The Big Bang Theory

I had the chance to get standby tickets online for my mom, brother, and I. We got there at exactly 3. Parked in the gate 3 parking structure, check in was on the first level. There are 3 sections: guaranteed ticket holders, standby ticket holders, and VIP. The standby line was in between the other 2 lines. So since we arrived at 3, we were numbers 65 – 67. We really didn’t know if we were going to get in since they usually only take up to 40 standby tickets but decided to chance it.
They started checking people in at about 3:30, since we arrived only 30 minutes prior we didn’t get great seats. We were in the last section to the left (facing the stage) but nonetheless we were greatful we even got in! I think they stopped at 70. So the earlier you go, the better the seats.
Ok so once inside, absolutely no phones allowed. Must leave it in the car or leave it with security with your i. d and collect it at the end of the show. It gets pretty cold in there so take a jacket and wear tennis shoes, I wore sandals and my feet got terribly cold.
Ok now onto the warmup comedian who’s job was to keep you entertained in between takes of the show. He was incredibly annoying after a while. His jokes were old and at certain points he took it way too far. He went as far as to call a lady an oompaloompa. His magic tricks were old as well. He tried his best to keep the audience pumped up, but by the second half of the show the audience was kind of over him. And as far as his ‘competitions’ for candy, he never even looked at our side of the stage. He only picked audience people from the right side and center (facing the stage), which was a bummer since some of us actually wanted to play his silly games. Apparently he’s been there for all nine seasons, which explains why he’s still there. In my opinion they should find a new entertainer.
About 20 minutes before the show ended, the show provided pizza and water. The pizza was very cold, but it was free so can’t complain. They do allow you to bring snacks in, just don’t eat them while they’re filming or else they’ll have to redo the shot.
Overall, it was a treat to watch my favorite actors on my favorite show. It was excellent and I will be returning next season!

My experience with standby was similar to the most recent post by Derek G.
I took an Über up so I wouldn’t have to worry about being allowed to park, plus my husband was coming up to meet me. I got there around 12:15 and I was able to get a spot in the shade along with the 20 – 25 people in front of me. My husband brought up chairs and in umbrella within 30 mins. They let him park but did say they weren’t supposed to. I packed snacks and a small lunch cooler with water. I would suggest bringing a book, maybe a speaker and extra battery for your phone. We were able to put all this stuff in our car before so no worries on that. They also have a little food vendor inside for the Ellen show people and coke and candy machines. Bring change for those things.
At 3:30 they came and got us and brought us into the parking garage. They told us to bring our stuff to our cars and then started checking us in. There were a few people in line that were guaranteed tickets and they were moved to another line. There were about 100 people there then add VIP and guests. My husband and I were 20 and 21. They took people in 20 at a time. So he waited with me to make sure we both got in. They let in another 20 people and likely another 5 – 10 after that. I’ve heard they have let in at most around 50 standbys and that was about right. Although it could be as little as 5 people. Just be sure to try to get there by 12 to be on the safe side. Some got there as early as 8 am.
We were walked over and we kept our phones and security just had us put them on silent and in a plastic bag with our ID which they held until after the show. Once inside we were given our seats center but back row. Even if your seat isn’t great there are screens to show you what’s being filmed at that moment. Pizza (cold) for dinner, I was glad I brought snacks because it was later on when we got to eat. Also, it was freezing in there I was glad I brought my airplane blanket. Even Kaley had a blanket on her between shots and had hand warmers. The hype guy threw out candy. Johnny and Kaley popped onto the railing to say thanks for coming. They flew through their scenes and we were out by about 9:30 pm, even after a light blew and they had to replace and reset.
Hope this helps, and have fun!

I figured I’d write a review since there weren’t any recent ones. I went to a taping on 9÷9÷15 with stand-​by tickets. We arrived at 12:30 because we really wanted to get in. we ended up being numbers 17 and 18 :(… There were about 20 – 25 people already waiting when we pulled up. After about an hour, there were a considerable amount of people there, and we decided to just sit in order of arrival so there wasn’t any confusion later.
So at 3:30, Audiences Unlimited showed up and divided us into guaranteed and standby seats. There were about 40+ or so in the stand-​by line at that time.
They started moving in the guaranteed ticket holders about an hour after that, and about 12 of the stand-​bys. There were a bunch of «VIP guests» who were showing up and they took about 25 of the seats.
Right before the show, a rep said they could take 15 more people, so we were obviously excited and unfortunately, only about 25 – 30 stand-​by ticket holders got in for that show. The studio doesn’t hold any more than 200 people TOPS… it’s a lot smaller than what I pictured.
Luckily, I got to sit in front of Sheldon and Leonard’s apartment.
Go extra early, and walk down to the sandwich shop a short distance away… One sandwich can feed two people.

