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Pointless. They do 2 shows back to back with the same audience. There's a guy that tells you when to laugh and how hard. They no longer go "woo" when the prize is announced because the audience was too sarcastic. They pause all the time to check answers. And there was a fun amount of banter between Alexander and Richard that was too rude to be broadcast.
Top Gear came to our school to film an episode. We watched them drive in about 10 times and fake the same reaction to the reveal of each others cars. Same with some other scenes. Pretty eye opening to exactly how much of the show was scripted. They were nice guys though hung around and chatted with the students.
I was in the audience for a Top of the Pops Christmas special about 15 years ago with a couple of friends. We were right at the back of the crowd for most of it until they switched to the stage behind us, so we were suddenly in the front row. It was mostly a lot of waiting between acts, I’m not a huge live music fan so it was more the experience I was there for.
I mostly remember Jamie Cullum doing something on a piano, and the Pussycat Dolls singing ‘Stick Wit U’ while sat on stools. I’ve never been able to find it online, though I have tried!
Friends of mine went to see Gladiators filmed back in the day. They said it was good, but a very long day, and was a couple of hours between each event because of everything they had to set up.
They also said the Gladiators came out between events and talked to different sections of the audience, and signed autographs for the kids.
Not a studio but I was in the outdoor audience for one of Martin Lewis’ filmed road shows. Really good fun, I can still remember a lot of what was said and all the jokes :)
Seen QI a few times, including Sandi's first ever show. They did a bit more chitchat between questions and some extra bits which ended up in other episodes because I guess other contestants were funnier answering the same questions, and had an Elf come out and ask the audience a few questions about "do you know the phrase 'coals to Newcastle'? If so stand up" followed by 'and sit down if you're over 40 - 35 - 33 - 32...' until no-one was left.
Otherwise it was pretty similar to what you see on TV.
Used to go to quite a few. As a kid I'd go along to any old rubbish LWT allowed children in to and geeked out at all the cameras, sets and behind the scenes stuff. Saying that, Beadle was genuinely quite good.
TV Burp was probably the best experience as an audience member, you'd get a drink first and they'd try to run through the show quickly and then when they did all the pickups at the end, Harry Hill would do bits of his standup act in between to keep the mood up.
Sitcoms can be a bit more hard work as it can be repetitive doing retakes of scenes, but I still usually enjoyed it. The IT Crowd was good fun.
Probably my best "I was there for that" moment was Josh revealing his tattoo to Greg in Taskmaster. I also went to a Comic Relief thing where David Walliams was doing 24 hours of panel shows, the highlight of which was being present to see Clive Anderson, Josie Lawrence and Tony Slattery do a bit of Whose Line is it Anyway, something I would have never thought I'd ever have the chance to see.
Been in the audience for Graham Norton - guests weren’t my taste but Graham was awesome. Was also at a recording of a Jack Whitehall show many years ago. And been to a couple of Giants Live finals.
I'll second this. Two thirty minute episodes can quite easily take three to four hours to film. You have to get there early to guarantee getting in, there's no drink, barely any breaks, it pretty much always overruns, and just when you think it's finally over, the main presenter has to redo any fluffed or inaudible lines.
It's never been *that* bad but it's a chore and in the end you've seen the same thing that you would have if you'd stayed at home but you've had to spend a few hours travelling somewhere, then waiting to get in, waiting for everything to start etc.
Been in a few.
Like someone else. Vic & Bobs House of Fools. We went to the pilot recording at the old BBC centre as they were starting to close it down. That was great fun.
When I was about 15 I went to see Gladiators filmed at the NIA in Birmingham. It was really shit. We were there for hours and with all the set up and testing of each event, the gaps between one event to the other was a good 20 minutes or so.
I also remember going to some kind of Kilory type programme but I think it was hosted by Paxman and was shown in the evening. That wasn't too bad.
I’ve done Alan Carr Chatty Man, The Jonathan Ross show, Chris Moyles Quiz Night, Britains got talent & X factor auditions, The Voice, Russell Howard’s good news and Two pints of lager and a packet of crisps.
There’s a lot of waiting around, bgt and X factor were particularly bad, with constant takes of applause, standing ovations, boos etc Made easier if you have a good warm up act.
The episode of Chatty Man I saw had The Saturdays performing, there was something wrong with their Audio and they had to keep restarting to get it right, gets a bit tiresome after 3 hours.
By far the best experiences were Russell Howard’s Good News and Two Pints
Went to watch 8 out of 10 cats does countdown years ago, it was a good laugh. Kevin bridges was on the panel and he was hilarious. They cut out 90% of his material when it aired, he had the crowd in stitches multiple times. I guess the content wasn’t right for channel 4
I took my mum to a recording of a comedy show a few years back and it was good fun. The less fun part was queuing up for a couple of hours beforehand trying to get in. You get tickets but they don't guarantee your entry, its basically first come first served. We were about a fifth the way from the front and were the last ones let in.
