Click on a photo to enlarge it.
We stayed at the campground until Wednesday morning, and then drove to Hollywood Boulevard to see the famous Walk of Fame. We found a meter and put
the first quarter in but it didn't work! So we managed to get an hours parking for 25 cents instead of $1. We walked around the corner onto the main
boulevard and a man with a clipboard asked us if we wanted to see "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno for free as they needed to fill the audience!!
What a stupid question - if its for free we'll do it! He wrote out our tickets and then we had to race back to Winnie as we needed to get to the
NBC studios and find a parking spot within 45 minutes. There was a lot of traffic on the roads and we ended up having to run from where we parked
Winnie for about 10 minutes to get to the studios.
As it turned out we needn't have rushed as we ended up waiting in a queue for 30 minutes. We just managed to get to our seats which were right at
the back, when Jay Leno himself came on the stage wearing jeans and shirt. He told us what we could expect and that it would take about 2 hours to
tape the one hour show which would be shown on TV tonight. (It's called a Live taping!)
We were told to watch the "Applause" sign which would come on when we were to applaud, although it was pretty obvious and we didn't need the sign!
He got people up on the stage for photos and entertained us for about 15 minutes before he had to go and get ready for the show.
A crowd entertainer came on and got people up to dance - but only the good looking women with big boobs! - talk about silicon valley!! They were
all made to dance on their own to a short piece of music and was really quite embarrasing!
Finally at 4-30pm it was time to start the live taping and Jay Leno came back on stage to loud applause and cheering. Helen tried to stand up on
her seat which promptly flipped up and she nearly toppled over onto the row of people in front!! It took a while to get untangled as her foot had
got stuck down the back of the seat! Fortunately, there was so much noise that no one even noticed the commotion!
We were actually on the Jay Leno show!! Unbelievable! We were even caught on camera as they panned through the crowd - there were large screens up
so everyone could see what would actually be shown on the TV.
When it was time for a break, we all applauded and cheered and Jay Leno stayed on stage - various people coming up to him with clipboards and
whispering into his ear. Whilst Kevin Ewbanks and his band played throughout the break - great female singer.
The first guest was Dr Phil (we didn't know him either!) but apparently well known in the US - you have to be to get on the show! He dropped a real
bombshell. You may remember the case of a woman called Natalie who went missing in Aruba around May this year. The investigation showed that she
had been raped and murdered by at least 5 men. But Dr Phil said that he and the US authorities believe she is still alive and has been sold into
sex slavery which is apparently rife in Aruba!!
The second guest was Dennis Rodman - the wild child of the basketball scene and recently retired. He was dressed in way out clothes - tiger skin
pattern large brimmed hat, wild jacket and jean flares with red material triangles sown into the flares. Pierced everything!! He was quite funny.
Music was in the form of a live country band - Dwight Yoakam (never heard of him either!) but since then we've seen his face on billboards all over
the place announcing various concerts.
They had to play again later as there was something wrong with the first recording so we got two performances! Jay Leno also made a few booboos! He
messed up the punchline of a Madonna joke - Madonna announced this week that she was giving up her acting career. He should have said it was a
unanimous decision but he said anonymous decision instead and wondered why no one laughed!! Kevin Ewbanks put him right though!
He also got Dwight Yoakam's name wrong and said "House and Garden" instead of Home and Garden! Everything was left in except for the Yoakam slip up!
It was great entertainment and we can actually say we've been on the Jay Leno show!! Not many can say that! (Outside the US of course).
We got out of the studios at 5-45pm in the dark and still in our shorts! So we drove to Universal Studios to check out the parking and then found
a park and ride car park where we could stay for free.
It was very loud and we didn't sleep much but we still got up early on Thursday and drove into Universal Studios ($10 parking). We paid $55 each
for a ticket that is valid until December 2006 and multiple entry so we can come back for free as many times as we want. (We still have to pay for
the parking though).
We spent the whole day there and after getting photos with Shrek, we made the mistake of going onto the "Mummy" ride first - this is the worst (or
best depending on whether you like roller coaster rides in the pitch black!). Photos are taken automatically and we killed ourselves laughing at
our photos which showed abject terror!!
Unfortunately they wanted $17 for the photo which was too expensive for us, so we did our own re-creation outside. Then we went onto the Jurassic
park ride which entails an 84 ft drop into water at the end! More photos of abject terror!
84 ft drop into water - Jurassic Park.
With very shaky legs we went along to the "Special Effects" show which was excellent. (If we write all about it then it will spoil it for anyone
visiting in the future). Just don't miss it!
Special Effects.
After lunch we went to the Waterworld show which was also very good and very funny. The whole thing only lasts 30 minutes but real actors take part
and you also get wet unless you pick the right seats!
Waterworld show.
We then made the mistake of going to the Termintor 2 show. The pre show was very good but once seated in the auditorium we were all told that there
were technical difficulties and had to leave!
We got free tickets to see "According to Jim" which is a sitcom with Jim Belushi and which was being recorded later that evening. So we just had
time to get on the studio tour for 45 minutes. This was also very good and is a cross between a tour and a ride. Lots of special effects - flood
water, earthquake zone, King Kong and Jaws and you get to see the set of Steven Spielberg's "War of the Worlds".
