August 21, 2004: Beverly Hills
We left Detroit around 9 a.m. and took Spirit Airlines straight through to Los Angeles. Our cousin Carol was there to pick us up. She got a different car. It is a 2002 Cadillac. It has black leather seats, on-star, Bose sound system, etc. I think we are going to ride in style in Beverly Hills. She told us that on the registration for the car, that it used to be owned by a talent agency. I can't remember the name, but I thought that was pretty interesting.
From the airport, we asked Carol if she had any plans for today and she didn't, so we drove into West Hollywood and stopped at the pet boutique, Fife & Romeo's. The owner had this neat African hat on and had his little white dog, Cookie Monster, dressed in this cute shirt and the hair was colored pink. He used food coloring on the dog's head to get the color. It was so cute. The dog was adorable. It made me miss Maggie. Then, a customer came in with her little dog and the dogs were yapping at each other. This pet boutique is frequented by the top stars. He told us 'what hollywood star hasn't been here'. Paris Hilton buys her dog things at this store all the time. You have to ring a door bell and he will open it for you. That is for security, but also as a service to the famous people who may want a private showing. He said he has only 1 store in the United States but about 5 in Japan, as they aren't so competitive as they are here.
After that store, we went to Sunset Boulevard as I wanted to stop at this store "On Sunset" that is owned by one of my soap stars, Lauralee Bell, from the "Young and the Restless". She is joint partners with another gal, who was in the store. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see the actress. That would have been fun to see her. Anyway, the clerk, Maria, was showing me the new trends for this year and tried on this vintage looking necklace on me. It was $195. Nothing in the store was affordable for me, but it was fun to browse.
Then, we went to the Beverly Hills Hotel which is also on Sunset Boulevard. We had to valet park. We ate at the famous Polo Lounge. We had soup as we weren't real hungry. Plus, the prices were high for lunch. We didn't get very good service, though. We think that they weren't good to us as we didn't look like a movie star or something. They didn't give us a knife for our butter, didn't ask how the food was, etc. We never experienced that before, as we were always treated like queens on the cruise ships and the restaurants in Europe, but I guess things are different here.
We went to Rodeo Drive and I finally got to walk the road. It was great to browse the shops. I would like to get a Louis Vitton purse, but one of the imitation ones for $50. The real ones are about $500 or more. I will save my money for the imitation one.
Carol and Eddy live out in Pasadena which is so charming. There are alot of trees and flowers there, whereas, there are mainly just buildings in Los Angeles with not alot of trees.
August 22, 2004: Mann's Chinese Theater/Cemeteries/Madre's Restaurant
Well, we had another early morning. We drove to Hollywood in about 30 minutes from Pasadena to go to the Mann's Chinese Theater. From there, we took a tour through Starline Tours that went to two cemeteries, Hollywood Cemetery and Westwood Cemetery to see where some old movie stars are buried. Then, we took a tour of some of the stars homes in Beverly Hills and Bel Air. We did get to see Aaron Spelling's mansion which has 123 rooms. It is well hidden behind the trees, though. It is supposed to be the largest home here.
Then, we took at VIP tour behind Graumann's theater. You can pay $20 to see a movie there where you have a special VIP lounge and are served food, waited on hand and foot, and get a special room to watch the movie. That is where the stars go when they have a premiere. They sit in a special room upstairs and the audience sits below, so that they can see the reactions from the audience to their movie.
We drove home and got ready for my 30th birthday dinner which was at Jennifer Lopez's restaurant, Madre's, in Pasadena. It was a gorgeous restaurant with about 11 chandeliers in the main dining room. Jennifer chose every decoration for the restaurant. It served Cuban food. I got seranaded by the band. They played some Puerto Rican/Cuban music which was fun to listen to. It surely was a wonderful meal and something I will never forget as my 30th birthday dinner.
August 23, 2004: Caramia Justian's Condo in Manhatten Beach
Today was a relaxing day for us. We slept in until around 9, had breakfast, and then got to drive Eddy's 198? Mercedes to the local mall. The mall was very nice. The weather here is perfect. I would love to have that year round. Traffic is quite heavy in Los Angeles. I guess if I had alot of money, then it would be a nice place to live. But, I think I would live in Pasadena or the Arcadia area if I had alot of money as it is a charming community. Los Angeles itself is just a bunch of buildings without too many trees.
In the afternoon, Carol drove us to Manhattan Beach to meet with Caramia Justian, who is the granddaughter of my grandpa's girlfriend, Beulah. We got to see her condo, chat with her daughters, and then she took us on a tour of Manhattan Beach. We walked out to the pier. She also showed us her kiosk in the mall where she sells different gift items. She said it costs about $1800 a month to rent the kiosk. She said she has put alot of money out for the merchandise and not sure if she will continue with that business once January rolls around. She had some beautiful things there.
