So how many of you can say you have had the chance to be part of a live audience?
Well, living in New York City you get that chance if you pay attention to Twitter and all those other good up to the minute news sources that post things like this. This morning I got up at the dark, cold hour of 5 AM to stand in line to see Anderson Cooper’s new talk show Anderson Live!
So I stood in line in the cold, 50 degree weather ( I know, maybe I’m a little bit of a drama queen) equipped with my pumpkin coffee and my bagel to see my favorite silver fox (well besides Roger Sterling on Mad Men).
We got inside and had to sign all those fun release forms saying we wouldn’t tweet or say anything about the show until it aired (obviously or else I would have been live tweeting up a storm for you guys) and then FINALLY it came time to get on set.
The production crew was GREAT. The main assistant that talked to the crowd was actually hilarious and REALLY got the crowd in the mood, even though it was only 8 AM. We had a few dance offs, some trivia and tons of others games during the pre-show and during commercials. I, of course, was overlooked in the dance contest because my moves were clearly those of a winner/pro dancer, but I won’t hold it against them.
The man of the hour, literally because the show is only an hour 
, came out looking dapper as always and introduced his co-host of the day, Rhetta of “Parks and Recreation.” They bantered about the beauty of Joel McHale and other pressing topics, not that I was complaining because it meant a picture of McHale graced the projectors for quite a while.
Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena were Cooper’s first guests promoting their new movie “End of Watch,” where Jake has considerable less hair. They talked about how they prepared for their role as South Central L.A. cops by actually studying real police officers in that area. Then Jake went on to talk about this break dancing debut and his family life, including his role as an uncle. And yes, Jake is 100% beautiful, but the beard has got to go.
Everyone got their own copy of the book!
Pattie Mallette, for those of you who don’t know that’s Justin Biebers mom, was the next guest. Her memoir Nowhere But Up: The Story of Justin Bieber’s Mom was released on September 18th and it reveals quite a bit we did not know about this celeb mom. She talked to Cooper about her hard upbringing that included drugs, addiction, sexual abuse, a suicide attempt, and a baby at 18.
One audience member asked what Justin thought of the memoir, which was my question because it couldn’t have been easy not only to find all of those things out about your mom, but have the whole world reading about them. Pattie answer gracefully, saying that Justin had read the book before it was published and actually wrote the foreword for it.
We just can't help but keep on loving the Biebs.
Overall, I’d say it was a great experience. Not only did I get to see some of my favorite stars, but I learned a lot about TV production and how a talk show comes together. Maybe I’m even a little but more interested in the behind the scene of TV now. Hey Anderson, need any interns? ..Just kidding Z!NG!
Sarah Rzasa is a writer and a self proclaimed pretend social media guru. She spends most of her time hopelessly plotting how she can turn her life into an episode of Sex and the City over a coconut iced coffee. Follow her on twitter for a series of embarrassing quotes and life moment.