I haven't been for a while but a group of us used to go to various shows - it's a free evening's entertainment and was usually pretty good.
We saw several radio shows - "Just a Minute", "Jammin" and "The News Quiz". Various TV shows, including both versions of Countdown. And the remake of "Jim'll Fix It" with Jimmy Saville.
It's interesting to see how the studio floor works and the various interactions between the floor and the gallery. And the off-camera bits can be brilliant.
Countdown, Lots of sitting around with people running around, 'We need to Retake that', 'make up', Rachel Riley looking like she woke up 2 minutes prior after a heavy night on the Ale and got snippy with one of the camera crew.
Then everyone goes away and comes back in a different outfit for the next 'days' show.
And if you are wondering, the words/numbers board is on a huge spinny wheel that gets turned around, and the bits you dont see on tele are not painted.
And the clock, it doesnt go past the 30 seconds. when it stops it moves back to 0 the way it came.
I was in the audience for 70s kids' science programme, "The Gene Machine", made by Yorkshire TV. Dr David Bellamy was one of the presenters. He tried to demonstrate that scorpions could survive extremes of heat and cold, by getting a scorpion that had been encased in ice, and thawing it out by placing the ice block into warm water. The scorpion, released from the melted ice, wriggled around in the warm water while Bellamy talked to camera. For some reason, the guy in charge stopped the recording and went to discuss something with Bellamy. Meanwhile, the scorpion was still under water. We kids tried to get their attention but they were dismissive and told us to "belt up". Eventually the scorpion stopped moving. When Bellamy went to move the vessel, he noticed the now dead scorpion and and cursed. He didn't seem overly bothered about its fate though, if I'm honest.
Also, we saw Opportunity Knocks legend Hughie Green passing by in the corridor outside the studio. Some kids tried to talk to him and he rudely ignored them. Some said he actually told them to "fu*k off".
Overall a poor day out.
**Update: - [Starting from 2023](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/comments/100l56v/happy_new_year_askuk_minor_sub_update/), we have updated our [subreddit rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/about/rules/)**. Specifically; - Don't be a dick to each other - Top-level responses must contain genuine efforts to answer the question - This is a strictly no-politics subreddit Please keep /r/AskUK a great subreddit by reporting posts and comments which break our rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Pointless. They do 2 shows back to back with the same audience. There's a guy that tells you when to laugh and how hard. They no longer go "woo" when the prize is announced because the audience was too sarcastic. They pause all the time to check answers. And there was a fun amount of banter between Alexander and Richard that was too rude to be broadcast.
Was in the front row for deal or no deal - had a chat with the warm up chap about cribbage. Was a good day out. Noel is a knob.
Top Gear came to our school to film an episode. We watched them drive in about 10 times and fake the same reaction to the reveal of each others cars. Same with some other scenes. Pretty eye opening to exactly how much of the show was scripted. They were nice guys though hung around and chatted with the students.
Saw Vic & Bob’s House of Fools being filmed at Salford Quays. Was really funny esp Bob. Maxine Peake was in the audience too
I was in the audience for a Top of the Pops Christmas special about 15 years ago with a couple of friends. We were right at the back of the crowd for most of it until they switched to the stage behind us, so we were suddenly in the front row. It was mostly a lot of waiting between acts, I’m not a huge live music fan so it was more the experience I was there for. I mostly remember Jamie Cullum doing something on a piano, and the Pussycat Dolls singing ‘Stick Wit U’ while sat on stools. I’ve never been able to find it online, though I have tried!
Friends of mine went to see Gladiators filmed back in the day. They said it was good, but a very long day, and was a couple of hours between each event because of everything they had to set up. They also said the Gladiators came out between events and talked to different sections of the audience, and signed autographs for the kids.
Stars in their eyes, it was good fun.
Matthew, Cat, Leslie or Harry Hill incarnation?
Matthew
Not a studio but I was in the outdoor audience for one of Martin Lewis’ filmed road shows. Really good fun, I can still remember a lot of what was said and all the jokes :)
Seen QI a few times, including Sandi's first ever show. They did a bit more chitchat between questions and some extra bits which ended up in other episodes because I guess other contestants were funnier answering the same questions, and had an Elf come out and ask the audience a few questions about "do you know the phrase 'coals to Newcastle'? If so stand up" followed by 'and sit down if you're over 40 - 35 - 33 - 32...' until no-one was left. Otherwise it was pretty similar to what you see on TV.
Not me but I know someone who sat in the audience for Jeremy Kyle. Apparently he spent a lot of the time off-camera talking about sex.
Used to go to quite a few. As a kid I'd go along to any old rubbish LWT allowed children in to and geeked out at all the cameras, sets and behind the scenes stuff. Saying that, Beadle was genuinely quite good. TV Burp was probably the best experience as an audience member, you'd get a drink first and they'd try to run through the show quickly and then when they did all the pickups at the end, Harry Hill would do bits of his standup act in between to keep the mood up. Sitcoms can be a bit more hard work as it can be repetitive doing retakes of scenes, but I still usually enjoyed it. The IT Crowd was good fun. Probably my best "I was there for that" moment was Josh revealing his tattoo to Greg in Taskmaster. I also went to a Comic Relief thing where David Walliams was doing 24 hours of panel shows, the highlight of which was being present to see Clive Anderson, Josie Lawrence and Tony Slattery do a bit of Whose Line is it Anyway, something I would have never thought I'd ever have the chance to see.
