Have you met any celebrities?

[fuzzygobo]

The one show that had an even longer waiting list was Rosie O’Donnell. Her show only ran a few years, but there was no shortage of people wanting to be in the audience. Why? Rosie used to give away all this free stuff. There would be three hundred in the audience, and she’d give them all passes to Disney World.
Oprah did stuff like that too. One time everyone got a new car.

The only show I was in the audience for was David Letterman. January 2014. Tickets were relatively easy to get. A year or so later, when he announced his retirement, tickets became impossible to get.
The taping of the show lasts about two hours, which will get edited down to 50 minutes that night.
The show came on 11:30 at night, but taped at 4 in the afternoon.
About 3 we lined up outside the theatre, then they usher you in. The bottom part of the audience gets filled up first, then the rest of us go to the balcony. I was in the front row of the balcony, and right underneath me was where Paul Schaeffer and the band played.
As @ D’ Snowth knows, tv studios are TINY. It looks big on screen, but it’s actually the size of my living room.
There’s a thousand lights in the ceiling.
They keep the studio cold because the lights give off so much heat.
The band warmed up with a few songs, then they started the taping. David’s guest that night was Kevin Hart and this band called the Orleans (they SUCKED!!)
During the opening scenes, there were a couple shots of the balcony, so I got 1.84537289 nanoseconds of screen time. It was still a great time. The taping was over at 6 my wife and I had a nice dinner somewhere, then came home to see the show that night. It was tremendous.

 

[datman24]

I've been lucky enough to watch a taping of Jeopardy, however, this was around the time when Alex Trebek broke his leg after chasing down that robber, so he did not get too close to us. There was this one security lady in front of the audience to keep us quiet, but she had this demeanor that if you so peep one word during taping (even if it's extremely quiet), she is not going to have it (and understandably so).

 

[mariolover]

I'm surprised you even liked Ellen to begin with; most people like you hate her simply because she's gay.

Told you guys I didn’t hate gay people but you wouldn’t believe me.

 

[fragglevision]

since my last post in the thread, I should add some things.

• I've worked for multiple concerts in the area including Aqua, Whigfield, Prozzak, The Color, For King and Country, Bryan Adams, Boney M, Blue Rodeo, Tanya Tucker, Johnny Reid, and several figure skating concerts, one of which featured Birds of Bellwoods. I also worked concessions when Obama did this Q&A here last year, but we were all ordered to leave before the opening acts were finished.
• I've also actually seen a few acts I like in the fleeting moments they stopped by for concerts and festivals. These include Fortunate Ones, Jeremy Dutcher, Alex Cuba, City and Colour, The Dandelion Few, Kaia Kater, The Weather Station, The Jerry Cans and Tim Baker. Never actually met any of them up close, but Kaia actually passed by me at the Newfoundland Folk Festival, while I was waiting for a songwriters' circle she was in.

I've tried and failed to get people to take me to see certain people in the U.S. only to be faced over and over and over again with rejection. At the moment, my bucket list in terms of seeing my favorite artists live is:

• John C. Reilly (he sings folk music and he is amazing)
• Watkins Family Hour (have seen them and John in a livestream, but it was only a livestream - I want to see them up close and not just on a flickering screen that makes me unable to sleep the next night)
• Courtney Barnett
• Milk Carton Kids
• Andrew Bird
• Norah Jones
• Maggie Rogers
• Bon Iver
• Jenny Lewis
• Twenty One Pilots
• Joji
• Sufjan Stevens
• Aurora
• Iron and Wine
• Best Coast

But one of the downsides to living in Newfoundland is that none of those artists may ever come here, not even after quarantine ends, because it's too expensive apparently.

In terms of non-musical celebrities, I met some great female filmmakers at the St. John's Women's Film Festival panels I attended and got their autographs. I also met, among others, Jennifer Robertson from Schitt's Creek at the same event.

 

[fuzzygobo]

I've been lucky enough to watch a taping of Jeopardy, however, this was around the time when Alex Trebek broke his leg after chasing down that robber, so he did not get too close to us. There was this one security lady in front of the audience to keep us quiet, but she had this demeanor that if you so peep one word during taping (even if it's extremely quiet), she is not going to have it (and understandably so).

I love the big contrast between Jeopardy and The Price Is Right.
On Jeopardy, you might win $100,000 in the Tournament of Champions, you smile and give yourself a little golf clap.

On the Price Is Right, you win an oven mitt, your eyes bug out and you roll around on the floor.
Even if you don’t win anything, you get to shake hands with Drew Carey.

 

[mariolover]

As far as Jeopardy goes, (this was in the pre-Covid days), they have regional tryouts. You and maybe a thousand other people play a few rounds, seeing how fast you can buzz in. If you do well, you get put on a waiting list (my wife made it on. It was at least a year) then you might get called. They’ll pay your air fare, but booking a hotel is up to you.
I haven’t watched Jeopardy in a while, but last time I checked Alex Trebek was going to step down, due to his health and his age.

I feel bad for Alex that he has cancer. I hope he's okay.