The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

Over the holidays we had a house guest named Ruth. She’s a friend of Polly’s who is a touring theatrical hairdresser. For the last 6 months she’s been working on Jersey Boys in San Francisco. She called the other day telling us that she was going to be in town this afternoon to work the Tonight Show.

When I heard this, I thought “Hot Damn!” maybe she could hook us up with some tickets. She did, but Polly had to work, so I went by myself and had a great time seeing how a big time Live, TV show is shot.

I got to the studio around 3 PM and noticed the long line of people waiting to get in. I parked and went around back to guest relations where Ruth had put us on the guest list. I was ushered back to the green room where there was some food and drinks. After a bite, I was taken to my seat. So this was the Tonight Show Studio! I was happy and excited.

Jay Leno came out in blue jeans and a denim shirt, before the show started and told the audience how the taping would go. He said the show was live to tape and that there wouldn’t be any stopping. Mistakes and all would be in the finished show.

The guests on tonight’s show were actor, Terrence Howard, comedian, Bruce Fine, and music from the hit show - Jersey Boys

My eyes scanned all the shit hanging from the ceiling. There where tons of lights, TV monitors, speakers, mics, wires. They had 6 HD cameras rolling. 4 big studio cameras, one on a telescoping jib arm and another roving. Pretty impressive operation.

The show ran smoothly and Jay Leno was funny. The interview, comedy and music made for a good hour show with probably 10 to 15 minutes of commercials.

Thanks Ruth for hooking me up with a cool afternoon at the NBC Studios in Burbank (a short 10 min. drive from our house).