Telemonegal Television Show Taping

Having lived in southern California for almost twenty years, I've had the chance to see a bunch of movies and television shows being made. For example, just about a year ago, when I was back in Los Angeles, I went to a taping of my friend John John's T.V. show, The Daily Habit. Regardless, I'm not some sort of spoiled snob like some people in California when it comes to "the Hollywood thing". Nope. I still get a kick out of seeing movies and television shows being made and even the occasional star sighting. Just like you, I have that deep-down dream of one day "being discovered". I know that living outside of New York or L.A. has reduced the chances of me somehow becoming famous (one can still hope) or even seeing something getting made...

So, it was with great excitement when my friend Pau Whatsapp'd me and said that he'd gotten tickets to the taping (do they still use that word?) of a local Barcelona television show. The show, Telemonegal, is produced at the Barcelona Television studios in the Vila Olimpica part of town right near where I play soccer sometimes.

Just like everything else in Spain, the taping starts late - like around 9pm in this case. I'm not sure why it's done so late because it's on like a 30-minute tape delay. We checked in at the lobby and waited with about a dozen other folks in attendance to be led to the studio where the show is filmed. The space looks like every other sound stage that I've ever been on with the bright lights, false backgrounds, cameras, less-than-Ikea-quality furniture, and a bunch of employees hanging around.

Pau and I with some members of the studio audience waiting for the show to start:

About ten minutes before the taping started, the star of the show, Ferran Monegal, arrived on the set and started reviewing his notes. There was a brief on-air discussion with a newscaster who was working the show before his about the night's show. The show itself is sort of like a cross between John Stewart and The (Talk) Soup (but more serious and less political) where the host shows video of and discusses today's current political, talk show, and sports events during the first half of the show and does an interview during the second half of the show. In this photo, Monegal is on the left and, that evening's interviewee, ex-Barça player, Carles Rexach, is on the right getting his makeup done:

The show was a lot of fun even if I couldn't really understand some of it since it was in Catalan. Guess what! I got my 15 seconds of fame during the show. About a minute or so before the show started, Monegal asked each of us in the audience where we were from. I wanted to say Poble Sec but Pau said that I should say the United States. Well, every time the U.S. came up during the show, the camera panned over to me and showed my silly grinning mug for a few seconds (yes it feels like minutes and yes the camera adds at least ten pounds!). You can watch the show if you'd like as it's now posted at the show's website. My first cameo is at just over two minutes into the show.

Just before we left, Pau got his photo with Rexach and Monegal:

It wasn't until about five minutes later that I thought that I should have gotten my photo with them as well. Oh well, it was a very fun and interesting evening...they even gave us T-shirts! But I'm still waiting for an agent to call me! Didn't someone see me? I'm a star now, don't you know???

Thanks once again Pau!