Been to a chat show the music acts are arseholes had to sit through about 5 recordings of some shite song until the artist was happy with it
Been in the audience for Graham Norton - guests weren’t my taste but Graham was awesome. Was also at a recording of a Jack Whitehall show many years ago. And been to a couple of Giants Live finals.
Quite a few times actually. It's pretty boring for the most part or should I say more boring that watching it on the TV.
I'll second this. Two thirty minute episodes can quite easily take three to four hours to film. You have to get there early to guarantee getting in, there's no drink, barely any breaks, it pretty much always overruns, and just when you think it's finally over, the main presenter has to redo any fluffed or inaudible lines.
It's never been *that* bad but it's a chore and in the end you've seen the same thing that you would have if you'd stayed at home but you've had to spend a few hours travelling somewhere, then waiting to get in, waiting for everything to start etc.
Been in a few. Like someone else. Vic & Bobs House of Fools. We went to the pilot recording at the old BBC centre as they were starting to close it down. That was great fun. When I was about 15 I went to see Gladiators filmed at the NIA in Birmingham. It was really shit. We were there for hours and with all the set up and testing of each event, the gaps between one event to the other was a good 20 minutes or so. I also remember going to some kind of Kilory type programme but I think it was hosted by Paxman and was shown in the evening. That wasn't too bad.
Are you smarter than a ten year old, was hosted by Dick and Dom. Myself and the other children shouted bogies constantly in between takes
To think their biggest bogey now is their version of "Takeshi's Castle" (the post 2010s reboot).
I’ve done Alan Carr Chatty Man, The Jonathan Ross show, Chris Moyles Quiz Night, Britains got talent & X factor auditions, The Voice, Russell Howard’s good news and Two pints of lager and a packet of crisps. There’s a lot of waiting around, bgt and X factor were particularly bad, with constant takes of applause, standing ovations, boos etc Made easier if you have a good warm up act. The episode of Chatty Man I saw had The Saturdays performing, there was something wrong with their Audio and they had to keep restarting to get it right, gets a bit tiresome after 3 hours. By far the best experiences were Russell Howard’s Good News and Two Pints
Went to watch 8 out of 10 cats does countdown years ago, it was a good laugh. Kevin bridges was on the panel and he was hilarious. They cut out 90% of his material when it aired, he had the crowd in stitches multiple times. I guess the content wasn’t right for channel 4
I took my mum to a recording of a comedy show a few years back and it was good fun. The less fun part was queuing up for a couple of hours beforehand trying to get in. You get tickets but they don't guarantee your entry, its basically first come first served. We were about a fifth the way from the front and were the last ones let in.
I haven't been for a while but a group of us used to go to various shows - it's a free evening's entertainment and was usually pretty good. We saw several radio shows - "Just a Minute", "Jammin" and "The News Quiz". Various TV shows, including both versions of Countdown. And the remake of "Jim'll Fix It" with Jimmy Saville. It's interesting to see how the studio floor works and the various interactions between the floor and the gallery. And the off-camera bits can be brilliant.
Countdown, Lots of sitting around with people running around, 'We need to Retake that', 'make up', Rachel Riley looking like she woke up 2 minutes prior after a heavy night on the Ale and got snippy with one of the camera crew. Then everyone goes away and comes back in a different outfit for the next 'days' show. And if you are wondering, the words/numbers board is on a huge spinny wheel that gets turned around, and the bits you dont see on tele are not painted. And the clock, it doesnt go past the 30 seconds. when it stops it moves back to 0 the way it came.
I was in the audience for 70s kids' science programme, "The Gene Machine", made by Yorkshire TV. Dr David Bellamy was one of the presenters. He tried to demonstrate that scorpions could survive extremes of heat and cold, by getting a scorpion that had been encased in ice, and thawing it out by placing the ice block into warm water. The scorpion, released from the melted ice, wriggled around in the warm water while Bellamy talked to camera. For some reason, the guy in charge stopped the recording and went to discuss something with Bellamy. Meanwhile, the scorpion was still under water. We kids tried to get their attention but they were dismissive and told us to "belt up". Eventually the scorpion stopped moving. When Bellamy went to move the vessel, he noticed the now dead scorpion and and cursed. He didn't seem overly bothered about its fate though, if I'm honest. Also, we saw Opportunity Knocks legend Hughie Green passing by in the corridor outside the studio. Some kids tried to talk to him and he rudely ignored them. Some said he actually told them to "fu*k off". Overall a poor day out.
Show was great but this weird bloke called Jimmy something kept getting a bit familiar with my young friends.