My experience watching game shows live - for free!

Art by Faye Deetsch

I’m a huge fan of reality TV and game shows. Over COVID, I binged America’s Got Talent, The Voice, World of Dance, Jeopardy, Master Chef, Survivor, and many more. It recently occurred to me that I live in Los Angeles and have the chance to be part of the live studio audience for many of these shows, any time, for completely free. With this knowledge in mind, my family booked tickets to see the America’s Got Talent finale in September.

The process of getting a ticket was pretty easy. All you have to do is go to their website and sign up. The organization “On Camera Audiences” promotes eleven shows you can “grab free tickets” to. It’s completely free, but the times can be difficult to fit into a school schedule because they’re mostly on week days. 

This is my opinion on watching some of these shows live, taking into account location and enjoyment.

America’s Got Talent

This show is filmed in Pasadena, which is closer to Eagle Rock than somewhere like the Universal Studios Lot. My parents and I got to the area early, around 4 pm, and ate dinner before the show. I thought that there would be a long line to get in, but we waited for around five minutes before going through security and being ushered into the theatre. The inside looked just like it did on TV, the four judges’ names displayed in vibrant lettering above the biggest stage I had ever seen.

All photos by Ellie-Cole Calderon, AGT Stage

They told us to be in our seats by 5:30 for the "pre-performance,” (a bit they would edit into the actual episode later), and the live taping started at 6. The entire time, we were guided by the staff on exactly how to act: enthusiastically. We were instructed never to sit down, wave our hands in the air, and react to every little detail. Jump, scream, cheer, gasp, anything that made it look like the most riveting performance we had ever seen. It was overstimulating and intense, but also fun to be a part of such an over-the-top show. There were incentives for being the most excited fan; if you were sitting in the balcony and were whooping the entire time, there was a chance you’d get moved to the front row near the judges. I was trying my best to cheer, but it got tiring after a while, and they warned us that we would have to keep it up for two hours.

It was cool to see the behind-the-scenes; when commercial breaks happened, the motivator would keep instructing us, or play little games with the audience. Then, when we had ten seconds left, we would all get on our feet again and cheer. I attended the finale results, so there weren’t many actual acts from contestants, but there were lots of special appearances from singers, dancers, and magicians. I was a little disappointed I didn’t get to see the acrobatic acts live because they were all pre-recorded. It would’ve been a lot more fun to be in the main stage area rather than where I couldn’t even see the judges, but either way, it was very exciting.

Jeopardy!

This experience was completely different, but equally as entertaining. The ticket-buying process was also very simple, going through the same website. I went to the 3:00 pm taping on a short Tuesday, but there were plenty of other times available. I arrived at 1:45 pm at an impromptu-looking folding table, red carpet, and 15 or so benches in a parking lot. The signs around it said Jeopardy, but the area was almost understated. The people there were almost all older than 35, and I later learned that almost everyone was there either for the first time or had been going to these tapings for years. I grabbed a green wristband from the people at the table, sat down, and waited for around 30 minutes, when we were all ushered through a security table and into a waiting room.

Waiting Area

Plush couches, chairs, and 70 inch TV screens, and cardboard cutouts lined the sides of the room. Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune are both NBC productions, so both were advertised on banners on the walls. There was a merch room full of overpriced branded hoodies that I wish I bought. At 2:45, everyone lined up to walk to Stage 10, the dedicated Alex Trebek lot. 

The audience had to be very quiet inside the studio because of the nature of the game show. When contestants were answering, we had to be silent or else we’d be kicked out. The atmosphere felt more close-knit, and the audience was able to talk directly to Ken Jennings (the host), and ask him questions. He was very chatty and made sure to include us in the process. It was nice to not have to be screaming constantly, though I did miss getting enthusiastic. We sat behind the jib - a big mechanical arm with a camera on it - and I could see the episode being edited together on computers right in front of me. 

Walking to the studio

Two episodes are filmed per session, each lasting an hour. The whole process takes around 4 hours, but for me, it was worth it. Watching it felt very relaxed and would be great if you’re looking to go with your parents or grandparents. It didn’t amp me up as much as I would have liked, but it reflected the actual show’s subdued nature, and I still had fun getting to see what happens behind the cameras.

There are lots of shows that offer a live studio audience viewing for free. 1iota.com offers tickets to The Voice, but they are 18+. Keeping up with the schedule of these websites can be hard, but keep in mind that tapings of The Voice are happening on December 15th and 16th, and Celebrity Jeopardy is recording for the next couple of months. So get these tickets while they’re hot; enjoy living in a place where you can experience a behind-the-scenes of a Hollywood TV show.