Personal Yummy #4 (Part 2)
After enjoying a morning cup of coffee (for me) and a cup of green tea with honey (for my mom) in my cozy apartment the following morning after our wonderful evening at Feinstein’s/54 Below, we got ready to go and jumped in another cab, on our way to see if we could get into The Dr. Oz Show. We would’ve taken the bus there (my mom is not a fan of taking the subway, which I completely understand), but we got up a bit too late and left my apartment much later than we had planned.
We headed up 86th Street, and as we approached Fifth Avenue, my mom commented that it was really too bad that we were unable to get tickets to see Rita Wilson perform that evening at Café Carlyle. She was making her return there that week with her show Rita Wilson: Liner Notes. “I know,” I replied, feeling regretful. “That would’ve been so nice.” I had called and tried to reserve tickets the prior week, but they were all sold out. I sat there for a moment, thinking. Not one to give up, I said, “You know what, Mom? It can’t hurt to try again. You never know—someone may have canceled…” So I used my phone to search for the number, and then I called. The man who answered directed my call to the reservation line, and I waited, filled with hope. But it didn’t work out to our liking. “Oh well,” my mom said, smiling gently. “Something to look forward to next time.”
Eventually, we made it to the West Side, on our way to 320 West 66th Street. But as the cab took us farther and farther west on 66th street toward the water, my mom began to question if we were going in the right direction. It seemed as if we were headed toward the large studio at the end of the block where we had seen The View many years before, and my mom was almost sure that the show was still filmed there, so she thought that that particular studio couldn’t be the correct one. Plus, the numbers on the buildings lining 66th Street weren’t of any help—for some reason, they didn’t seem to be sequential in certain spots. And, to top it all off, the cab driver was as confused as we were.
At long last, we got out of the cab, and we started walking toward the water, but when I saw the number on the building across the next avenue, it didn’t make sense to continue going that way, so we headed a couple of blocks in the other direction. This, however, proved to be a bad decision. We stopped for a moment and I looked again at the map I had pulled up on my phone, and I told my mom that I thought that we needed to head back toward the water, and that it must be the same studio that The View is filmed in. Of course, I could have saved us all of this trouble if I had used Google Maps in the first place, but what can I say? I’ve lived in the city for many years now and didn’t think it would be necessary. Besides, to be totally honest, I’ve never really used Google Maps to get anywhere. I prefer writing the directions down.
“Want to jump in another cab?” I asked my mom, realizing that it was a lot of running back and forth.
“Do you think it’s even worth it? It’s already past one now…”
I deliberated for just a few seconds, and then, “Sure. Let’s give it a shot.”
We flagged down another cab, and we took it all the way to the end of the street near the water, about a block past where the other cab driver had dropped us off. We were finally pretty sure we were in the right spot, because as we approached what we thought was the correct building, we could see a very long line of people waiting against the wall.
After questioning a few of the people who were standing on line (or “in line,” if you are not from the northeast part of the United States), we found out that they all already had tickets. I looked for someone who may be working for the show, and I saw a young man in a dark blue sweater, and with a walkie-talkie in his hand, approaching us. I immediately thought that he must be cold, because it was a rather windy and chilly day, but he seemed to be heated up from all of his responsibilities. I asked him if there was a standby line, and he said that there definitely was one, and he directed us to go all the way up to the front of the line, and to stand in the small area that was marked off to the side. At that point I had a good feeling that we might be able to get into the show, and I was touched by how friendly and helpful the young man was.
It turned out that there was only one other person in the standby line other than us, which really surprised us (we’ve gone to see many other talk shows over the years, and there have always been many people in the standby line). She was a middle-aged woman from New Jersey who had driven into the city for the day to try to get into as many talk shows as possible. “Yes, I do this every now and then. I just bounce around from one show to another. It’s so fun, and I enjoy the city so much.” We told her how we had trouble finding the studio because we thought that The View was filmed there, not Dr. Oz. “Oh, yes, it used to be taped here. But now it’s taped over at the ABC studios on 66th, between Columbus and Central Park West,” she explained.
It was good to have that cleared up.
Nevertheless, it turned out that our running around and our confusion were worth it. We didn’t have any trouble getting into the show, and we had a great time. They taped a lot of extra segments that day, so we got to see more than most audiences usually get to see on any given day. Most of the segments focused on what you can do to take care of your heart, and the information was very interesting and quite helpful. But what my mom and I were most impressed about was the quality of Dr. Oz’s heart. A seasoned professional—notably natural and easy in front of the camera—he was so kind and caring to all of his guests, especially between the segments, and especially when he could sense that a guest was nervous or needed to try to explain something again. “You want to try that one more time? Yes, let’s do that,” he said to a guest who had been chosen from the audience and who had stumbled over her words a bit on the first try. “It’s all good. It will be fine this time.” Moreover, he would compliment the guests who had more experience in front of the camera, telling one doctor during a break: “Wow, that was outstanding. To memorize all of that, and then to deliver it so clearly. Wow.”
Furthermore, we were impressed by how attractive he was, what good shape he was in, and how he interacted with the audience. At one point between the segments, when they needed to take some time to change the set and to apply makeup to some of the guests, Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” was playing. What do you know? There was Dr. Oz smiling and singing and interacting with the audience as he slowly snapped his fingers and sultrily moved and danced across the floor.
Dr. Oz: a skilled surgeon, a gentle heart, and an effective communicator with the ability to be fun and spontaneous.
It was an afternoon well spent.
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