Why?
Because last night I went to a taping of The Big Bang Theory and then hung out with the cast after the taping.
And by hang out with, I mean hang out near. Like 2 feet near - so still awesome for shy little me.
But I did get to meet a couple of the cast members! Which was beyond AWESOME!
This is me with Kunal Nayyar , aka Raj Koothrappali
Can I just say how super duper nice both of these guys were? Cameras and picture taking was totally not allowed (thus the fuzzy pictures from the contraband blackberry)- but they were totally cool with posing with us.But this was all at the end of the night. I skipped ahead, because, well, that was the most exciting part!
The evening starts out with the audience being "warmed up" by the screening of another Big Bang episode. In this case, we were shown the episode that will run next Monday. First people to ever see it. I feel special. Wahoooo! And, btw, you should totally tune in on Monday night because it is a really funny episode! But aren't they all?
Next, these big screens are pulled away to reveal the sets and the cast is introduced. We get to watch as they all get into place, all the technical stuff is worked out, and a million things that I don't understand goes on.
This is when it is cool.
This is my favorite part of screenings.
While everything is getting set up, you get to see the characters getting ready and into their role. Wolowitz paces back and forth- a lot. Sheldon stares straight ahead going over his lines in his head. Leonard plays air guitar to the music. And Raj is kinda laid back and chats it up with the crew. It's so interesting how they all have a different process and really gives you insight into their personalities.
Shooting starts and for the next 3 hours they shoot, and reshoot, and shoot some more. It can be tiring. It can be redundant. It can get old. But the good thing about The Big Bang Theory (as opposed to the Two and a Half Men taping I went to last year) is that they change up the dialogue a bit each time. It keeps it fresh and funny for us. And now I can't wait to see the episode air and see which shots they chose to air. I also can't wait to see if you can hear me! If they choose one particular Green Lantern Oath reciting scene, you will hear my group cheering! GO Green Lantern! Wooo!
So after a LOOOOONG but interesting 3 hours, the taping was finally over. After wrapping, if you are a cool VIP like moi (stop laughing), you get to go down on the stage to mingle with the cast and crew.
If you dare.
Which I didn't.
Damn my shyness!
For a while we stood awkwardly around talking amongst ourselves and walking around the sets. This was still really cool and not something you get to do every day. Just being there and seeing everyone (including guest star Danica McKellar -Wonder Year's Winnie) would have been enough for me. Luckily I have an awesome (and daring!) boss who was dead-set on getting her picture taken with Sheldon and hooked me up with a photo with Raj- who I sheepishly told was my favorite when I got to meet him. I'm such a nerd! Good thing it is totally acceptable on that particular set!
After seeing Penny running around in adorable and silly 80's work out attire that was her ping pong tournament outfit (not a costume for the show!), and watching part of the ping pong tournament held after every week's taping, we giddily left the set.
But not before injuring the Executive Producer of the show. Oops!
Reason #38 why you should move to LA is that for the first few that just MOVE HERE ALREADY, I will take you to tapings with me. This is a limited time offer and only applies to those who move here ASAP. As interesting as these tapings are, I did mention the 3 HOURS of shooting and reshooting, right? Oh and in very uncomfortable chairs and an MC that has the unfortunate job of keeping the audience pumped up and annoyed beyond all hell with him. I will soon become jaded and bored of meeting celebs, so the tapings will no longer be worth it. Better hurry!




