I don't usually do many of these, but...yours truly was in the audience for this taping! My dad and I arrived in line around 6:00 PM, and we received wristbands #73 and #74 at 6:00 AM the following morning. There were two lines in front of CBS, which was odd to us, since we were accustomed to seeing only the one line that runs from the pedestrian gate down on Fairfax towards Farmer's Market. The line for the 1:15 taping was directed around the corner towards Beverly Blvd., while the 4:30 taping (and those who were waiting in line for the next days' tapings) were in the usual line.
When all of us were on the last set of benches before heading into the studio, I saw someone who I thought was "The Dob" walking through a gate towards The Grove shopping area. My dad and I both looked at each other, and we confirmed that it was our beloved producer. So, when he came back through the gate, I yelled, "Yeah, Dob!", and he looked around for a moment, saw my dad and I waving, and gave us a smile and a wave back in return. That was pretty cool!
We were seated in the sixth row, towards the left as you watch on screen. (I'm wearing a gray and gold UMBC Hockey shirt, and my dad has on a red TPIR logo shirt.) I caught a glimpse of us during some of the intro and a few of the COD's as I watched the show today. It seemed that we were just outside of the frame on most of the One-Bids.
To the gameplay:
Pushover: Most of the audience, including myself, were shouting for $6935. Job well done.
Hole in One (or Two): This was the first time I had seen HIO in person in the five tapings I've been to. I thought Sean was going to lip-out on both of his putts, but I was relieved to see the ball curl in at the last moment.
Cliff Hangers: I was thinking 25/30/40 for the prizes; I wouldn't have done too badly. Another close call, but still a win nonetheless.
During the break after Cliffy, some of the audience members started up the "Perfect Show!" chant, which Rich got hold of and mentioned to Bob. Good to see some fellow LFAT's in the crowd. It might have also been during this break that Bob introduced one of the VIP's from Fremantle Media sitting towards the front. I can't remember her name or affiliation with the company at the moment.
Bonkers: My first inclination was L,H,L,H. When I saw Nichole consulting the crowd, I leaned over to my dad and said, "She's not supposed to look at the audience during Bonkers! Get moving!" At least was able to get four shots at it, though.
Switch?: Admittedly, I was one of those people saying to leave the prices alone. Shows you what I know.
Cover Up: I was thinking $21,492 for a first guess, but I looked over at Fingers, who was controlling the lights on the game board, and when I saw her switch on all five numbers, I was ecstatic for Anna's perfecto!
Showcases: Playing along, I had about $24,000 for the trailer and $19,000 for the dining room/range/piano. When Bob revealed the ARP for SC1, all I could hear was "Nineteen thousand, six...", because right after that, the entire audience started cheering, having thought John had the DSW. I glanced over at Rich's podium, and his face was in a state of shock at first, then turned to confusion, as he must have also thought that John DSW'd. When the $463 difference appeared on the podium, I was thoroughly confused, as well as most of the audience, I assume. When we were filing out, the hot button issue was John's DSW, or lack thereof. At the time, I thought that Bob must have read the price wrong, and now after watching today, my thoughts were confirmed.
It was another fun taping process for me. I met some very nice people in line, I got to witness Chuck's brilliant work as one of the pages for the processing process, and the masterful work of Bob, Rich, and the entire TPIR staff. It was a blast!
