Visiting the Ed this week

[David Bruggeman]

Hello everyone,

I have tickets for Wednesday's Late Show taping.  I wanted to know if there were any burning questions and/or advice that members of the brain trust have for someone who's only done the L.A. based late night tapings.

Best,

David

[Melissa P]

Coincidentally, I have a ticket for next Wednesday's Late Show taping!

However, I'm on the fence about using it.  I have tickets for musicals Tuesday evening and Wednesday evening -- and was planning to try at TKTS for a Wednesday matinee.  I realized that if I go to a matinee, I probably won't be able to make the Colbert line.  Not sure what I will do.  I wonder what the latest is that I could make it to Colbert?  For example, if the matinee was over by 4:30, would I be able to make it?

Unlike the sitcom tapings I used to attend in LA where I was always one of the few audience members wanting to ask a question, there were lots of hands raised when I was at Colbert In July 2021.  So, I had little chance of being called on -- and I wasn't.  Sorry, I cannot remember the question I planned to ask.  Or -- maybe it was my old standard (I've never been able to ask).  "What guest have you really wanted to have on and neither a staff member -- nor you -- were successful in getting that person on the show?" 

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[Dave Sikula]

I have a reservation for November myself, but the last time I was there (2017?), I screwed up the arrival time and got there just before the cutoff of 4:00 (I thought that was the time to show up).

I don't know how it is post-COVID, but then, it was far more disorganized than Dave's LS. They kept us penned in the vestibule for a good 45 minutes before finally letting us into the house. Even then, it was about another 45 minutes until tape time, with not much happening. Dave's LS kept music going and the ushers really worked to keep the audience pumped. Colbert's pre-show had dull music and not much from the staff -- other than folding chairs in the balcony and repeated warnings to not take photos.

The warmup guy was truly terrible, but once Batiste and the band came out, things perked up. They were really good (probably more versatile than Paul Shaffer's band, but the CBS Orchestra was more energetic). Colbert came out, took some questions, and the taping went pretty much on schedule, with only a couple of re-takes. We were out before 7:00, which allowed me to get to the show I was seeing that evening.

I'd say to be prepared to do a lot of waiting and hope you get some good guests. One thing you can be sure of, though: if there's a musical guest, they'll be terrible.

--Dave Sikula

[David Bruggeman]

The currently scheduled guests for tomorrow night are Senator Elizabeth Warren and former Secretary of Energy Ernie Moniz (you *might* remember his hair).  I wouldn't blame you if you thought it was a Sunday show from 2014.

I'll be in NYC until Sunday night, so it may be a minute before I can share anything with any level of detail.

Best,

David

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[David Bruggeman]

I left the Ed about 6:45 Eastern, and haven't seen the show yet, so I might have more to say later in the week.

Most of what Dave describes below reflects my experience, though the process is much more efficient than in 2017.  I arrived at 3:30, and once my plus one satisfied all the COVID requirements, we were in the Ed within 20 minutes and right to our seats (ground level, near the back and across from Joe Saylor in the band, though we still had a fair amount of time waiting in the theater.

The staff had music piped in (mostly current hits).  I can't remember who came first, but the floor director and the warm-up guy (Paul Mercurio, who was probably doing it in 2017) were next.  Mercurio was leaning hard on the cheerleading approach to being a warm-up comic, which can easily rub someone the wrong way.  His interactions with audience members were more entertaining.

The band came out and the crowd really responded.  They played the song that used to play over the end titles (chorus lyrics "I feel good, I feel free, I feel fine just being me.")  Stephen came out during the song, did the Q&A thing, and then the show started around 5:30-5:40.

Due to scheduling with a guest, we did not see one of tonight's interviews, which was previously recorded. Instead, after tonight's ending was shot, the crew set up for a musical performance that will air at some future point. There was a technical glitch, so they redid the performance, and that was the only reshoot.  No promos for the show were recorded either.

Best,

David

On Tuesday, November 1, 2022 at 03:06:47 AM PDT, 'Dave Sikula' via TVorNotTV <tvor...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

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[M-D November]

The song is “I’m From Kenner”. 

[Dave Sikula]

So, if I'm reading this right, they made you sit in the house with nothing happening for about 90 minutes? That's inexcusable.

