An Incandescent Experience: Spending “Real Time With Bill Maher”
With our hectic work and class schedules, my friends and I were tempted to give away our free tickets to see Bill Maher’s new television show. Still, the microphone, located above our seats in the television studio, captured the proof that we made the right decision by going to the live taping. Along with the groans and laughs of other audience members, our applause could be heard in homes across the United States that evening.Attending a television taping of “Real Time With Bill Maher” is a reasonably inexpensive, intellectually stimulating, and celebrity-filled experience that I recommend to other ChaffeyCollege students.
Compared to many other activities for college students, Maher’s television taping is reasonably inexpensive. Events, such as attending the movies or a concert, will leave a group of college students with little money left. For example, my friends, Rommel, David, and Mark went with me to see a movie on a Friday night. To enter the theater, we had to pay $32.00 for the four of us. In addition to the entrance fee, we spent $23.00 on a bucket of popcorn and drinks because the smell of the butter was difficult to pass up and the salt from the popcorn left us thirsty. In two and a half hours at the movie theater, we spent $55.00 that could have been saved for college tuition fees. In contrast, the television taping cost very little. To drive from Rancho Cucamonga to Los Angeles and back, my friends and I spent $12.00 on fuel. To enter the television studio, we did not have to pay any money; we called and reserved four free tickets in advance. Unlike the movie theater with its expensive smells of hot buttered popcorn, the television studio does not allow visitors to consume food and drinks on the sound stage. For the three hour experience, the four of us paid $3.00 each. Compared to a $55.00 expensive movie experience, the television taping experience was more intellectually stimulating and less expensive.
Watching the taping is intellectually stimulating. Maher begins the evening with a series of intelligent jokes, focused on current events. Following the jokes, a round table issue discussion, featuring individuals with various political beliefs, addresses current events. For instance, in several, recently-taped episodes, Maher uses humor to introduce questions, related to the California recall election of Governor Gray Davis. In the episode we viewed at the studio, he begins with jokes about the recall election. “The U.S. economy went into a down turn,” says Maher, “falling right into the hands of Gray Davis.” Through his jokes, Maher raises questions, relating to whether or not Davis has become a scapegoat for California’s financial problems. Maher’s round table discussion provides a variety of answers about the scapegoat question. Listening to different points in favor, in opposition, and in question of the recall made me think about my own perspective. Also, my friends and I had an intelligent conversation on our drive from Los Angeles back to Rancho Cucamonga; we discussed the recall and other issues, raised by Maher’s star-studded panel. Attending a live television taping of Maher’s show is intellectually engaging, during the taping as well as after the taping of the program.
An hour from Rancho Cucamonga, the Bill Mahr television taping provides a celebrity-filled experience, unique to Los Angeles. Los Angeles is known for being the capital of entertainment. Hollywood is a tourist stop for seeing a variety of television and movie stars. Although celebrities are not likely to frequent the movie theater near ChaffeyCollege, these elusive individuals visit Los Angeles sound stages, such as the sound stage for Maher’s show. On the evening we attended, D.L. Hughley as well as the creator of the cartoon, The Boondocks, presented their opinions. Maher announced that evening that Alec Baldwin would be appearing the following week. These guests exemplify the variety of stars, appearing in person during the television taping.
No matter the amount of money in their wallets, their opinions on the subjects of discussion, or their opinions of the celebrity guests, including host Bill Maher, college students should have a really engaging time at this television show taping. Beginning in late July, students can call for free tickets for the current season. Students should visit the show’s web site for additional information.