On The Creation Of Fluff

I was recently included in a group to go (courtesy of my mother-in-law) to some recent tapings of the game show “Wheel of Fortune”, which was in NYC to celebrate it’s 25th year on the air.

The festivities were taking place at the historic Radio City Theater and we were told to arrive by 12 pm for the start of their 3 show taping, scheduled to begin at 2:00 pm.

Arrive we did, to one of 2 lines that stretched from 6th Ave to 5th Ave. on either side of the theater. Fortunately the people who were around us were pleasant and in a good mood for the wait. There was nearby seating that allowed for those of a “certain age” to leave the line and made those of us who remained to be line holders.

I soon found out that I was a novice compared to some of those who stayed on line with me.

Scattered up and down the lines were representatives of the show who were there to answer questions and to start the process of getting us in the “good audience” mind-set. We were told how lucky we were, in that these were to be “celebrity” show tapings – with celebrities that, for the most part, I had never heard of.

Some on the line began to share their previous experiences on the “show taping” orbit of life. A lady next to me told of how she had planned her outfit so as to be highly noticeable on TV – she went with day-glow lime & pink on a basic black foundation. A gentleman behind me shared his “Jeopardy” in NYC adventure with all of us, allowing us to know how he actually talked to Alex Trebek, and did we know that Alex was Canadian.

Thankfully, the line began to move and in we went.

As we went through the doors a gentleman from the show stopped the line at our point and counted out 42 people and marched our group up to the left side front of the stage. We felt soooooooooo lucky – until we sat down and realized that we were behind the camera and a desk that were on the stage. We could see the contestants, the wheel & Pat Sajak, but not Vanna. The only time we saw her was when they walked out at the beginning of the show and during the breaks. Thankfully we had a wide screen TV to see all the “action” on the wall to our left.

What truly amazed me about all of this is, given all the breaks, how little of an actual show there is. No sooner did it feel like the show was running smoothly then they were saying goodbye.

We made the decision that after taking 1 hour and 10 minutes to tape a thirty-minute program, our time would be better spent doing anything else and we left.

I know Vanna was crushed by this and that Pat’s ego may have taken a hit, but really – these two work 45 days a year – my hands were hurting from all the clapping and the woman sitting in front of us was getting on my nerves by regaling us with stories of her other career (by day she is a 3rd grade teacher in NJ) as a seat filler and who she has met over the years.

I’ll never go to one of these again.