Thursday, March 21, 2013

Fun with Marie and Craig

Today, I attended two live TV tapings, both talk shows.  It was something new, something old.  For the new, I had never gone to a daytime talk show...only nighttime ones.  I traveled north to Van Nuys and Avenue Six Studios for Marie Osmond's talk show, titled just Marie.  I gave myself time for morning rush hour traffic, but it was all traveling in the opposite direction...it was bumper to bumper going south.  I was the third person in line behind a nice couple who I chatted with while we waited.  In all, the studio seated only about 60 people on this day.  I was pleasantly surprised to find out Marie's warm-up comedian was none other than Chunky B.  I had seen him a few times in the past doing the same thing for Craig Ferguson, who I would be attending his live taping in the afternoon...that would be the something old.  It turned out Chunky B for the most part did his PG rated routine...I guess things can't be TOO raunchy for Marie's show? 

The guests for the show turned out to be some of the major cast members of the soap opera The Young And The Restless.  It was a celebration of the 40th anniversary of this long-running CBS-TV soap opera.  I'm not a fan of the genre, but this is my mom's favorite show.  Still, I recognized the faces on the stage, and it was an entertaining hour and a half.  After the show was over, we filed out and got a surprise gift...a book about the creator of the series, the late William J. Bell.  I'll give it to my mom for Mother's Day.  After a nice lunch at a Japanese ramen shop, I drove to CBS Television City for the The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson.  As expected Chunky B showed up to provide support for Craig.  He reverted back to his R-rated routines, which were decidedly much funnier.

When the show started, Craig did his opening monologue, then invited three sisters from Australia to join him on stage after the commercial break.  I've seen him invite attendees to appear with him in the past.  In fact, last time around, it was a VERY pregnant young woman.  Craig's first guest was actor Aaron Eckhart, who was there to promote his new movie, Olympus Has Fallen.  The second guest was country singer Kellie Pickler, who is currently on Dances With The Stars.  Both were very funny, as well as Craig.  There was a nice bonus tonight as they taped not one but TWO shows.  Since Craig's good friend, actor and multi-talented Stephen Fry was in town, he invited him to appear on the show.  It turned out to be a very different type of show, with Stephen talking about somewhat depressing, but thought provoking subjects.  I found myself enlightened, and considered it a privilege to hear from such a learned individual.  It turns out this particular show won't be seen till May...yeah, scheduling can be wacky sometimes.

Tomorrow is going to be a very special day for me.  Up to now, I had been alluding that I would be checking off a bucket list item very soon.  Well, that time has come.  I'm still not going to give anything away completely, but I will say I'll be going on a set visit to my absolute favorite TV show.  Everything is set, and I'll be reporting to Paramount Studios tomorrow afternoon.  If my day won't be exciting enough, I'll also be attending a concert with one of my fave bands, Barcelona.  I'll make every effort to post a blog when I get back from the show.  It will probably come out in the wee hours of the morning.  Stay tuned...

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