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Live from Studio 1A: Bloopers

My favorite part of every DVD I've ever rented or owned is the "out-takes" section - essentially, the bloopers.  The same holds true, as far as I can tell, for our staff here regarding our own show. Today we had a particularly funny blooper caused by our esteemed greenroom page, Lourin Sprenger.  Lourin is in charge of all of the guests on the show every morning - it's an incredibly fast-paced

My favorite part of every DVD I've ever rented or owned is the "out-takes" section - essentially, the bloopers.  The same holds true, as far as I can tell, for our staff here regarding our own show. 

Today we had a particularly funny blooper caused by our esteemed greenroom page, Lourin Sprenger.  Lourin is in charge of all of the guests on the show every morning - it's an incredibly fast-paced and involved job, because not only does she arrive at 5:00 a.m. to greet everyone and get them through hair and makeup, she also has to bring the guests into the studio before their segments so they can get their microphones and get settled.  The studio is small and can get pretty crowded on busy days, and Lauren has managed it all flawlessly over the last five weeks.  Today, however, a day she had minutes before ironically described as "slow", she was in for a surprise. WATCH VIDEO 

The time was 9:04, the location was between the sofa area and the newsdesk in Studio 1A.  Ann and Al were on the sofa introducing Natalie at the newsdesk for the news headlines.  Lourin was escorting Noah Robischon in for his upcoming segment on Ms. Pacman's twenty-fifth birthday this year (yes, the video game).  All of a sudden in the greenroom we saw a shadow pass in front of the camera on Ann and Al, remarkably similar in shape to the silhouette of Lourin and a guest.  The moment was brief, fleeting even, but not too brief for our anchors, crew and control room to catch.  Ann and Al immediately called Lourin out and cameras swiveled in the studio to grab an intentional shot of our dedicated greenroom page. 

Lourin, needless to say, was mortified, but Al, Ann and Natalie were laughing and reassuring her that it happens all of the time.  I grabbed Lourin as soon as she walked off set and in the stunned aftermath managed to glean these quotes from her: "What just happened...I had no idea what happened until I turned around and saw my [rear] on television...why was I on TV wearing THIS (gestures to page uniform)!"  Luckily, Lourin is not alone in this mortification and I am here to share, for her benefit, two other brief examples.  

A few months ago one of our hairdressers, Susie, mistakenly thought the show was in commercial break and walked onto the set behind the sofa to fix Ann's hair...only problem was the show was live at the time.  WATCH VIDEO  As I was remembering that moment with Barbara Kelly, one of our makeup artists, she told a story about one time when she had to drop to the floor behind the sofa area before an 8:00 segment with Katie Couric and Matt Lauer.  Instead of letting her hide, Katie and Matt pulled her up, of course, to have a laugh with the crew and, if viewers share our sense of humor, with everyone at home.