Thursday, October 3, 2013

One of the Best...

My birthday week has come and gone. I was actually sad to see it go this year. I can't recall a better birthday-- really! Who knew being 31 could be so fun?

We left early Monday morning, and made it to Hollywood by 11am. Neither of us had ever really been (besides a trip to universal studios a very long time ago). It was so so crowded! What we didn't know is there was a free Paul McCartney concert going on that night, (and Justin Timberlake the next) so needless to say we didn't do the sightseeing we expected. Not to mention, Hollywood isn't that exciting for people that don't get Starstruck. I, sadly, don't get very excited about celebrities. The industry is fascinating though!

We escaped the crazy Hollywood traffic, and headed to downtown Disney for lunch. Because of some tweeks to my work schedule, I had to be home earlier than I planned, so we decided against visiting Disneyland. It was a bit sad, but I can't just go for one day! We opted to go to our hotel, which was a really nice suite. We took a nap, watched TV, went swimming, ate pizza, talked, and went to sleep. It was a perfectly simple night

My birthday morning, we woke up early, and met some friends at Storytellers cafe. We ate yummy food, and I got a cute little Mickey cupcake! Matt was able to get us guaranteed tickets for The Big Bang Theory filming for that night, so we headed to Burbank, and walked around for awhile. The Standby line for the show was HUGE! We love the show, probably for the same reason everyone else does. It's nerdy, funny but mostly, it's smart. While Im not a movie-watcher, I like TV shows. Low commitment, funny, and if you miss an episode you're usually okay! I've liked The Big Bang Theory since it started. My aunt and uncle introduced us to it, and we've been hooked since.

We were in line, and once they saw tickets, we were ushered to the front of the line, which I, of course, felt guilty about (because that's how I roll) but Matt reminded me that it was my birthday, and it's okay to be excited. I have to be reminded, and had to be reminded again after only 23 of the at least 200 people in the standby line were admitted I the show. Crazy!

While we were walking to the studio, Matt was stopped twice by Warner Brothers employees because they thought he was Sean Hayes (Will and Grace, Sean Saves the World). He really does look like him-- it's uncanny! Once we got in, we were pretty amazed by the sets! They were so small compared to what they look like on TV. Again, as much as I don't get starstruck, I was really giddy about being behind the scenes! It's so interesting!

We were seated right in front of Sheldon and Leonard's apartment, where most of the scenes are filmed, which was nice! Before they started filming, they showed us the episode "The Scavenger Vortex" , which is on tonight! It hadn't been edited to fix sound, but it was really funny! Once it was over, they introduced the cast, then they started shooting.

The episode was called "The Workplace Proximity". Amy gets a job at Sheldon's university, and Sheldon decides he doesn't want her to work there. It's pretty funny! What was interesting is that they tweaked jokes around-- actually rewrote them right there if we, as the audience, weren't responding as well as they wanted. That was a cool process to watch! Especially because we don't know which jokes they kept or tossed, so watching the episode will be interesting! They shot each scene at least twice. Jim Parsons had a ton of lines, and fumbled far more than anyone else. However, he was really serious, and apologetic to his fellow cast mates. He had just won an Emmy-- maybe all that partying took its toll!

Mark Sweet (famous hypnotist, comedian) was our warm-up guy.. He was quite funny, but the audience participation was too much for me. It was loud, and my head was killing me because of it! I didn't need to be entertained, I was already being entertained! Everything they did in set was so precise. They make it seem perfectly unrehearsed, but it's truly a well-oiled machine.

Filming lasted a little over two hours, with a food break in between. They fed us pizza and water, which was good considering we hadn't eating in quite some time! We got out a little after 9, then drove the 5 hours home. We're so glad we or away-- even for a night!  It was truly a great Birthday!

1 comment:

Erin said...

What a great day for you! Sounds like a great way to welcome 31!! :)