my family and i are from hawai’i and visited LA couple weeks ago. knowing we were gonna be in the area, we decided to go big and attempt to get big bang theory tickets! we were lucky enough to get in with stand-​by tickets!!! i actually managed to get regular tickets, but my sisters only got stand-​by tickets, so i can actually write a review about both sides of this ticket process.
so there are 2 process to this show: first, getting your tickets. and second, getting into the show with stand-​by tickets. let me break it down for ya:
TICKETS:
the process of getting tickets are not easy. all tickets are obtained through Audiences Unlimited. all tickets are free and because this show is sooooo popular, you’ll be lucky to get your hands on regular/​stand-​by tickets. tickets are released 30days before the taping date at 8:30am LA time. because this show tapes on a tuesday, 30days before usually falls on a saturday; therefore, the tickets are released that following monday. if i were you, i would study the website very carefully, just so you’re recognized with how the process works. also, because this is a WB studio taping, you are required to submit separate requests. so if you’re going with other people, it would be wiser if you all book your own tickets because regular tickets «sell out» less than 10 mins it’s released on the site and you won’t have time to book your own and then go back in to request another ticket. not to mention, because there are so many people trying to get tickets, refreshing takes FOREVER and it web errors a lot. if you are one of the lucky ones to get through and obtain regular tickets, then congrats, you’re in! just gotta make sure you arrive 90mins before the show starts. but if you miss it, once they «sell out» of regular tickets, they then release the stand-​by tickets soon after. this too «sells out» less than 10mins, so you have to act quick! if you manage to get your hands on stand-​by tickets, then congrats, you got one foot through the door! but don’t get too excited b/​c it’s not guaranteed you’ll get. it all depends on how many regular ticket holders show up and how many VIP guests the producers let in. you my friend are now the seat-​fillers and just pray you get in!
SHOW (for stand-​by):
park at WB gate 3 and the benches for when you wait is on the first floor. if you’re regular ticket holders, then there’s not much to write b/​c you’re pretty much guaranteed to get in, as long as you arrive at least 90mins before the show starts. the only thing i can add is arrive early if you want good seats. other than that, you’re fine and will have a great experience when you get in there.
ok now, i speak to my stand-​by ticket friends. i wanna say they release over 100 stand-​by tickets, so if you really wanna get in and have nothing else to do that day, i would suggest arriving really early, like 11am. make sure to bring something to do while you wait because you’re gonna be there for awhile. also, no phones or cameras are allowed once you get into the studio. so if you drove, be sure to put your phones in your car before you head into the studio. if you got dropped off, you can leave it with the security guard and pick it up at the end of the show.
the show starts at 630pm, and my sisters and I didn’t show up until 345pm. because i was the only one with a regular ticket, i decided to chance it and forgo my regular ticket and sit with my sisters in the stand-​by line b/​c i knew if i got in and they didn’t, i wouldn’t have enjoyed the show as much. but yeah, we ended up being stand-​by ticket #81−84. i’m not gonna lie, we didn’t think we were gonna make it in being that far in line. after they take in all the regular ticket holders and VIP guests, then they slowly start pulling in the stand-​by ticket holders. by 6pm, they stopped taking in stand-​by people and made an announcement to the remaining guests that they’re currently filling in the seats and won’t know how many seats are open until later. 615pm comes by, the lady finally comes back and tells us they can take in 13 more people (my sisters and i just made it in with one more person behind me! talk about a close call!) but held back 10 more people just in case. everyone else behind those 10 had no chances on getting in. we literally cried when we were told we made it in! we then got lined up, crossed the street from the WB gate 3 parking lot to the studio area. we passed through 2 security guards. the second guard is located inside the studio of the taping. they check your bags and you walk through a metal detector. this is the security guard you leave your phone with if you still have it with you. he places it in a plastic ziplock bag, along with your ID so he can identify you with your belongings.
there’s a stand-​up comedian that gets the crowds’ adrenaline pumped up during the breaks and the studio also feeds you (cold) pizza and water! this show was a great experience!!!