Then, we came back to Caramia's place and she had made us a roast. It was a wonderful evening.
August 24, 2004: 30th Birthday
Today was my 30th birthday. We got up quite early to drive down to CBS Studios to be in the audience at the Price Is Right. I was so excited because it has always been a dream of mine to see the show in person. This is the 2nd time I have tried to go. The first time I had tickets that my relatives gave me, but wasn't able to go as I couldn't get enough time off of work.
We got to the studio a little after 7 a.m. and they gave us these orange numbered tickets. Then, we had to sit on these benches until 9 a.m. Then, we had to be in numerical order and they went down the line and put a number on your actual ticket. If you didn't get a number, then they put an 'SB' on your ticket for stand by. Well, I was the 50th stand by ticket. There were a ton of people there in line when we got there after 7. We were told to be there at 8, but I didn't realize that many people were there at 5 a.m. waiting. There were even some that camped out the night before.
So, we went to the Farmer's Market and browsed around as we had to come back at 11 a.m. to see how many stand by people could get in the show. If you have a group of 20 or more, then you are guaranteed a seat and they had 3 tour groups coming today, so if they didn't show up, then the stand bys would be chosen. It is a lengthly process to just get into the audience. They only have 325 seats available. What they do is send tickets out to practically everyone in the mail, so there is no guarantee.
We came back at 11 and waited some more. There is one lady who wrote people's names on their nametags, so we had to wait for that before they even got to the standby people. So the standbys got number and only the first 38 people made it. Needless to say, I was quite bummed as I had planned for so many months to go to the show, got the t-shirt made, and was quite excited. Not to mention, I wanted to be on it on my 30th birthday. It may sound dumb, but I was quite upset over it.
Carol and Eddy knew how much I wanted to see it and are offering to drive my mom and I back to CBS early tomorrow morning to try and be in the audience again. Carol and Eddy have been so wonderful to us! They even had a nice birthday cake for me today and made their famous shrimp that we were told was so wonderful.
For dinner, we went to a chinese restaurant. On the way home, we had fun popping our head out the sunroof window. It was fun letting the wind go through our hair. I had seen the daughter on National Lampoons Vegas vacation do that out of a limo window, so we did that.
Even though I was quite disappointed with the process that the "Price Is Right" goes through to just be an audience member, I did have a great birthday with my mom, Carol, and Eddy. They are always so good to us.
So, I have to get to bed now as we are going to get up really early in the morning and try this again. Most people wouldn't even think of trying it again, but there is just something in me that wants to see this taping. After that, I won't ever go to the Price Is Right again, as it is such a hassle and you waste most of your day there. I have never had that experience at another taping of a show.
I am happy to announce that we did make it on the Price Is Right after a long day of waiting.
August 25, 2004: "Price Is Right"Show Experience
Carol dropped us off outside of CBS studios at 5:30 a.m. That's right, it was that early in the morning. The gates at CBS don't open until 6:30 a.m. When we got in, they gave us an arrival ticket. We were number 130 and 131 this time, so we were in good shape.
At 8 a.m., then they had us line up in numerical order of arrival numbers and then wrote a number on our actual ticket. At that time, we were free to leave the CBS studios for 2 hours. So, mom and I went walking around the Farmers Market and the Grove. Then, we had a bagel across Fairfax Ave which was quite good.
At 10 a.m., we came back as we had to be lined up in numerical order to have them check our photo ID and social security cards. Around 11 a.m., we finally got our price tag name tags. That meant we were going to be in the audience.
We got to know the kid who sat next to us. His name was Christopher and he was from Cleveland, OH. HE had quit college and come out to California to go to school. His sister lives out in Long Beach, but he didn't like that area. Then, the 4 ladies next to us were Mexican and go on a vacation together once a year as a reunion. One lady, Carmen, was from Cancun. She was born in Texas, though. The other sisters were from Dallas, Houston, and San Diego.
At around 1 p.m., we had our mini interview for the contestants. When I told them where I worked, they got a kick out of it.
Finally, it was 2 p.m. and we were escorted into the studio. I guess the soap operas are taped right upstairs from the Price Is Right.
We got seats around 6 rows from the front and in the middle. I am seated behind a guy in a service uniform. The set was much smaller than how you see it on TV. That isn't a surprise to me, as I have seen talk shows like Oprah, Jenny Jones, and Jerry Springer and those sets are small.
