Section 1: EDITOR'S NOTES

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Section 2: TRAVELOGUE

Plan to be at NBC studios at least 3 1/2 hours before taping. If you want to be at the head of the line (at least when we were there), you'd need to arrive around noon for the 5:30 tapings.

The show will give you a parking map, but it's basically useless. Instead, drive to the studio, and turn down Bob Hope Dr. (check your map for location) - this street runs along the east side of NBC Studios, and you can see Ellen's studio from here. Park on the west side of this street if there's a space - the east side has a two hour limit. If not, there's a single stop on this street - if you go west from here, you're going into the studio lot itself; but if you turn east, there's a parking lot with a raising arm about halfway to the end of this little cul-d-sac - make a left into this lot, and you can park free all afternoon.

The line for the show itself runs along Bob Hope, and ends at the studio entrance. The front of the line are the die-hard Ellen fans - almost everyone in the first fifty on all three days we went were either gay or lesbian - probably 2/3 lesbian to 1/3 gay. Look closely at the audience and you'll see family mixed in throughout the crowd. The folks after these first fans are generally more mixed. We arrived early enough to be in the first 50 folks the first two days, and even on the third day, when we were a little later, we found other glbt folks to talk to.

You'll be kept outside the lot on the sidewalk for probably a couple hours, so plan for the weather. There are some shade trees along the street where you'll be waiting, but they only shade about a third of the line, so if it looks to be a hot day, take plenty of water. Likewise, if rain is expected, take a small umbrella.

The show asks that you don't wear shorts or logo t-shirts, and that you don't bring in a backpack (tho women seem to be able to get away with purses).

Somewhere during the second hour, someone will probably come thru the line and stamp your ticket or confirmation, allowing you to leave for awhile and still keep your line priority. We stuck around -there weren't many places to go in so short a time, and we didn't want to miss getting in.

Eventually, they'll take you (probably a bit tanner) into the holding area just outside Ellen's studio. You'll go thru something like airport security, and then you'll be seated on one of two long benches under a tent (wonderful when it's raining or hot), where you'll wait for another hour to hour and a half. But at least here you're sitting, and they entertain you with today's Ellen show on several overhead TV's.

While you're here, you can purchase water, soda, or snacks from a small table vendor next to the seating area, but you can't take them in with you, so plan to finish them while you wait outside. You'll also be offered the chance to use the restroom - take it, because you won't get another chance after you enter the building for close to two hours.

Next, they'll move you into the inside holding area (what they're now calling "The Experience" on the show - this is where they seat the poor saps who came too late to get into the main studio where Ellen hosts the show, but relax - if you got here when we told you to, you should have no problem getting into the main studio). It's basically a big room with lots of round and square seating benches where everyone waits for entrance to the show. They take 20 folks in from the left when the show eating starts, then 20 from the right, based on numbers they issued you when you came into the outside holding area. But they vary this as well, so you may want to take your best guess and sit at the right or left front of the room. It doesn't matter a whole lot - you kind of end up where you end up in any case.

This room (and the studio itself) are cold - they keep the temperature around 60 in here to keep you awake, a trick the producer learned when she worked on the David Letterman show.

The whole time you're here, the show staff are looking for the folks who will play "The Most Difficult Game on Daytime Television." Try to look contest-worthy.

Once your set of numbers are called, you'll make your way into the main studio. Relax. Breathe. You are here at last.

All the seats here are good, well, except for the very middle. Remember, they shoot much of the show from cameras in the middle of the room, so try not to sit here if you're allowed the choice - your view of Ellen may be blocked for most of the show (as it was for us on the first day). You can still see the action on the monitors overhead, but hey, you came to see Ellen in person, not on TV, right? For best viewability by your family/friends on the following day, being near the DJ or in the lower rows is your best bet.

In the Studio:

There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes that the television viewer never sees. First off, one of the show's writers comes out to warm up (figuratively, at least) the audience. There are Ellen T-Shirts to be had, dancing on stage an in the aisles, and some basic show info. Mostly, you're thinking "how cool is it that I'm actually here?"

Then Ellen comes out to say hullo before the show. She spends a couple minutes talking to the audience, and then heads backstage, and the show begins.