I love the Big Bang Theory; I think it’s the greatest show on earth!
However the process though of getting a ticket to the Big Bang Theory is the biggest pain; it’s not worth it unless you really really like the show. Tickets are obtained at Audiences Unlimited which does most sitcoms in Hollywood. Their site is easy and quick until you want to get tickets for this show which usually come out Mondays. The problem is that their website sucks on this day. It constantly times out and has web errors assuming from so many people overloading it with requests for this show. It reminds me of trying to call a radio station when they are doing a giveaway or a casting director at Central Casting when they’ve put a job on their recorded line. You would think Audiences Unlimited would invest in more bandwidth but I assume since it’s the only show that does this they don’t see the need. So if you want a ticket to this show you really have to be very patient and have nothing to do for a few hours Monday morning. I’ve been lucky enough to get through twice and both times I’ve literally spent 2 hours trying to get tickets and these weren’t even real tickets but standby tickets. I’ve never ever seen a regular ticket, I don’t know if they even exist. Also you can only request 1 ticket at a time. They say this has something to do with the studio so if you want to go with your friend it’s best that both of you do it separately. It’s possible to request 1 ticket then go back to do another but you also run the risk of space being gone by the time you are finally able to get through again
If you are lucky enough to have snagged a standby ticket pat yourself on the back. It doesn’t end here though because there is still a very likely chance you won’t get in. It really just depends on how many family and friends VIP tickets they have given out who don’t show up. That is what the standby audience is for.
The first time I went with a standby ticket I didn’t get in and I got there early. The next time I got there really, really early and I was still like the 10^th person in line. Though this is all annoying to do this for a ticket you can see really it reflected in the audiences that shows up. The audience at the Big Bang Theory are true, true, loyal, loving fans who are willing to come early and wait a whole day to see the show just like the old days where people would camp out somewhere to get tickets to a rock concert. Most of them are wearing Big Bang Theory shirts, hats, sweatshirts, etc and it’s like a little community when you are waiting, kind of like the parking lot at a Grateful Dead concert without all the tie dye and drugs. I’m naturally a little shy in big groups of people but I felt very comfortable and outgoing here. It was easy to mingle with people I guess since everyone shared a common interest. I met 2 girls that said they went every week, I met some foreign tourists that just adored the show and were giddy that they got to go to a ‘real Hollywood TV taping’, I met a pilot from back East who was attending the taping during a layover between flights.
For the taping I would prepare to make it a day production. Bring a book, magazines, snacks,-lots of them, a lawn chair or somewhere to sit comfortably because bench space is limited, bring cards or other games to play with the new friends you’ll make. Bring sunscreen, a hat, better yet a small umbrella because part of the parking lot (yes, you are actually in a parking lot waiting) doesn’t have shade. It’s actually pretty fun as long as you treat it as a day– long event and come prepared.
As for the show I was lucky enough to get a seat in the front row which made the experience so much better, I think it would be different if I was in the back rows because you can’t see as much. You can tell that this cast and crew of this show were very special. At the end of the taping Kaley and Kunal gave out autographs. They thanked everyone and said that they were happy to be there and were happy to be able to be working in something that they loved. I wish Jim Parsons would have come out but he probably would have gotten mobbed due to Sheldon’s popularity.
I love this show and felt it was a great experience; I would definitely go again however the whole process would have been the biggest pain in the ass had I not absolutely adored the show.

We have been trying to get taping tickets for years! My best friend was lucky enough to get us standby tickets. The only downfall is you have no guarantee to getting in, so we decided to give it our all and arrived at the studio just before 11am (for a 630p taping). The security guard was nice enough to let us park so early, he didn’t have to. We were #4 and 5 in line. After waiting for hours starving (we didn’t bring enough snacks, so I highly recommend bringing a picnic if you are going to wait as long as did) we were let in around 530p. We made it! At first they only took in 11 people from the standby line. Phew, that was close. I always love coming to TV tapings and the Big Bang Theory have it down! The only reason for 3 stars is the warm up comedian was not very funny and completely ignore the outer sections of the audience. We did receive (cold) pizza and some candy. So that was nice. I would highly recommend coming to one of the funniest shows on TV, if you can get tickets. We probably won’t be doing standby again.

September 26, 8pm Season Première is the episode I was lucky enough to view the taping off. This show taping like the show is non stop laughs… from the warm up comedian to the crew that takes our tickets, walks us to the taping to actually feeding us pizza. They treat there audience very well, and before you know it that 3 hour taping just fly by and you leave in good spirits. Can’t wait to attend my next taping — hopefully since tickets are not easy to get.