What to Expect When Going To The Show

[Tennisman]

What to expect when you go to see Dancing with the Stars at CBS Television City

I like the show and watch it every week. I thought it would be fun to go to the show in person, especially since I grew up a few blocks from CBS Television City when it was a former drive in restaurant and midget car racing stadium.

Everything is handled by email. You request your tickets by email and the people who handle the tickets respond by email. They have nothing to do with ABC, CBS or the show. They are a ticket handling agency, period. In any event about 6 weeks after I requested tickets I was sent an email asking me to click on a link and I did and my tickets were then confirmed. I was given tickets to the Tuesday April 22, 2008 results show. The tickets for Monday were not available, according to the email.

The email was very explicit about four things. First, we had to arrive no later than 3 p.m. Second we had to observe a strict dress code. From watching the show, I knew that most of the women in the audience wore fancy dresses and many of the men wore suits or sports coats and ties which I thought was appropriate. After all, the Stars and their professional partners are dressed up so it is only right that we should dress up. I had no problem with this even though the email instructions said coat and tie were optional. Women were instructed to wear upscale fancy attire, but pant suits were also acceptable. Third, the instructions said no large purses, cameras or cell phones would be allowed. In fact the email said cameras and cell phones would be confiscated by security. Fourth, we were instructed to bring a picture ID.

I figured that since we were asked to be there no later than 3 p.m. it would be nice to arrive about 2 p.m. so we would be in the front of the line. We actually arrived about 1:45 p.m. Much to our surprise when we arrived there were 2 very long lines. One line started right at the CBS gate and probably had 200 to 300 people in it. That line was for American Idol. The other line started about 200 feet back from the gate and this was the Dancing with the Stars line. We got in the back of this line. About 3 p.m. a very nice girl that worked at CBS or for the ticket company came out and moved our line forward up to the CBS gate. The American Idol line had, by this time, moved through the gate and into the CBS property. Once our line arrived at the gate this girl came down the line checking our tickets and Id's and wrote our numbers on our emailed tickets. Even though we were there early, like I stated above, we were still number 64 and 65. Many, many more people arrived after we had and I would say that they would have been in the 200 to 400 range, but I am only guessing, since I did not go back to the end of the line to check.

Now one would think that since we are at the gate we would soon be taken through and onto the CBS property. Not so. We waited on the sidewalk for 30 minutes or perhaps 45 minutes. It was during this time, while talking with my fellow line mates, that I learned of THE CLEAVAGE RULE. More on that later. In any even we all stood outside and talked while we were waiting to be taken inside. After what seemed like an eternity we were taken inside where the women's bags were searched and we all went through metal detectors. I must admit I really was not timing this because I met some really nice people in line and we were all talking and swapping stories. After we went through the detectors we were all scrunched together, by our numbers, on metal benches up next to the building. Here we were given instructions about this being our last chance to go to the bathroom for the next 3 to 4 hours! In other words once you were seated inside there were no bathrooms for the audience members to use.

As soon as this announcement was made about 50 women ran for the only bathroom available to us. This women's bathroom line lasted all of the time that we were on the benches. It was non stop until they started taking us inside to our seats, which was between 4 and 4:30 p.m. One of the instructions they gave us when we were outside on the bleachers was a heartbreaker. After we had waited all this time we were told that all of the seats on the main floor were already taken by VIP's and the only seats available to us were in either of the two balconies. Bummer. As if this was not cruel enough they said that they might have to break parties that came together up, meaning they could not sit together. Sure enough, this did happen. In fact a husband and wife were split up with him sitting on the main floor and she in the balcony.

Well how could he have gotten a seat on the main floor you ask. Because when we came in they told us to sit in the chairs on the main floor because the show was being pre taped and they wanted the seats to look full. So while Ashlee Simpson sang and the River Dance people Danced there was nobody there except the audience and the stage crew. Oh yes, they brought out the Judges to sit in their seats just in case the camera swung that way during the River Dance. These tapings continued until about 10 minutes until 6 p.m. at which time it went LIVE. Everyone, the Judges plus Samantha and Tom Bergeron came out and took their places.

