SoCal Disney

Tag: Live Audience Filming

  • Webmaster Greg on the Wizards Set!

    It’s not everyday you achieve a lifelong goal. Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an overstatement, but I did fulfill a huge dream of mine when I attended the Wizards of Waverly Place filming on Tuesday (02/02/10) in Hollywood.

    Wizards of Waverly Place Filming

    Now, if you follow Todd Greenwald on twitter, you would know that tuesday’s episode was huge: “Shooting another episode of Wizard’s today that I know many of you will be happy to see. That’s all I can say about it… Hehe.”

    Now, I’m not gonna say anything about what happened in the episode except to say that it involves Wizards vs. Werewolves and that I took a picture with a certain blond that I’m sure you’ll recognize.

    Bridgit Mendler and myself at the Wizards of Waverly Place filming

    The coolest thing was that Bridgit Mendler actually remembered me from the Good Luck Charlie filming! Her GLC co-star Jason Dolley remembered me too. 🙂

    Jason Dolley and myself at the Wizards of Waverly Place filming

    Sorry, this was supposed to be about Wizards. I got to meet Selena, Jake, and David. No not David Henrie, David DeLuise.

    David DeLuise and myself at the Wizards of Waverly Place filming

    He’s a really cool guy. Jake was fun to talk with as well. But of course, I was there to see Selena. And not only did I speak with her without making a fool of myself, I got a picture with her…

    Selena Gomez and myself at the Wizards of Waverly Place filming

    ..and an awesome autograph to frame and hang on the wall. 🙂

    My Selena Gomez Autograph(Click here for the photoshoot that picture is from.)

    I’m still shocked that they actually let us all play on the sets. The GLC filming kept us all up in the audience area.

    Wizards of Waverly Place Audience Area

    But I actually got to walk around the Waverly sub station!

    Wizards of Waverly Place Set: The Waverly sub station

    This was by far the coolest thing I’ve ever done. Trumping both my last meeting with Selena and my Ashley Tisdale concert.

    But before I wrap up this post, I wanted to make sure you all know about the Save Wizards of Waverly Place movement hosted by Save Disney Shows.

    Disney hasn’t yet renewed the series for season four. They’d be crazy not to, but this is the same company that canceled Phil of the Future after only two seasons. We need as many fans as possible to write to Disney and let them know that they need to order a fourth season. Hopefully we can nudge Disney into making the obvious decision before they do something really stupid…

  • Greg sees Good Luck Charlie

    I know everyone’s talking about those new Miley Cyrus bikini pics, but for me today was all about Bridgit Mendler and Jason Dolley’s new show about Good Luck Charlie. I went to the filming of episode #111 “Kit and Kaboodle” today at the Sunset Bronson Studios in Hollywood California.

    Sunset Bronson Studios

    I’ve never been to a live filming before, and I have to say it was a lot of fun! The audience was some 140 people (five rows of 38 chairs) with 22 ticketed guests, roughly 70 kids from school groups, and the other 50 where reserved for special guests. Besude me sat two guests of Ryan Newman!

    Speaking of Ryan Newman (you might remember her as Young Miley on HM or as Ginger on Zeke and Luther) she has a guest spot in this episode as the love interest of the youngest brother (played by Bradley Perry)

    But I’m getting ahead of myself. We where seated in the audience area at about 4:20 pm. Once we where settled in, they started by showing us the first episode of the series, to introduce us to the characters. We learn that the mom is a nurse, and it’s her first day going back to work. Her husband Bob runs an exterminator business (Bob’s Bugs be Gone) and assures her that baby Charlie will be fine. Meanwhile, Teddy is trying to kiss “the hottest guy in school” and keeps getting interrupted.

    I was honestly quite impressed. It’s the first show since Lizzie that actually features a normal family (no pop stars or wizards) with normal problems. It’s a refreshing change, with good characters and great pacing.

    Next, they brought out the crew and began filming the first of four scenes with the live audience. The rest of the episode (which required sets in other places) had been prerecorded earlier this week – including the scenes with Ryan Newman. We the audience, watched the tape of the previous sections to provide the laughs and then paused to watch each live scene as it was filmed. So despite the fact that it was filmed out of order, we still saw the entire episode in order.

    In “Kit and Kaboodle”, the eldest brother (Jason Dolley) takes Charlie to work with him in order to get bigger tips. Teddy (Bridgit Mendler) babysits the neighbor’s cat Kaboodle. And Gabe (Bradley Perry) falls for Ryan Newman’s character but his lies get him in trouble.

    Burring the breaks in the filming, our “audience warn up guy” did trivia from the first episode, a name the song type of competition (the first song was the KP Theme song! :)), a spelling competition, and a comedy open mic. Everyone got a raffle ticket for showing up, and everyone that “won” got a bonus raffle ticket. He raffled off five autographed photos, two autographed GLC script covers, and three DVDs.

    I won the second item! A signed Sonny with a Chance photo! 😀

    Sonny with a Chance Autographs

    Needless to say, I was excited to actually win! I never seem to win anything, so I was shocked when my number was called. They also gave us candy (as if the kids weren’t hyper enough already) and pizza.

    After the filming was finished, we where able to get autographs from the cast. 🙂 And I was able to tell Jason Dolley and Bridgit Mendler about my Good Luck Charlie Fansite: Good-Luck-Charlie.com. And I tweeted them too, just in case. 🙂

    Good Luck Charlie Autographs

    The mom, played by Leigh Allyn Baker signed on the back of my card. She reminds me a lot of Nicole Sullivan!

    Good Luck Charlie Autographs

    Now, my rule is always to see three episodes before I judge a new series, but I can’t wait until April to make up my mind. So I’m gonna go out on a limb and predict that this show is gonna be a hit. I was a little skeptical going in, but after seeing it played out I’m convinced that it will work. And I eagerly await the premiere of the show so I can see more! 🙂