Have you ever been to a live taping of a television show? If so, what don't viewers see?

Question

Have you ever been to a live taping of a television show? If so, what don't viewers see?

Answer 1

I went and saw Usher live on the Good Morning America show and what you don't see at home are all the 'hype men' ... guys who walk around and tell the crowd when to get excited...it worked too, I got major airtime! LOL  

Answer 2

I have made several TV appearances, mainly in political talk shows. Viewers don't see:

The wire running up through my clothes connected to the microphone clipped to my clothing.  The wire goes out to join a bunch of other wires connected to audio switchboards and finally back into a control room. The control room has a large glass window so the show director can look into the studio but we won't hear him giving orders to the technicians operating the switching console and the cameras.

The cameras each have a light on top that illuminates when the camera is "live".  As a TV talent, we have to be aware of which camera is live and turn our head to look directly into its lens as we talk. That way, the viewer thinks we are making eye contact.  Remember, LOOK INTO THE LENS.

A floor director has a clipboard on which he writes the names of callers and which line they are on.  That way, we can address callers by name.  If we do not notice which camera is live, he is quick to point his finger at it so we will address it properly.

The cameras move around out there to change up their shots.  We have to ignore all that and keep our mind on the discussion - and quickly pick out the live camera to talk to.

The audience normally does not notice the makeup we wear, sometimes just a little powder to reduce the shine on our skin from the bright lights.  And those lights are bright, sometimes making it hard to see which camera is live.

There is a large clock that lets us know how long we have left for the show.  Also, when we reach five minutes, the floor director starts giving us hand signals.  When we reach the last 30 seconds, he uses his hands to give us a final countdown to when we are "out".  And we don't look directly at him - must maintain eye contact with the lens of the live camera.

There is also a TV monitor that we can see so we know how we look. It is VERY important to NOT watch ourselves on TV.  Sometimes we turn off this monitor when a guest cannot stop looking at it.

And when the show is over, two guys arguing politics like they wanted to punch each other's lights out will stand up, unhook their microphones, shake hands and be good buddies.

I made a point of doing that before the "out" signal on my last show, letting the audience know that despite our furious disagreements we were still civil, mature people and respected each other.  That was satisfying.

Answer 3

i went to a live taping of so you think you can dance. and theres nothing much you dont see.

well i went to the elimination taping so it wasnt as eventful, it was a whole day thing. they did some taping in the morning, they taped this one dance from many different angles, and then they did the live portion in the afternoon. the viewers dont see the cameras, dont hear the the stage manager telling everyone waht to do  ( "everyone, start clapping in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1) you dont get a feel of the set. usually the camera makes everything look bigger than it is.

ohh and they redo hair and makeup every comercial

Answer 4

Yeah I went to see Gladiators (UK) when I was younger.

They actually rehearse all the stuff on it. I thought Wolf was just a natural winner. Turns out it was scripted :'(