Seinfeld Audience Notes
My wife and I just returned home after attending the taping of a Seinfeld episode last night (Tues 8/20). This was our first time to watch any TV show being taped, and we had a lot of questions that we couldn't find answers to on the net. Therefore, I am writing this note in the hopes that it will answer some questions that others may have about this process.
This was episode #136, the second episode of the new season, which will air on September 26 (which also happens to be our anniversary). I won't be providing any spoilers in this message.
We mailed in a request for audience tickets late last year, so it took about nine months for our tickets to arrive. Other people at the taping said they had waited two years, but that may be the exception rather than the norm. We received the tickets in the mail on Monday, informing us that the show was being taped on Tuesday(!). We live near San Francisco, so it was decision time for us: do we spend the bucks to fly to L.A. in the middle of the week? It didn't help make us feel any better to read the disclaimer printed on the back of the tickets stating that ticket-holders are not guaranteed entrance to the taping. We were also unsure about the priorities given to ticket-holders. Since we had less than 24 hours notice, we couldn't get a deal on airline tickets. either. Despite all of that, we decided to go for it.
The instructions that came with the tickets told us to call a number (the voice mailbox for Amber, one of the production staff) and leave a message to confirm receipt of the tickets and to indicate whether and how many of our party would be attending. In the end, we couldn't determine why this was necessary.
Being newbies, we arrived quite early at CBS Studios (yes, CBS). The instructions that came with the tickets said we were to check in by name at the gate no later than 5:30 pm and wait in the "audience waiting area." We told the security guard we were there for the Seinfeld taping, and he told us something we were surprised to hear: that we were supposed to drive to the L.A. Valley College (a couple of miles away) and park in their parking lot, and the studio would bus us back to the lot. The apparent reason for this is a lack of parking near the studio. He said there are studio personnel (pages) that direct the audiences, but they didn't show up until near the time on our tickets (5:30).
We were somewhat concerned, as none of this was mentioned on the instructions we received, which told us to park in the "open" lot down the street. Since we were so early, we decided to come back later and try again. The next time, we talked to two different guards at different locations; one told us to go to the college, the other told us to park on the street and wait. We decided to forget the college and park on the street. We grabbed a bite to eat nearby, and came back around 4:30 to find buses unloading people and a line forming near the gate.
Our state of confusion worsened considerably at this point, primarily due to the fact that we were still pretty early. Most of the people standing in line were there to attend the taping of other shows (Foxworthy, 3rd Rock, Boston Common). There were still no pages for Seinfeld; the pages for the other shows had no idea how things were handled for Seinfeld, so they told us to just stay in line. The crowd slowly dwindled as audiences for the various shows were taken away, and we found ourselves near the front of the line. Our moods changed from pessimism to optimism and back several times over the course of the next 60 minutes.
Finally, the Seinfeld pages showed up around 5 p.m. The Seinfeld pages clearly knew what they were doing, and handled the audience very well. They were armed with clipboards containing "the list," and asked everyone with pink tickets (like ours) to stand to one side. They pages went through and numbered each of the tickets. It took us a few minutes to realize that the people with the tickets have the lowest priority. Everyone who's on "the list" are guaranteed to get in, and the people with the tickets fill up the left-over seats. There are actually two groups of people on the list, the VIPs (friends of production) and the people who call the studio and ask to be put on the list. Apparently, this latter group of people wind up in a different group from those who mail in a request for tickets.
The pages escorted us inside the gate to a waiting area. There were about 20-25 people with pink tickets who sat and watched as more and more of the "listies" arrived, taking up our precious seats. My wife and I had ticket numbers 7 & 8. One of the pages announced to the ticket-holders that they were required to remind us about the disclaimer printed on the back of the tickets, but said our chances of getting in were pretty good. Our spirits raised a little, until someone came to collect the listies and the first six ticket-holders. My wife and I couldn't help thinking about the money we spent on airline tickets to get to L.A., only to be turned away after coming so close to getting in. A page told us they would be back in about ten minutes after they've had a chance to seat everyone and assess the situation. That was a long ten minutes.
The page came back at 6:30 and told us that there was room for everyone, but most of us would probably have to sit on the stairs. Whew! At least we made it! On our way to the studio, we asked a page how many ticket-holders they usually have to turn away. He said they usually turn away most, if not all, of them. Obviously, if you want to see an episode being taped, you need to call the studio and get on the list.