Studio Tour - Universal Studios.
We went back to Winnie for a quick cup of coffee and then got onto the shuttle bus to take us to CBS Studios to see "According to Jim". It took
nearly 4.5 hours to shoot the 30 minute episode! It stars Jim Belushi, Courtney Thorne-Smith, Kimberley Williams Paisley and Larry Joe Campbell.
(What names!!)
But there was also a special guest star for this episode - Linda Hamilton of Terminator fame, amongst other films. It was really good fun to watch
even though the scenes were all shot at least twice and so you had to laugh at the same jokes! (The audience's laughter is taped for the show.)
But Jim Belushi is a very funny man and the cast would also change their lines if the audience didn't laugh enough the first time it was filmed.
We also had an entertainer who got the public to participate in various embarrassing things - like singing and hypnotism. He also gave away T
shirts and mugs and signed photos but you had to be blond with big boobs or over 70 to get anything! The only thing we got was a small "fun size"
chocolate bar which we had to catch as the entertainer threw them into the crowd!
There were TV monitors which showed what was actually going to be shown on the TV later and it was difficult to believe that we were actually
there live and not just watching this on TV. We had to force ourselves to watch the actors!
Of course there were lines forgotten and mistakes made and sometimes the whole scene would be reshot or just a small part. Courtney Thorne-Smith
really impressed us with her professionalism and Jim Belushi is just a great comedian. He serenaded us on a mouth organ at the start!
We also got fed - ham and cheese sandwich, bottled water and a cookie and all for free. Mind you, we had sore hands and throats afterwards from
all the clapping and laughing! But it was great to get so close to the actors and it almost felt as though we knew them personally!
We finally got back at 10-45pm and were quite exhausted. So we stayed on the car park for the night seeing as its open 24 hours and after paying
all that money to get in!
Well, we didn't actually sleep that well due to the car park cleaner at 3am and a loud helicopter hovering really low above us at 4-30am! Somehow
Kirsten didn't hear the helicopter and thought Helen was making the whole thing up!
But we still got up early and went back into Universal Studios. Our first stop was Van Helsing Fortress Dracula - yet again we made the mistake of doing
something really scary at the start!!! That certainly woke us up!
So we needed something a little easier on the senses (and heart) and went to see Shrek 4D - very good. There are various special effects that you
experience in your seat! Then we tried Terminator 2 again and this time we got to see the show which is not as good as the other shows!
Animal Planet Live is also very good - live animals doing various funny acts and only lasts about 15 minutes so is good for the kiddies (like us!!)
Animal Planet Live.
Then we went to see Waterworld again so that we could actually watch it instead of taking photos and video the whole time!
After lunch we went on the "Back to the Future" ride which was really good. Kirsten really did not want to do it because she remembered it from 8
years ago when she was here, and said that her legs were shaky for 2 hours afterwards!! But Helen managed to persuade her and she wondered why it
had so badly affected her the last time! It was really quite tame and nowhere near as bad as "The Mummy"!
At 5pm we got a shuttle to go and see another free filming of a sitcom - "Crumbs" with Fred Savage, Jane Curtain and William Devane. The only one
we know is William Devane of disaster movies fame.
"Crumbs" is a new sitcom and is being filmed as a "mid season replacement" for another sitcom that didn't make it any further than the first few
episodes. Well "Crumbs" won't make it either!! And William Devane is wasted on something like this! But at least our entertainer was good - very
funny and also a juggler with lots of tricks. Balancing first a stool on his chin whilst juggling and then a large set of ladders!!! How he could
balance them on his chin and still juggle we will never know! Even all the actors and "extras" watched him with amazement!
The writer of the sitcom was non too happy that the audience laughed more at the entertainer than at the show!!
More free gifts for the blondes with big boobs and the rest of us had to make do with a muffin and a cute little bottle of water.
Apparently it costs between $750,000 and 2 million to shoot one episode and the actors get paid whether the show makes it or not. As for us, well
the whole thing was free and the entertainment was good. Plus it was interesting to see a different show being filmed.
Another very long day - we didn't get back until 11pm and stayed for another, not so loud, night on the car park.
On Saturday, we had a lie in and then went back into the park at midday and did all three of the rides again. They weren't so scary the second time
around seeing as we knew what was coming! But Kirsten still had a really scary moment when she realised she didn't have her glass case (including
glasses) in her pocket any more! Fortunately someone had handed them in so she got them back. That would have been expensive!!
At 2-30pm we left the park and drove back to Hollywood Boulevard and this time managed to get to see the Walk of Fame along with all the hand and
footprints of the various stars. We even managed to find another free parking metre!!
Then we drove along Sunset Boulevard and down the famous Rodeo Drive - where all the excruciatingly expensives boutiques are and where "Pretty
Woman" was filmed with the famous scene of Julia Roberts being kicked out of the shops for not being properly dressed (a good sign of not having
enough money!)
Then we drove down to Venice Beach and found a spot in a side road for the night. On Sunday, we walked along the beach and amongst all the tacky
stores and stalls and did a bit of people watching. Then we headed further south along the coast and parked up amongst all the adobe houses in
the posh Rancho Palo Verde area.
What a week!
