"Sullivan & Son" & Me

Because of the holy holidays last week, Christina had a few days off from LMU and we decided to give a sitcom taping another try. Once again we headed out to Warner Bros. in Burbank, this time to see the production of “Sullivan & Son,” which is starting its second season on TBS this June.

I liked this show last summer when it debuted. Its executive producers are Vince Vaughn and Peter Billingsley (yes, Ralphie from “A Christmas Story”) and it is overseen by Rob Long, one of the folks behind “Cheers.” It should be no surprise that it includes an ensemble cast and takes place at a bar.

The drill was pretty much the same as last fall when we went to see a taping of “Mike & Molly.”   Park the car in the deck and stand/sit in line for about an hour, then cross the main street to the actual studio entrance, go through two layers of security and then wait outside the stage until they were ready for the audience. 

This was our first indication it could be a long night. Unlike “Mike & Molly,” “Sullivan &  Son” runs a test rehearsal at 1 p.m. on show day, then shoots the show with a new audience that arrives at 4 p.m. However, in our case, we were still outside the stage at 5 p.m., and saw folks heading from the building at that time, including Vaughn. 

Once we got inside, our best guess they still they had some work to do on the script after the run-through, which backed up everything for the rest of the evening. The taping, which a gadabout in the crowd told us normally starts around 5:30, did not get going until 7 p.m.

The warmup comedian, Gary Cannon, was definitely better than the fellow at “Mike & Molly.” And that was a good thing for me, because unlike there, I was unable to avoid being drawn into the between-scenes parlor games.

Christina actually figured out Gary had spotted me a few minutes before he called me up to the front of the audience when he stated, “We have somebody famous in the audience tonight.” If only my similar appearance to Bill Gates could turn into a money-making opportunity instead of an easy way for people in bars to keep track of my tab.

While the crew was getting busy setting up the next scene about a half hour into the production, I was summoned to the front of the audience of about 150-200 people. Gary first asked my name, and when I said Charles, he said sure, "but this is actually Bill Gates, and he will be taking the entire audience out to eat after the show." Then Gary asked what I do, and I said I was in newspapers, but between jobs. He then pointed at Christina, asked “Is this Mrs. Gates?” and then apologized for me taking her on a date to a free television show taping.

Then it got real ugly. Gary said I would be the first contestant in a “dance-off” that would be going on through the night. I was asked to pick a number between one and 100, and I said 65, and that was how they selected a song. I did very poorly dancing to a song that I guess is on the current Top 40, so poorly that Gary then summoned a nice young actor-hopeful named Devon, who had already bailed out other audience members. Devon told me to just follow his lead and I ended up dancing along with him to “I’m Too Sexy.”

Before I could face further embarrassment, the hijinks stopped so another scene could be filmed. After that, I was given a bottle of dog shampoo and sent back to my seat. Over the next three hours we got candy twice and a turkey sandwich and water as the show continued. Unlike “Mike & Molly,” where each scene was shot twice, there were additional takes to get all of the camera angles the producers wanted. The production resembled what I understood most sitcoms to be, with three cameras on the floor as well as a modern addition of a couple overhead cameras.

As the evening wore on I enjoyed that would Gary refer to myself and about a dozen other audience members every once in a while. For me, it was whenever anything happened that required money or other financial tools. For example, during a scene in which the Korean mother on the show (played by Jodi Long) put a declined credit card in the blender and chopped it to shreds, another card was needed to shoot the effect again. When the prop master took a little too much time, Gary stage-whispered in the microphone, “Hey Charles, give me a credit card.”

The crew did its best to keep the audience involved, with one of the extras who is also a standup comedian telling a few jokes, and show creator and star Steve Byrne thanking the crowd as the taping neared its final scene.

We had a good time, and cannot wait to see the final product on TBS this summer, but the verdict from our "Mike & Molly" experience remains. Due to their length, I think I’ll leave sitcom tapings to entertaining visitors from out of town who really want to go rather than making it a regular thing.