All of the games and the wheel are on rollers and they just roll them out. Finally, Bob Barker came out and everyone cheered. He is sure looking skinny and looks like he is about to keel over. The models looked like a size 0. I know that TV adds 10 pounds which I think they need. lol
The taping got done at 4:30, so that means we spent 11 hours at the Price Is Right. Isn't that ridiculous? Well, I fulfilled another one of my dreams so that is all that matters.
August 26, 2004: Wheel Of Fortune Taping
Today we went to Culver City to Sony Studios to see a taping of "Wheel of Fortune". Sony is sure a huge place. We were quite impressed with how the Wheel of Fortune was run. We didn't have to spend hours in line to be in the audience. The show was shown on stage 11 which was next to where Jeopardy is also taped.
Wheel of Fortune tapes 6 shows in 1 day. We were there for 3 of the shows and then there is an afternoon group that sits in for 3 more shows. I think I would love a work schedule like that. Wheel of Fortune only tapes for 33 days out of the year. Then, the Wheel of Fortune will be on the road in 3 different cities (3 weeks at a time).
It was interesting to learn that the contestants stand on adjustable podiums. That way each person is the same height and it is easier for the cameras to tape that way. Vanna White was very pretty in person. Both Vanna and Pat seemed short to me. The set was also smaller than how you see it on TV.
I found out that the puzzles are decided on by writers, Vanna, Pat, etc. They will spend days writing down possible puzzles for the show.
What was nice about this show is that they raffled out tshirts/hats/bags to audience members during the commercial. We got to meet Vanna's daughter, too.
After the taping, we went on a Studio Tour of Sony. Sony bought out MGM studios. It was interesting to learn that the studios will rent out stages for productions. This gives them additional income.
We saw some real trophies won at the Academy Awards for some movies that won them. They are pretty impressive.
One of the buildings at Sony has been used for several shows. This building is where we saw the Academy Award trophies.
We got to be on the set of "Joan of Arcadia". It was interesting to see the police station, the bookstore where Joan works, and the high school. The actors are told to bring pictures of themselves to use as props on the set.
For a 1 hour show, it takes 8 days to tape. Actors spend about 12 hours a day rehearsing.
Sometimes, they will tape an actress talking to a puppet instead of an actual person. They have ways of just taping the face of the actress. So, they have to be really good at acting. The scenes aren't taped in order. They are constantly taking polaroids of the sets or the actress to be sure that if they tape a scene one day and continue the next day, that the actor's hair is parted in the same place or that a prop is in the same place.
We found out that the character, Ralphie, from the movie "A Christmas Story" is now grown up and is a director for a film coming out in the next year.
We also found out that sometimes an actress will walk up stairs as if they are going to the 2nd floor but there really isn't a second floor. There are all kinds of tricks that are done in film making.
August 27, 2004: Botanical Gardens in Pasadena/Taping of '8 Simple Rules'
Eddy dropped us off at the Los Angeles botanical gardens and we wandered around there for 3 hours. It is sure a beautiful place. We got to see the house where "Fantasy Island" was filmed. It is the part where the short guy says 'Da Plane, Da Plane". Then, I also saw some parts of where "Wonder Woman" was filmed.
There was a gorgeous Victorian house there, too.
At around 2:30, Eddy and Carol took us to this famous burger joint in California called 'In and Out'Burgers". The fries are not frozen, but made from actual potatoes peeled each day and done in 100% cholesterol free vegetable oil. It was very good.
Then, we drove to Burbank and went to a taping of "8 Simple Rules". The big stars in the show are: Katy Segal, James Garner, and David Spade.
Found out that they rehearse for many hours during the week and tape the show on Friday nights. Some portions of the show are pre-recorded during the week and then the audience that comes on Fridays will watch that clip and laugh. That is how they add the laughing into the clip.
It was neat to see a live taping of the show. I think it will be the 3rd episode for this season.
They have to make sure that the show is no more or less than 21 1/2 minutes long. So, sometimes, they have to tape a clip 3 or 4 times until it is right.
The set is small in person and in the middle is the living room set. To the left, was the kitchen set, followed by the nurse's office set, and school lockers set. To the right of the living room was the front of the house set, then next to that was the girl's bedroom set.
Katy Sagal's 10 year old daughter was in the audience. She said she wants to go into acting, too.
They have quite a few crew people working on this show. Found out that each of the cameras used for filming cost around $105, 000. No wonder why it is so expensive to produce a show.
Again, this is an ABC sitcom, but it is filmed at Disney Studios in Burbank. Many of the shows are not necessarily filmed at the networks studio. The networks will often rent a stage at a studio.
It was neat to meet the actors/actresses and see how it is all done.
Tomorrow, we may drive down to Manhattan beach to visit my grandpa's girlfriend's condo. She went with us on the cruise a few months ago.
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