Why Are Live TV Audiences Abused?
Attending a late night talk show or any other taping of a television show can be a thrill. Unfortunately, from my experiences, the people in charge seem to think that our thrill is so great that they can treat us like animals and we won't mind.
I had recently found out how get tickets to see Jimmy Fallon practice his monologue a few hours before he tapes Late Night with Jimmy Fallon each day. Thinking it would be fun since we are all fans, my family and I walked over to 30 Rock and got tickets.
We were told to go to the mezzanine at 3pm. Not wanting to be late we got there by 2:50. We waited on line in a very hot hallway, with all our winter garments, until about 3:20. Finally we went through the metal detectors and then up to the floor of Jimmy's studio. Then things went from bad to worse.
There were about 50 of us in all and we were ushered into a small room about the size of a walk-in closet with no ventilation and bright lights overhead. Now we were literally melting. Granted we were only supposed to be here for a few minutes while one of the writers filled us in on what to expect. However, Jimmy's rehearsal went long and we were in this torture chamber for at least 20 minutes.
Even if this doesn't happen often, there were things that could have been done to make us more comfortable. A few times the door that led into the studio opened and we felt a blast of cold air. We pleaded for the door to be left open to no avail.
Finally, we got into the theater, and seeing both the studio and Jimmy Fallon was great. But it was all over in just 10 minutes (remember, this was just a monologue rehearsal). Was it worth it. NO WAY!
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