The show is filmed in real time - the hour-long show is filmed in an hour, with breaks for the commercials, just like you see it on television. There are no reshoots, no corrections. And while it's great to see the stars up close (we saw Dylan McDermot, Mya, Shelby Lynne, Dennis Hasbert, and others), it's also really interesting to see the action behind the scenes.

Staff members are off to one side, holding cue cards with key info on the guests and suggestions for Ellen to use during their interviews. Every now and then, someone comes up with a witty remark or thought for Ellen to use, and these are scribbled on a new cue card. Sometimes she uses them, sometimes she doesn't, but she's got a great way of making it all seem relaxed, unplanned, and natural.

And what happens when the scene fades to commercial? We always imagined Ellen sittng there for a few minutes chatting up the guest, maybe asking after his or her family, until the cameras came back up. But the reality is quite different.

Almost immediately, Ellen and the guest get up. The guest talks to a staff member or producer, while Ellen talks to someone else. And while she's talking, one woman reapplies her make-up, while another seems to be solely in charge of tweaking her hair, checking all sides and pulling a strand or two here and there back into place. But a few seconds before the cameras roll, everyone's back in place, so you'd never know they'd ever left their seats.

There's also audience dancing in-between filming, and Tony plays some great dance grooves.

Finally, though, the show ends, and you're escorted out the door with a small token to commemorate your visit. We left with two CD's, a DVD, and a paper bag filled with homemade pumpkin seeds.

The show is taped in an NBC studio, is syndicated by Warner Brothers, and runs on whatever local station buys the rights to air it - in our case, ABC in the Sierra foothills. But wherever it is on your dial, it's a great experience - if you have the chance, we recommend a pilgrimage to the home of the new queen of daytime television.

Other Things to Do:

There's not a whole lot to do in Burank itself, tho you can take the NBC Studios tour - enter on the west side of the studio, tho you have to park outside on the street. There's a small gift shop here, and you can buy your backstage tour passes to the Days of Our Lives and Tonight Show studios. These tours start at 9 or 10 am, and run thru the early afternoon.

You can also get tickets to see Jay Leno and the Tonight Show - check nbc.com for details. We didn't try this, but we hear you have to get in line fairly early in the morning for this one.

There's lots more to do in Hollywood, West Hollywood, and Beverly Hills:

Hollywood: Check out the Walk of the Stars and the Chinese Theater - it's still an actual movie theater, but you can also stroll around the Walk for hours looking at all the Star's stars.

West Hollywood: Drive down Santa Monica until you see the Rainbow Flags. There's a very walkable gay district here with lots of shops and some great restaurants - we especially recommend a great little Italian place with street seating called Santi Cucina - right at the end of the district before you transition to Beverly Hills - 8945 Santa Monica Blvd.

There's also the Beverly Center area, sandwiched between Hollywood, West Hollywood and Beverly Hills. Beverly Center itself is basically a five floor mall, but it's a nice place for all that - one of those see and be seen spots. And if you're in to very modern furniture, exit the Mall and follow Beverly Drive a block west - you'll land smack in the middle of something like 10-15 modern furniture stores.

But the jewel of this area, at least in our minds, was a little place called Il Piccolino. A small italian restaurant just a block and a half from Beverly Center, this place was terrific. The food was amazing, as was the atmosphere. There's an outdoor courtyard on the street, but connected to this is another outdoor space that's covered and surrounded by lush greenery. You're outside, but it feels like you're inside as well, and it's wonderful - we can't recommend the place highly enough. It's at 350 N. Robertson Blvd.

Beverly Hills: of course, no visit to this area would be complete without a trip to Rodeo Drive. We didn't spend a lot of time here - we don't really shop in this league, but regular readers of our travelogues will know where we did go - there's a Cheesecake Factory restaurant here right in the middle of Rodeo. 'Nuff said.

There were many other attractions we didn't have time for, as it was a short trip - Universal Studios and Universal Citywalk (paid theme park and free shopping mecca, respectively) are about halfway between Hollywood and the Studios. There's the new Getty Center, maybe 15 minutes to half an hour from the studio. And there's also lots of great canyon drives with amazing houses to see if you're into cool architecture like we are.

Our advice - see a couple shows on two different days, and then leave yourself a couple days free to explore a bit. There's so much to do down here, you won't be disappointed.

:)

--Mark & Scott, Purple Roofs

Section 3: TRAVELERS' COLUMNS

Section 4: INNS FOR SALE