Photo with Anderson after the 3/26 taping of his talk show, AndersonLive
View from the VIP Seats
I was deeply saddened and surprised when I heard a man next to me saying “too bad this show is going to be cancelled soon.”
We were in the waiting room, getting ready for another live taping of AndersonLive, the talk show hosted by Anderson Cooper, famous CNN reporter. We had just waited outside the CBS studio for a while in the blistering cold, at 6:30 in the morning because we decided that getting the chance to see Anderson Cooper was worth it.
A woman with ebony black ringlets explained the agenda: “We have an exciting show in store for you today. Has anyone heard of ‘very grumpy cat?'” A loud oooohhh was produced from the large group. I turned to Steve, my friend, and we exchanged expressions of excitement. “Very Grumpy Cat is a Twitter sensation, with more than 100,000 followers and a number of memes that have gone viral. Today on the show, we are going to have the owners chat with us and bring out the cat.” Cheers from the audience. “Does anyone have any questions for the grumpy cat?” Steve sheepishly raised his hand, and she approached him. “I was wondering…what did the owners do to make it look like that?” She scribbled furiously onto her clip board and took Steve’s picture. And that was our ticket into the VIP seats, where we got to sit within 15 feet of Anderson.
We entered the studio–a super clean, wide open modern space that housed about 200 seats. The wooden floor was polished to perfection, not a single chair was a hairline out of place. A large camera at the tip of a crane-like structure stretched across the studio, whose footage was displayed on 8 plasma TVs around the area. We were directed to sit in the VIP couches up in the front, mainly because Steve thought of an interesting question. But we think it’s partially due to the fact that we were born to be on camera. (Kidding, relax)
Judge Marilyn Milian from the People’s Court was this episode’s co-host. They opened the show with video clips and images from Anderson’s crocodile dive.
Next, they brought in a guest couple who turned out to be victims in a money scam because someone had filed tax returns under their social security number. As a result, the IRS paid twice: once to the imposter, and once to the actual owner of the stolen social security number. However, the couple did not receive the money they were expecting until quite some time after they filed the tax returns. They explained to Anderson that because of this, they were not able to buy the swing set that their daughters had been expecting. To their surprise, Anderson announced that his show would install a 6,000 swing set into their back yard. How generous!
What we didn’t know was that there was a show within a show; meaning, Dena Blizzard’s incredible comedic skills made the commercial breaks just as fun as the show itself (if not more fun). When the cameras weren’t rolling, Blizzard picked out a few “fun-looking” individuals and invited them to face the audience and “show off” their dance skills. The best dancer would win an Anderson Live T-shirt.
The result? A cute, gay, swing-dancer guy in a vest sliding between a pudgy girl’s legs, an opera singer belting out a few glass-breaking notes, and a foxy old woman grinding with a sixteen year old from Denmark. It was quite an entertaining mix. They threw the shirt to the gay guy–he deserved it. During the next commercial break, my secret dream had come true. She picked out Steve, whom she called “Stripes” due to the shirt he was wearing. “You. Let’s go. You look fun.” He was paired up with a girl from Georgia. They did a ‘sexy’ dance, in hopes to win a shirt. “Come on Stripes! Give it to her!” My face was beet red, and so was his. We were all laughing so hard, and he pointed to me and said, “I can’t, my girlfriend is right there!” My stomach was burning because I laughed so hard, watching all these people dance.
Very Grumpy Cat was next on the agenda. The owners, Bryan and Tabatha Bundesen, a young couple brought little Tardar Sauce onto the set. The audience roared with laughter and applause—but who wouldn’t?—at the sight of what seemed to be a forever ‘grumpy’ kitten who looked like it weighed no more than 7 pounds. Cooper asked them how their pet had gone viral in such a short amount of time (she is only a couple of months old). Bundesen explained that he took a picture and posted it online. It was viewed and shared by a bunch of people and many memes were made out of it. “Why does she always look so grumpy?” Asked Cooper. The couple laughed: “She has always looked this way, ever since we got her.” Tardar Sauce has been featured in a recent Friskies commercial, making her even more famous. In person, Tardar Sauce looks SO much cuter. Every individual sitting in that room must have been so jealous at the sight of Anderson Cooper petting the fuzzy thing.
Julianne Moore, actress and children’s book author appeared during the final segment, which would air the following week. She promoted her new e-book, Freckle Face Strawberry and her original monster-making app that had been recently developed. The petite redhead entertained the audience with pictures of her children and stories of her own charming childhood. They used to call me Freckle Face Strawberry at school…I was so ashamed of my freckles.
The final guest appearance on the set was quite an unusual one, but nevertheless made a lasting impression: a sloth. Yes, Julianne Moore brought a sloth onto the set because she knew it was Anderson Cooper’s favorite animal. He didn’t hold back; they went over to cuddle with it and feed it. Bringing in the sluggish animal was an excellent way to end quite an energetic show.
“I’m surprised Anderson Cooper has his own talk show. Everyone knows him as the serious CNN reporter,” said a friend, after I gave her a re-cap of my adventure on the 22nd. And that’s why we love him–because this show let us see the whimsical side to the white-haired, iconic news reporter. It really is a shame that the show is being cancelled. Anderson Cooper is one of those people you would want to invite to your house to drink tea and have a funny conversation with. He’s so laid back and nice to everyone; he even willingly stays after the show to pose for photos with his fans.
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Here is how live tapings work: A talk show live taping is free and open to the public, but tickets are requested in advance–sometimes even a year in advance–by calling a phone number or visiting the website of the talk show. Then, if you’re lucky, tickets are sent to you, and you bring them to the studio. To find out more information, visit http://www.nycgo.com/articles/tv-show-tapings
