BANG!...

If you don't watch The Big Bang Theory this post probably won't be very interesting to you. Sorry.

If you do watch the show, this is a long post. You've been warned. ; )

Moving on...


I LOVE The Big Bang Theory and recently went to a taping. And after sitting for 7 straight hours (yes, I get the irony) can I just say, "My butt hurts!" But (haha!) it was worth it! I loved watching how things are done. I was watching the action behind the scenes almost as much as I was watching the acting.

I never realized (not that I ever really thought about it) how many people are involved in taping a tv show. Between scenes, the set was swarmed with people. Scene setters, camera, script, prop, and makeup people. I'm sure I'm leaving out a few catagories.

And everyone was SO NICE! Traffic detail, security, Warner Bros. lot employees, the other participants. For example, we were running behind while walking (in my case, wheeling) to the soundstage and, when the line stopped, the people that we had been in front of told us to take our original place. It almost made me forget that this is L.A. : P

Since I use a wheelchair, I got to go in the back way to get to an elevator that took me to the seating area. It was like a backstage tour and mind-blowing how much stuff they have in storage.

We had to sit for about an hour while everyone was being seated. I was on the 'Guaranteed' list but there were a lot of people on standby. I'd hate to stand in line for hours and then be turned away.

One guy I talked to said he's been to over 70 BBT tapings. Considering the whole event takes 6-7 hours, I can't imagine investing that much of my life into it.

The Process...

First of all, after everyone was seated, they played the previous week's taped show for us, before any of you guys get to see it. : P That was pretty cool! In one scene, Penny reacts to something Sheldon says and it's probably one of the best scenes in the entire 6 year run. I'm not kidding.

The audience is immediately in front of Leonard and Sheldon's apartment. I couldn't see down Leonard and Sheldon's hallway, the elevator area or inside Penny apartment. I was able to see Leonand and Penny when they were standing at her door but I couldn't see inside.

There are 4 cameras filming different angles. Three are in front of the audience and one is near the butcher's block in the kitchen. I was surprised at the size of the apartment. It's smaller than it looks on tv.

The other sets (Bernadette's apartment, Howard's bedroom, etc.) are in other parts of the building, but monitors were set up so we could see all the action.

Between one scene, I watched 2 men talking. After, one came over to me and said, "He (the other guy) keeps calling me Chuck. He's been doing it for years. My name's actually John." See? Nice...and funny. : )

Speaking of between scenes, there was a comedian/magician to keep the audience busy while each scene was being set. I'm glad he was on the opposite side because he started to annoy me. lol! Right before a scene started, he'd say "Uh, huh" in this ridiculous voice and everyone laughed. I just thought to myself 'Wow, they're easily entertained'.

Character/Actor Observations...

I had heard that Sheldon (Jim Parsons) stays in charactor between scenes...and he does. I can see why he has to do it that way. It's gotta be tough to act totally opposite your personality, so he was very intense between scenes. Or maybe he's just a prima donna. ; ) But I've seen him on talk shows and he's very friendly/charming.

Leonard (Johnny Galecki) mostly paced around between scenes. At one point, he and Penny (Kaley Cuoco) came into the audience and he seemed...nervous? I don't think he's comfortable speaking in front of a crowd. Ironic, isn't it? At one point, he said, "I love you all...except for you" nodding at a guy with a mohawk.

During a later break, he came back and said to the guy, "I changed my mind. I love you too." Cute! I had to wonder whether he felt bad about what he'd said earlier.

Kaley was very friendly, talking to the audience. She and Johnny both complimented the crew behind the scenes. You could tell that they have a close relationship. They used to date, if you didn't know.

She snorted (in laughter) after a funny line and they had to do another take. Wouldn't you like to be able to laugh in the middle of a business meeting?

Amy (Mayim Bialik) was, in a word, AMAZING! She went from happy/excited to pissed off to sad in about a minute. And she had to do several takes. Sometimes they changed a line or wanted a different inflection. She was funny as hell too (as usual). I didn't see much of her between scenes though.

Raj (Kunal Nayyar) was my favorite. He waved to and joked with the audience between his scenes. He looked like he was having the most fun. And he had the funniest scene, bar none.

I didn't see Bernadette (Melissa Rauch), who had the funniest line, btw, or Howard (Simon Helberg) doing their scenes live. I think they do certain scenes ahead of time so the audience isn't waiting around, since we can't see them anyway.

But we did get to see Mrs. Wolowitz. That's all I'm going to say. ; )

I forgot to mention that, when they introduced the cast afterwards, Johnny Galecki (Leonard) got the biggest applause. I thought it would be Jim Parsons (Sheldon) because everyone I know says they like him better. But I like Leonard the best. He's cuuute!

That's about it. All in all, it was fun and I'm glad I got to go. But I wouldn't do it 70 times. No way, no how!

They didn't say when the episode would air but if you're interested, let me know in the comments and I'll e-mail you when it's coming up. Or maybe I'll just post it here. Hmm, decisions, decisions...