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| Megz Taping |
| - Summary by Megz ([email protected]) - Visit Megz Site to see where this came from (http://www.geocities.com/tvrulesall/livetaping.html) |
| Friends Taping February 16, 2001 We arrived at 6am on the cold hard pavement and waited in line until 2:30pm. We were of course, the first people in line. We almost didn't get in! Which was because of all the Guests Of The Cast. We were the only ones who got in from all the ticket holders! I was in tears when we were turned away, but due to some kind people at Audiences Unlimited, we were let in. We saw the episode "TOW Rachel's Big Kiss" and a scene used in "TOW Joey's Award". The whole cast minus David Schwimmer was present. Now, because my head was spinning from the lack of sleep, and the pure joy I was feeling. I remembered pieces slowly bit by bit after I got home and after the episode aired. Here's some of what I wrote to my close friends the week after the taping [some scenes we saw are left out, because I forgot them back then]: We had slept the night before for maybe a total of 4 or 5 minutes. My dad and I picked up the girls and we arrived at Warner Bros. Studios. The cool security guard told us we were insane for being there at 6am, so we went and got some food and returned, at about 7am. We sat on the sidewalk (and got some strange looks), we were cold. First in line, we sat across the street from the studio, but we never got bored, not once. At 7:30am a trio of nice ladies from Wales joined the line. They were really pleasant. At one point we saw a crazy man peering over the gates to Warner Bros. Studios. It was quite scary. We went for little walks around the area, and even used a washroom which we believed to be at Matthew Perry's tennis club. At 12:30pm a nice lady from Audiences Unlimited came over and took down our number (1-6) and she looked at our tickets. By this time there must have been 200 people behind us! People who drove by did everything from wave, to honk, to yell 'woohoo', to almost cause crashes staring at us. I think at 2pm (I was too confused) we went through the security gates and stood in the 'holding area' (we felt like cattle). It was preeetty cool to be known as the girls in the front of the long line. We watched commercials for WB shows (all of which I knew, loved, and scared people by getting too excited over), we went to the washrooms again and talked to some cool people from Audiences Unlimited. Then, James Michael Tyler (Gunther) pulled up in a cute car and got out, he smiled at us and walked by. They then let in the VIPs. They told our line that only a few of the 200 people would get in. They told everyone except the first 25 people to leave. (People were mad, some people cried, some threw stuff, some shrugged and walked away). Then, after a long wait, they told us none of us were getting in. Try being an obsessed fan who has been in line for over 9 hours and told she was getting turned away. I could have acted like the mature fifteen year old I was, I could have remained composed and shrugged it off. But, no, I burst into tears. The Audiences Unlimited folks said they hadn't seen such fans in quite some time, they really felt sorry for us. It was going to be a shorter taping because David Schwimmer wasn't there. Everyone else left, except us. A group of determined gals we were. The nice ladies from Wales left, and we truly felt sorry for them. We were just about to leave when the guy, who had been talking on his radio, told us to wait. The main lady who had dealt with us before came back and told us she managed to get us seats. We freaked out. More crying. We got to pass by the ER and Gilmore Girls sets (which I later visited anyway). Inside, we sat in the middle and had a brilliant view of Monica and Chandler's as well as Central Perk. The taping had begun, and filmed a couple of takes of once scene. We could just barely see into Joey and Rachel's apartment. First, we saw Matt LeBlanc and Lisa Kudrow walk out, they looked so happy and joyful. The warm up guy was fun, but we didn't pay any attention to him or any prizes he gave out, we were too busy taking it all in. One of the scenes we saw was when Joey and Phoebe play their version of chess. Jennifer Aniston was laughing a lot backstage and it was funny to watch her waiting to enter on the other side of the door. Matt LeBlanc messed up A LOT. He felt so bad when he'd mess up. He'd apologize to all the actors and directors. The audience, us, was laughing so hard at one point it messed him up, he said something to the effect of, jokingly, "Would you guys shut up?" In between takes, Matthew Perry was walking around, followed by make up artists and hair stylists. He smiled a lot to the audience and talked to the other directors a lot. When Courtney Cox came out, she sat at the kitchen table and read over stuff. Also, another scene we saw was where Monica was mad about Joey inviting his parents to her wedding. Joey called it a 'show' and said it a few different ways. When he did the 'ministainer' thing, he messed up a few times and the audience loved it. They constantly re-wrote lines and added stuff. Also, Chandler came in and Monica was trying to convince him that Ross's batman suit wasn't as cool as him Bond suit. My favorite part of the epsode and taping was here, when Monica says, "Bond has a cool car," to which Chandler states, "Batman has the batmobile." She then contiuned, saying, "Bond gets all the ladies", Chandler replies, "Batman has Robin... We get ESPN, right?" I remember Matthew Perry being so calm and looking so good, healthy, so nice. We also saw a scene where Chandler says, "Do, I do." Monica gets all excited and says, "I'm a Bond girl." They cut this later, but there was also a part where Chandler noticed Monica being worried (about calling Joey's parents) and Chandler says, "Anything Bond can do?" Monica says, "Call Joey's parents?" Chandler got all Chandler and said, "You do it." Between one scene, Matt LeBlanc and Courtney Cox were really deep in conversation, Matthew Perry came over and kissed her cheek. The audience warm up guy had us yell, "How you doin?" to Matt LeBlanc (I didn't) and he just looked at us and smiled, shaking his head. They cut a part where Chandler came out in the tuxedo, it was too big in the top, to short in the bottoms. (See the picure below). The audience loved this scene, so much! Matthew Perry changed for this on the side where Monica and Chandler's room is and we could see him quickly changing back there. They also did a scene which I really loved in the tuxedo area of Ralph Lauren with Rachel and Chandler. When she told him it was Diane Keatons they used two ending (both were cut), one was: "She was good in Annie Hall." The other: "But she's a woman." They fed us pizza, and the cast ate it too. Matthew Perry was walking around with his piece for like half an hour. They also filmed two scenes to air in an earlier episode, Matthew Perry had been away for it. One was the 'pull my finger' scene. Monica says she wouldn't trade a new relationship for what her and Chandler had, which is when Chandler enters, she tells him somethign like, "I was telling Phoebe how special our relationship is," and he says, "Pull my finger." Matthew Perry had pizza in his mouth coming out the first time they filmed it. After they'd yell cut, Courtney Cox would pull his finger. They'd try and time if for when the buzzer would go off. At one point Matthew Perry joked, "Blew a hole in the couch that time." Then they yelled 'That's a wrap!' And the cast came out and waved and we clapped. They were all joking around with each other (fake fighting) and hugging. Before we left Lisa Kudrow sat down at Central Perk reading one of the magazines, Courteney Cox was going aroung kissing everyone's cheeks. Outside, we thanked the people who had got us in. They told us we were some of the most devoted fans they'd met. A securtity guard had us move so Courteney Cox could drive away in her Mercedes Benz. It was the most coolest experience I've ever had. 'Specially since I want to work in TV one day. It felt like fifteen minutes, but we were there about four hours. I actually have trouble watching this episode, because it seems so different on TV. I like to remember it just how it was. |
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