Caught “The Hour” Live

Various CBC shows offer tickets to be in the audience during taping. A friend of mine went to see The Rick Mercer Report and said he had a great time so when Sara started talking about going to see a taping of The Hour I was game. It ended up being a pretty great evening and we even met and talked to George.

We emailed to secure tickets for a day we all could get free, you have to arrive at 4 pm so taking the afternoon off was necessary. The show emailed the next day confirming our reservation and the day before a representative called personally to remind us of the time and location which I found quite amazing as the tickets are free. The audience of the show consisted of about eighty people seated in one main section and two smaller ones all of which are at ground level (so try to get a seat up front). Watching the show live was almost exactly like watching it on TV with a few exceptions. The pre-taped segments played on monitors on the left and right of the studio and commercial breaks were filled by George talking with us and answering any questions we had. Our Thursday taping covered that evenings show and the Sunday recap show but only took one and a half hours to tape; George doesn’t need retakes.

I was very impressed with the whole experience due in large part to George. He is a very accomplished interviewer and is able to direct the guest without talking too much himself. He knows his stuff and it is evident that he and The Hour team do a lot of research for every show. Before the taping started and during commercial breaks he entertained us by candidly answering questions about the show and himself. As an example, we learned that he barely sleeps and is about to buy his fourth motorcycle. After the show he stuck around to shake our hands and thank us for coming, encouraging us to come back again. He posed for pictures and conversed with anyone who engaged him not rushing or cutting anybody short even though, we learned later, he had a flight to catch.

I for one welcome our first Canadian news/talk show host and I will definitely be getting another set of tickets in the future. I encourage you to do the same. :o)

Update: Sara found this article about George; it is a good read. Toronto Life: Rebel Rebel.