So why didn't we just stay in these seats on the main stage level? Because each seat was marked with the name of a celebrity or guest of the show who would arrive whenever they wanted to and take their seats. There were at least 300 to 500 seats on both sides plus the end of the stage. The seats were pushed together so tightly that it was impossible to sit without encroaching on the people on both sides of you. I had to sit with my arms and shoulders pulled in. Try doing that for 3 hours. In any event all the seats were filled with us lowly earthlings and later many, but not all, were displaced by a VIP and moved elsewhere. They were all very nice about it. They had staff explain it all in advance and we knew what to expect. If you were asked to move the staff found you another seat which many times was still on the main floor. That is what happened to me. By my calculations and from a keen eye watching from my vantage point, two rows behind the Judges, I only saw about 30 people displaced by VIP celebrities or friends of the production crew. Not too bad considering what we were told and that every single chair had a sign on it with someone's name. Unfortunately we were two of the unlucky ones that had to move. But they placed us back two rows on the main floor where we remained until released about ten minutes after 7 p.m.

During all of the dead time, between Ashlee Simpson and the River Dance people and before the 6 p.m. live show, a warm up guy named Bill Sunderlin kept talking to us and getting us to cheer and clap upon his signal. He also did this during the show, but out of camera shot. Remember all of this time, since we came into the building, from about 3:30 to 4:00 p.m. we were sitting inside with nothing to drink and no access to a bathroom and to make it worse we were baking under the hot lights. In fact if you watch the show you will see one person every week in the front row who is straddling a light with his legs. That is how tight they put the seats in. This seat is on the opposite side from the Judges. I called that the Hot Seat.

What happens during the show? Well not much. Most of it is waiting and watching Samantha and Tom read from the tele-prompter while the technicians spliced in Ashlee Simpson and the River Dancers which we all, including Tom & Samantha, watched on the monitors. Also we had to sit through all the commercials which were spliced in between all the stuff you see every week. The only live dancing we saw was the Hoe Down that the Judges requested as an encore. That dance was live at the beginning of the show, at 6 p.m. We also saw the two young contestant pairs as they danced on the Live show. If you want to see all the dancers dancing live you need to go on Monday evening, not on Tuesday's results show.

Now some parting thoughts. The dress code was not enforced. Many people were dressed in Jeans and not slacks with buttoned shirts as requested. I did not see any tee shirts but I did see many people who were not wearing dressy clothes as requested. Why didn't you see them on TV? Because most of those people were shunted up to the balcony. If they were lucky enough to be seated on the ground floor they were in the back two rows. If you notice on TV there are some drapes hanging above the second or third row of seats. If you are behind those drapes it is virtually impossible for you to see or be seen except when the action is right in front of you. This is also caused by the numerous post that are holding up the balconies and the constabnt lights that are blinding you from the opposite side from where you are sitting. TV is about lighting. The stage, the Judges, the first & second rows are all lit up for the cameras to be able to see them. All else seemed to be in the dark. I was sitting 4 rows behind the Judges. I noticed that when the cameras were on the Judges, no one in my row was visible, because we were not lit up.

The camera and cell phone rule also was not enforced. I saw many people with cameras and using their cell phones, before the live show started. I believe these people were the VIP's as they were always on the main floor when I saw them. I am sure they were not searched. Now for The Cleavage Rule. One of the young ladies I met in line out on Beverly Blvd. was very pretty and very well endowed. She wore an extremely low cut dress that showed off her cleavage as much as you would see at the Academy Awards. She confided in me that she had been to the show once before and found out or that women in fancy dresses with lots of cleavage were always put in the front row. Sure enough, after we were let inside we got separated but she was not hard to spot. There she was sitting on the opposite side from me, in the front row. Unfortunately, even cleavage cannot save you from a VIP. Five minutes before Live show time her VIP showed up and took her seat and she was removed elsewhere. Bummer. At least I always had a clear view of her!

Am I bitter. Am I upset. Absolutely not. I had a great time. It was a wonderful experience. Would I go back again? Yes, but only on a Monday, not for the Tuesday show.