they were the same ones I saw way back when!
After my educational lesson of the day, it was time for something fun. I had a ticket reserved for The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, so I left the tar pits for Universal Studios. It wasn't a long drive, but I found myself stuck in traffic...on just one street! I had about an hour to get to the studios, otherwise, they would give my ticket to someone else! Getting worried I might be late, I turned off the problem street and relied on my own instincts...and my GPS...to bypass the choke point. And, I was successful! I got to the studio with 30 minutes to spare.
Now, I think most people have never been to a live studio taping, let alone The Tonight Show, so I'll describe the process. A series of signs directed me from the parking garage to the check in location. After presenting my reservation letter, I was given a ticket and a wristband. Then, I waited. There were a lot of people already there, and most seemed to be in their 20s and 30s. At 4:00 pm, they escorted groups of us into the building housing The Tonight Show set. There was a metal detector that everyone had to walk through, but I'm wondering if that is standard practice, or because of the special guest appearing on the show. As I walked into the set, I was amazed at how great it looked. There was music playing quite loudly over the speakers, and I immediately noticed the air conditioning that is always present in such studios. At first, it's not apparant why it should be so cold. But, when the hot overhead lights come on and stay on...you know why!
About 10 minutes before showtime, the warm up guy came out and bantered with the audience. He had fun with some Canadian tourists, and was a good start for things to come. Then, he turned things over to Conan's announcer and sidekick, Andy Richter. We found out the guests for the evening would be former vice-president Al Gore, actor Jim Parsons and musical artist Jason Mraz. I wonder if the metal detector was for Mr. Gore's safety? Now, I've seen a few government figures in person in my time, but never a president OR a vice-president. The Tonight Show band got things pumping as the final minutes ticked down. Promptly at 5:00 pm, it was time to roll!
We had been educated by the warm up guy to react properly to the Applause sign, and everyone did when Conan took the stage. It was so exciting to see what I've always seen on TV right in front of me. Conan immediately got into his opening show monologue, and he was funny as usual! When he was done, the band played again during what would be the commercial break. Next, Conan and Andy did a comedy skit entitled In The Year 3000, where they predict future events. After another break, Al Gore came out to promote his new book. The interaction between him and Conan was the high point of the show. During the next break, Conan recorded a few local promo spots for tonight's show. Then, Jim Parsons from the hit comedy Big Bang Theory was the next guest...funny guy! Finally, Jason Mraz performed one song with The Tonight Show band and a women's choir. Conan ended the taping by singing a little impromtu ditty about not letting the audience leave to battle the rush hour traffic...hilarious!
In all, it was a very entertaining experience, and something I would love to do again. As it turns out, I'm going to another live TV taping tomorrow. This time, it's this season's new situation comedy Accidentally On Purpose with actress Jenna Elfman. But, before doing that, I'll be repeating the 5-hour Warner Brothers Studios VIP tour. I'm hoping to see an actor or two, since television program filming is still in full swing, and Warner Brothers hosts a LOT of shows on their backlot. Hooray for Hollywood!
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