We had to be there quite early and as it is all the way over by Columbus Circle in the city we had to meet at the Path station here at 6:00am and if you know me at all you know I am NOT a morning person. I was up at 4:30am to start getting ready because I couldn't decide what to wear and I have to have a coffee in the morning and just wake up before I got out the door. I met Tanya at 6:00am and we were on our way. Once we arrived in the city and took the subway as far as we could we had to walk about 8 blocks which in the city is short blocks. Thankfully we had priority tickets because waiting outside while it was 9 degrees was MISERABLE, but we didn't have to wait long. It was actually quite nice that while waiting in line they brought a food truck and everything was free! We didn't indulge as we didn't want to get out of line and couldn't take anything inside with us.
While waiting in line they opened up a booth with all kinds of souvenirs, shirts, mugs and all that good stuff. I naturally had to get a coffee mug, especially after the gentlemen selling them came out and made a big deal about having the same mug as Michael or Kelly.. I got the same one as Michael Strahan, naturally.
We waited quite a bit from the time we got there until the time we went in to where we would be sitting but once we were inside it really seemed to fly by. When we went in we could pretty much sit anywhere but naturally the first and second two was taken so we decided to go to the second level center so we would be directly above them!
The set was a lot different then I thought, smaller I guess. There were people bustling around setting things up and getting things organized but it looked quite small, yet obviously exciting.
Also for any of you who thought it was actually a window behind them with a view of the city, its not.
It takes an army. As you can see we were above some of the lights which actually turned out to be fine, I didn't find them to be in the way at all. Plus after being outside in the freezing cold and the fact that they keep the studio temperature set to 60 it was nice to have as much heat from all the lights that we could.
Because we were in the front row of the top level we all had a beach ball under our chair to throw during the trivia part of the show. As you can see they ask that you not hit Michael or Kelly with the ball. Funny story though, the guy sitting next to Tanya threw his cell phone when he through the ball. HA! Thankfully no one was hurt!
If you watch the show you know that after they call someone with the trivia question they pick a number after for an audience member to receive a prize as well. The seats are not numbered as you would have expected, they just hand out numbers to you.
They danced their way out, sit down and chat about the news.
Not a good picture but Michael was waving to me so I had to post it! HA! During the commercial break they walk around and talk to the audience, they sign things (mostly Michael, Giants fans) and take pictures with audience members. They are so friendly and hilarious, I really enjoyed the commercial breaks just as much as the actual show.
Prior to going we knew the guests were going to be Hugh Grant and Terrance Howard, I was honestly excited to find out who the people were going to be, but the fact that these people weren't on the top of my must see list didn't really matter because I was just excited to be going. However the day before we went Julian Edelmen was on the show, I would have died to see him.
This was too good, Kelly is HILARIOUS! She went up to this girl asking to touch her hair and while doing so she kept saying "Your hair give me life!" then she said "If this show wasn't so rigid I would have WAY better hair!" hilarious!
The next guest was Terrance Howard, not going to lie I don't think much of this guy but again I was just happy to be there. He came on saying that his newest role almost didn't happen on account that he went into the role at 250lbs and that is just not what they envisioned for the role. His cast mates decided to help him and whenever they weren't filming they were doing push ups, so he challenged Michael and Kelly saying he knew he could do at least 70!
He didn't do anywhere close to 70 and was the first to give up, Kelly won. She said and I quote "I WOULD DIE BEFORE I WOULD LOSE!" seriously she is absolutely HILARIOUS!
Regardless of who won the challenge followed by Michael unzipping his pants.. WINNING! When everyone started wooting and hollering he very suddenly turned around and laughed claiming he forgot where he was for a second. No problem Mike, no problem at all!
A Women in the audience brought a bunch of footballs for Strahan to sign which he graciously did. The guy behind us called to him the entire show wanting him to sign his jersey that he brought. Finally he saw him and the guy through the jersey down, Michael signed it and through it up but it got stuck in the lights, he laughed and said "I never said I was a quarter back!" HA!
At this point the show was basically over and they asked up to stick around while the hosts changed. We weren't really sure what was going to happen, a Q&A or what. Turns out they changed their clothes and came back on to film the first segment of Friday's show as well as an interview with another celebrity. We were really excited as this game us more time, another chance to win the prize from the trivia question and we were excited to find out who the other celebrity was going to be. The beginning of the show was hilarious, I hope you caught it on Friday, it was the Valentine's Day show!
Ok so get this.. they play trivia again, and the guy sitting beside Tanya won!!! We almost died!! First of all Tanya almost sat there, second of all it was a whole kitchens worth of Cuisinart appliances. DAMN! None the less it was a great time!
They finally announced who the next celebrity was going to be, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Honestly guys I absolutely hate Nascar and I could have cared less to see that guy but he actually turned out to be pretty interesting. Not to mention it was great to see more filming!
The whole experience was absolutely fantastic, we had such a great time! A live taping is obviously WAY better than watching it on TV, and both Kelly and Michael are FABULOUS!!! After the show we picked up our purchases and headed out! I bought the same mug Michael uses everyday on the show and I couldn't love it anymore!
After the show Tanya and walked across the street to MAC Cosmetics and then hit up PJ Clarke's for lunch. When we lived in New York before Tanya and I frequented PJ Clarke's, it was absolutely amazing and since being back I have not been but have always wanted to. When we came out and it was right there we decided to stop, we were starving! First let me just tell you that Buddy Holly proposed to his fiance at PJ Clarke's, just a little fun fact for you! Either way the menu had completely changed and they wanted $18.00 for a freakin' hamburger that didn't even come with a side! I almost died. None the less it was still good even though over priced!
Tanya and I made our way through the city and back home, it was seriously an awesome day and a fantastic experience! If you don't already watch the show I highly recommend starting your day with it, and if you happen to be in the city try and get in for a taping of a show, all the tickets are free you just have to be able to get them!
If you have a minute click HERE and pop on over to Prairie Girl in the Big, Scary World and check out Tanya's post on our day as well!
Looks like you had an amazing time! I have always loved Kelly. She (and her real life husband) were both on the soap I watched years ago.
ReplyDeleteKelly is hilarious in person Cathy, the show was absolutely fantastic! We would love to be able to go back but I'm not sure if that's possible! Her husband is real life is quite a looker!
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