--Dave Sikula

On Wednesday, November 2, 2022 at 7:22:13 PM UTC-7 David Bruggeman wrote:

I left the Ed about 6:45 Eastern, and haven't seen the show yet, so I might have more to say later in the week.

Most of what Dave describes below reflects my experience, though the process is much more efficient than in 2017.  I arrived at 3:30, and once my plus one satisfied all the COVID requirements, we were in the Ed within 20 minutes and right to our seats (ground level, near the back and across from Joe Saylor in the band, though we still had a fair amount of time waiting in the theater.

The staff had music piped in (mostly current hits).  I can't remember who came first, but the floor director and the warm-up guy (Paul Mercurio, who was probably doing it in 2017) were next.  Mercurio was leaning hard on the cheerleading approach to being a warm-up comic, which can easily rub someone the wrong way.  His interactions with audience members were more entertaining.

The band came out and the crowd really responded.  They played the song that used to play over the end titles (chorus lyrics "I feel good, I feel free, I feel fine just being me.")  Stephen came out during the song, did the Q&A thing, and then the show started around 5:30-5:40.

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[David Bruggeman]

It did seem like they waited to fill every seat before getting into their prep.  It was at least an hour from when I sat down. Plenty of people had time to leave their seats and go to the restroom before they started.  From what I remember of the pre-show stuff from other tapings, some shows did get into their pre-show explanations while still filling seats.  Not here.

I fell asleep before the show aired, so I'll have to wait until I get back home before seeing if there's anything else interesting to note between what aired and what I saw taped.

David

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[bobjersey]

They'll never disrespect Batiste and his music. It's what got them there.

B

 

M-D November, to David Bruggeman and Dave Sikula, Nov 3rd:

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[M-D November]

Dave - I'd rather sit in the house for 90 minutes than have to stand on the street in line (or crammed into the Ed's lobby), as it had been done pre-COVID.

[Mark Jeffries]

Was the keyboard player who has popped up this week identified?  And when are they going to give the keyboard players a real piano and/or a Hammond instead of a Nord Stage?

Mark Jeffries
spotl...@gmail.com

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[Jon Delfin]

Perhaps the keyboard came with the keyboard player? 

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[David Bruggeman]

She wasn't identified during the taping last night, and I don't think she was on Monday's or Tuesday's shows either.

She was introduced when the band came out, but I did not catch her full name.  This is extra annoying because I've seen her play before and I just can't pull her name from wherever it lodged in my brain.  She also backed up the musical guest that was taped last night but will be broadcast later.

An issue with the full piano is that it crowds the space.  You'll remember they had the horns playing from one level up for a while.  Yes, Paul had three keyboards, but they were playing where the desk is now.

David

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[David Bruggeman]

Danae Greenfield, and it looks like she's sponsored by Nord

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypaEQu64ju4

David

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[Melissa P]

In ALL of my experience (West Coast, East Coast, doesn't matter), audience waiting has ALWAYS been an unpleasant experience.  Back in July 2021, a woman standing about 5 people behind me fainted and an ambulance came and got her.  One would think that might have been an incentive to get the audience out of the heat and at least in the air-conditioned lobby, but nope, the incident didn't change the Late Show's audience procedures at all.  We waited in the heat some more.

However, a few years ago -- the last time I attended sitcom tapings in LA -- there was a bright spot.  At Warner Brothers, audiences were handled in the parking garage and there were benches for us to sit on to preserve line order.  Doesn't sound like much, but it was actually a major improvement.

One of the guests last night was Ernie Moniz?  Back when he worked in the Obama White House, Dr. Moniz was a reviewer of the publication I helped prepare.  One of my colleagues was called over to the Old Executive Office Building -- specifically to explain purchasing power parities to him.  Just a memorable incident from my past.

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[daves...@gmail.com]

That's not the point.

Unless they're trying to bore the audience so much that anything will seem entertaining by the time tape rolls, there's no excuse for having the audience in place any earlier than 4:45 or 5:00.

I'll acknowledge that most of the audience in the Ed is comprised of hyenas who will laugh and applaud at anything and give standing ovations to even the most obscure actor in a CBS procedural, but the staff knows that 5:30 is go time and has been since at least 1993, so 90 minutes of sitting in a meat locker is a non-starter for me.

At this point, unless the guest is someone I really want to see -- and that assumes they'll actually be there and not appearing via a pre-tape, I'll be passing.

--Dave Sikula