I wasn't sure if this should be inthe Other Talk, but ok...

I am in SoCal right now and REALLY would like to see Leno on Monday when Jack Bauer is on. NBC says if I show up at their box office at 8am, you can get them the day of. Has anyone done this? I'm wondering if it's worth my time to get up way early and deal with traffic from OC to Burbank...

any idea?

Well, i've never been to the tonight show, but i've been to Conan a few times and i'm guessing they work the same. Basically you can either call up months in advance and get tickets or you can go there the day of and wait in line for stand by tickets. The stand by tickets don't guarantee admission but are just there in case some of the people who ordered months in advance don't show up. They don't want gaps in the audience. So, you'll probably have to get there by 8 to get the stand by ticket, then wait around til the show starts to tape and hope that not everyone shows up so that there is a seat for you.

I went there at 1pm, got standby tickets and got in. It was actually pretty fun.

1pm? dang.

maybe I won't bust my butt to get up there at 8am then. NOT sitting in LA traffic sounds good to me.

Is Jack Bauer really going to be on or is it Kiefer Sutherland??!!

It's Jack Bauer. The second guest is Darth Vader.

lol.

I've only been to Craig Kilborn before...I'm all alone here for 9 days, so what the heck, I am gonna see Leno.

Kiefer is on Monday, Affleck Tuesday, John Edwards Wednesday...

it's a no brainer right? shoot for Monday's show?

You could choose to get yourself arrested by shouting:

AFFLECK YOU DA BOMB IN PHANTOMS YO

if you went on Tuesday.

I've done the Tonight show at least 8 or 9 times over the last 10 years. It's my free entertainment for friends and family who come into town and an easy way to guarantee they see a celebrity in person.

It's a pretty simple process. They only give out passes to tapings the same day in the morning. You go to NBC studios at Olive and Alameda in Burbank in the morning and stand in line with all the other tourists in town and after an hour or two you get your pass. The line snakes around the building and down the street. But I think the studio they tape in only holds about 500 people. There are usually people from other shows there as well to offer tickets to other crappy shows that are taping when they run out of Tonight Show passes but as long as you get there early you should be fine.

As I recall the passes will tell you to return after lunch and wait in line again to get in for the actual taping. The seating is first come, first served but obviously you stand a better chance of being closer to the front if youre first in in line. I've only made it to the floor seating once and it wasn't all that different from being on the upper level.

They have security checks now and metal detectors so expect to be frisked. Sometimes while you are waiting in line to get in you might see a celebrity who happens to be on the show that day or taping in one of the other studios walk by and say Hi to everyone. (probably for the boost to their ego). Sometimes its just one of the local NBC newspeople.

Everyone I've taken has told me they were more entertained by watching how shows get made than by seeing Jay or whoever happened to be on the show. It's an interesting process to watch and The Tonight Show has it down to a science with the warm-up guy and the audience questions Jay answers, etc.

Looking back at the experience its kind of hard to believe it's FREE but I guess that guarantees them an unending supply of people willing to clap on cue.

Hope you have fun! Enjoy your time in LA, the weather is great right now for January, low 70s and sunny once the morning clouds burn off. Have a great time!

We went to a taping once but got our tickets from outside Mann's Chinese Theater - a guy was walking round with a clipboard asking people if they wanted to go. It was a good experience - Leno did a short standup routine to warm the audience up before the show started. It was worth it just for that.

lol

bluesix...kinda sucks that tourists almost have to submit a whole day just to get into a Leno taping...now that makes me think I should try and get there as close to 8am as possible, go eat lunch, then come back for another line. Shoot.

this is my 7th of 8th time here in the last couple years, I'm alone, and basically job hunting, so I have a lot of time to kill anyways.

by the way, anyone know of a hookup in the LA/OC area for a kid with an accounting degree come May?!

Get ou of LA. Go to New York and see Letterman. Much better show.

well, I'm in Los Angeles, not New York. I have to work with what I got, man.

besides, is New York 60 and sunny right now? Well, actually it is. Nevermind :P

yea, it does kind of burn up most of the day but most TV show tapings take even longer. If you go see a 30 minute sitcom being taped, you can end up sitting there for 4 to 6 hours while they do extra takes, rework the sets, lighting, etc.

As someone else stated, you can always take a chance of just showing up around noon and hoping to get a standby ticket that gets you in but it really depends on the demand and who is going to be on. Obviously with a popular big name guest you want to get there earlier and wait it out. Otherwise, just take a chance on standby or just come back the next day and see someone else.

In the past after we have gotten passes I have taken my guests to downtown Burbank which is only 10 minutes away to blow a few hours on margaritas or lunch or to catch a movie while we wait. There's also GordonBiersch that is good if you have friends who are lushes. Universal CityWalk takes too long to go up to and get back in time. We have also gone down the street to Warner Brothers and taken a studio tour altho the timing was tight trying to squeeze that in. Either way, its better than walking across the street to Weinerschnitzel and waiting it out there. I think you can also go inside and buy overpriced souvenirs at the NBC store. Sadly, there's not too much else around that area unless you want to head up Vineland to the adult book stores and let off some steam that way.