I’ve often wondered why S31 premiered with virtually the same set as S30, only to be overhauled with new doors and the Hollywood mural turntable walls (along with a few other minor changes) the second episode into the season.
Until I looked at the taping calendar, I just assumed the premiere show was taped well before the rest of the week, but it was actually a matter of only a few days (2231K taped on 6/20/02, 2232K taped on 6/24/02). It just seems odd to me that the set changes weren’t already made in time for the premiere’s taping — or that the old set wasn’t simply used for the remainder of the week for consistency’s sake, especially with such little time separating the taping dates.
Does anyone know if there was a particular reason for this? I’m sure there might have been discussion on this topic back when it happened, only to have become lost with time...