Inside the studio, essentially a big warehouse, it was chilly and dark. The sets for each of the scenes were arranged in a long row, with the audience seated bleacher-style in front of the sets. There were TV monitors in front of us, and microphones arranged over our heads. Some of the sets extended beyond the audience seats, so we had to rely on the monitors to watch those scenes. Fortunately, there weren't too many of them.
Many of the best seats are reserved for the VIPs and have masking tape across them (called the "taped" seats). We were fortunate enough to get two of the taped seats reserved for VIPs who didn't show, so our seats were excellent, right in front of the set for Jerry's apartment. Several of the ticket holders didn't have seats and had to sit on the stairs (sorry guys!).
They first showed us some clips of funny scenes from past episodes, as a kind of warm-up so that the sound engineers could tune the audience microphones. A stand-up comedian, Hiram Casten (I think that was his name) was there to entertain the audience between scenes. He filled us in on the story so far (i.e. what happened in the first episode of the new season), and kept us up to date during the evening. He answered the audience's questions, asked us trivia questions, threw candy and generally harrassed us and sometimes the crew.
Prior to the start of filming, Jerry came up to welcome us and to introduce the stars. He did a short comedy routine and answered a few questions (nothing particularly interesting). He introduced the stars one at a time, who came out from the entrance to Jerry's "bedroom" (which apparently really leads to the dressing rooms).
The scenes were recorded in the order in which they appear, primarily for the benefit of the audience. A few of the scenes had already been recorded, and they played those for us at the appropriate time. Also, a couple of the scenes were reenacted without cameras, just to record the dialog (such as Jerry and George walking down a street). When ready to begin recording, the director or asst. director calls for a "bell", which is really a long buzzer and the cue for everyone to be quiet (but laughing is OK, of course). Then the director calls for the sound to roll, a guy goes in front of the camera to announce the scene and clack the requisite marker, and the director calls "action."
They always did a scene at least twice, and there were only a couple of retakes caused by mistakes. They also started over from the middle of a scene a few times. After the director is satisfied, he announces that they are "moving", and the crew migrates to the next set. The scenes were counted using letters and double letters, and all of the camera positions for each of the scenes were marked on the floor using tape.
There were a surprising number of people down on the stage floor milling around, including Jerry's companion Shoshana, who sat in Jerry's chair most of the time. The stars usually disappeared between scenes to change, and typically didn't come back until they were needed again. Except Jerry, who was always observing if he wasn't in a scene.
It was interesting to watch scenes involving the extras (there's a more proper term for them, something like "atmosphere" actors), such as in Monk's Cafe. These actors are hired specifically for this purpose, and they perform their parts without making a sound. We were impressed. We were also very impressed watching the stars do their stuff, especially Jason Alexander and Wayne Knight (I guess that's a minor spoiler).
After the filming was finished, Jerry came up to introduce the guest stars, reintroduce the stars, and say good night. We left the studio around 10 p.m.
All in all, we had a great time. We mentioned several times during the evening that we couldn't believe we were actually there watching an episode of Seinfeld in the making (remember, we're newbies). It was well worth the money, and highly recommended, especially if you live nearby or happen to be in the area already.
As an added bonus, on our way to the airport early the next morning, we saw a tired-looking Louie Anderson driving his Lexus. And at the airport, we saw the humorous African-American woman from Boston Common, in sweats and flip-flops, escorting a friend to her plane.
In summary, if you want to attend Seinfeld, call and get on the list. If you're a VIP, you can show up just about anytime and not have a problem. If you're told you're on the list, and that you need to pick up your tickets when you arrive, then you should show up a little early and get in line. You don't actually pick up any tickets at the studio. There is parking to be found within a block or two of the studio, so I wouldn't bother with the bus. After we got out of the studio at 10pm, we were glad we didn't have to take a bus back to get our car.
For those of you who get pink tickets, park on the street, get there an hour early, and be as close to the front of the line as possible. Some good news: a page told us that people with tickets who are turned away need only call the studio and tell them you were turned away, and you will automatically be on the list for the next episode.
If you stayed with me this far, I hope you found this at least somewhat interesting, and maybe a little helpful. Feel free to send me mail if you have any questions.