Fireworks, Fireworks, Fireworks!
Had quite the Fourth July. Dropped into the "Beat the Clock" offices to check up on a few things. Then, in the afternoon, Davy's friend Kyle picked me up from my hotel to go to Johnny's for the big Fourth of July cookout they were having. Just one hitch...It was RAINING big time. We trek through some sheets of rain and arrive at Johnny's place. There were a bunch of people there. Eddie Izzard "Dressed to Kill" played on the TV. After a bit of mingling, this guy comes up to me and asks me what my last name. Now, it just seemed a bit odd to me that somebody would ask my last name first upon meeting me. Then he tells me his name is Darren and I realize that I'm not meeting somebody for the first time. Darren was somebody I knew briefly while growing up in South Florida. We took music lessons from the same school. The other thing was he was the first person that I knew other than myself who really liked game shows. In fact, he was a contestant on "Wheel of Fortune" during a Teen Week in the 1987. The odd thing is that we had not spoken in over a decade and in the coincidences of all coincidences we bump into each other at this party! Needless to say, it was very cool. He has been living in the Central Florida area for a few years and is still quite the big game show fan. So, we exchanged contact info effectively increasing the circle of people I know in the Central Florida area by another pesron. :-)
Darren was kind enough to take me Citywalk where I met up with a few of the "Beat the Clock" folk to celebrate the Fourth of July. We were able to get into a special reception hosted by Universal for its production staff near the lagoon at Citywalk. There quite the catered feast was being served up. And it was all free! Free food and a free open bar. Mmmmmmm....Strawberry Daquiris.... :-)
While we waited for the fireworks, Paul, one of the people who works for Universal took us on a speed tour through the different clubs at Citywalk. Without a doubt, it does rings around the Citywalk in Los Angeles. We then head back to lagoonside for the fireworks. All I can say, is WOW...This was the best fireworks show I've ever seen in my life. The fireworks emanated from about five locations spread out through both Universal Orlando and Islands of Adventure. Our spot at the lagoonside was PERFECT. It gave us a central view of the whole shebang. It was like fireworks in widescreen. I've never seen a crowd "oooh" a fireworks show so much. After show, was the "big-ass-tourists-leaving-Citywalk-stampede" show. It was basically the human equivalent of the 405....either that or the worst massive conga line...ever. Miraculously it took us only a half hour to get back to the hotel to get some much-needed rest for the first day's worth of taping.
And that brings us to today...the first day of taping of "Beat the Clock." We had some camera blocking and rehearsal in the morning. I got to some stand-in work by playing as a contestant during the dress rehearsal game. I tried out some stunts including one which I suggested. The sad thing is...I sucked at the stunt. I also got a chance to try out the bonus round...I won't divulge what it's all about quite yet, but it's quite fun and much harder than it looks on TV.
In the afternoon, we started taping for real. And things went MUCH, MUCH more smoothly than any of us could imagine. The audience was enthusiastic and probably because they were pretty much all guests of the park who had never seen a TV taping before. By the end of the day, we had two really really good episodes done. I think we've got another good revival on our hands with this one. It's got all the fun of the classic "Beat the Clock," but we've really put together a format that provides more of a game structure than any of the other versions did. Hopefully, the fun translates to the screen when the show premieres on September on PAX.
All in all, it's been a good trip out here so far. Still, though, I miss the bunch back in L.A. But thanks to technology and the internet, they're just a mouse-click and a phone call away. Drew and I are still able to call each other every now and then and I got to talk with Ted, Larry, and the bunch last Thursday while they had their big Fourth of July bash.
Had quite the Fourth July. Dropped into the "Beat the Clock" offices to check up on a few things. Then, in the afternoon, Davy's friend Kyle picked me up from my hotel to go to Johnny's for the big Fourth of July cookout they were having. Just one hitch...It was RAINING big time. We trek through some sheets of rain and arrive at Johnny's place. There were a bunch of people there. Eddie Izzard "Dressed to Kill" played on the TV. After a bit of mingling, this guy comes up to me and asks me what my last name. Now, it just seemed a bit odd to me that somebody would ask my last name first upon meeting me. Then he tells me his name is Darren and I realize that I'm not meeting somebody for the first time. Darren was somebody I knew briefly while growing up in South Florida. We took music lessons from the same school. The other thing was he was the first person that I knew other than myself who really liked game shows. In fact, he was a contestant on "Wheel of Fortune" during a Teen Week in the 1987. The odd thing is that we had not spoken in over a decade and in the coincidences of all coincidences we bump into each other at this party! Needless to say, it was very cool. He has been living in the Central Florida area for a few years and is still quite the big game show fan. So, we exchanged contact info effectively increasing the circle of people I know in the Central Florida area by another pesron. :-)
Darren was kind enough to take me Citywalk where I met up with a few of the "Beat the Clock" folk to celebrate the Fourth of July. We were able to get into a special reception hosted by Universal for its production staff near the lagoon at Citywalk. There quite the catered feast was being served up. And it was all free! Free food and a free open bar. Mmmmmmm....Strawberry Daquiris.... :-)
While we waited for the fireworks, Paul, one of the people who works for Universal took us on a speed tour through the different clubs at Citywalk. Without a doubt, it does rings around the Citywalk in Los Angeles. We then head back to lagoonside for the fireworks. All I can say, is WOW...This was the best fireworks show I've ever seen in my life. The fireworks emanated from about five locations spread out through both Universal Orlando and Islands of Adventure. Our spot at the lagoonside was PERFECT. It gave us a central view of the whole shebang. It was like fireworks in widescreen. I've never seen a crowd "oooh" a fireworks show so much. After show, was the "big-ass-tourists-leaving-Citywalk-stampede" show. It was basically the human equivalent of the 405....either that or the worst massive conga line...ever. Miraculously it took us only a half hour to get back to the hotel to get some much-needed rest for the first day's worth of taping.
And that brings us to today...the first day of taping of "Beat the Clock." We had some camera blocking and rehearsal in the morning. I got to some stand-in work by playing as a contestant during the dress rehearsal game. I tried out some stunts including one which I suggested. The sad thing is...I sucked at the stunt. I also got a chance to try out the bonus round...I won't divulge what it's all about quite yet, but it's quite fun and much harder than it looks on TV.
In the afternoon, we started taping for real. And things went MUCH, MUCH more smoothly than any of us could imagine. The audience was enthusiastic and probably because they were pretty much all guests of the park who had never seen a TV taping before. By the end of the day, we had two really really good episodes done. I think we've got another good revival on our hands with this one. It's got all the fun of the classic "Beat the Clock," but we've really put together a format that provides more of a game structure than any of the other versions did. Hopefully, the fun translates to the screen when the show premieres on September on PAX.
All in all, it's been a good trip out here so far. Still, though, I miss the bunch back in L.A. But thanks to technology and the internet, they're just a mouse-click and a phone call away. Drew and I are still able to call each other every now and then and I got to talk with Ted, Larry, and the bunch last Thursday while they had their big Fourth of July bash.
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