If you ever wanted to know more about what happens behind the scenes at the Early Show on CBS, let me tell you about something that happened there a few days ago.
I was standing in the studio at 59th and 5th Avenue very early the morning of Aug. 8th, wondering if the rain was going to stop long enough so that I could do my “Fencing Options” live segment planned for the outside plaza. The rain didn’t stop and got so bad that it started leaking on the inside of the studio along the front and one side.
The water seeped into the lower control rooms and offices and caused a dangerous situation since we all know lots of electrical equipment and lots of water do not mix. At this point, it was 6:15 a.m. and the show was to go live in 45 minutes to over 3.5 million households across the country.
Let me stop right there and say the staff and crew at The Early Show are awesome!
The decision was made that the show had to move to the Broadcast Center, and the entire staff of over 40 people and guests made the journey over to the studios of the Evening News with Katie Couric approx. 15 blocks away by jumping in every available cab, we could find some of the crew riding in the back of prop trucks.
I caught a cab with Dave Price, who was receiving his weather info for the day over his cell phone while we were traveling fast to get to the studio. Props, computers, music tracks, graphics, wardrobe, and even my bulky fence sections and tools somehow made it, and the show went live on time. I still don’t know how they did that.
It’s like any fine-tuned machine; when tough times hit, you work together with the same goal in mind, and your effort is successful. I am glad to be a part of this amazing team of professionals at the Early Show.
As I write this, I’m jumping on a plane to head back to NY for a segment that will air on Wed. Aug. 15th. I will be announcing a special opportunity for viewers of the Early Show to send in their ideas for different green living approaches and methods with chances to win a $3,000 gift card.
Then we have a very busy week of taping more segments for our 10th Season that starts 3rd week in September.
