Nov 11, 2008 11:54 PM
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Wed Feb 10
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Election night might have been a hopeful triumph for most Americans, but it was an evening of screaming and insults for Canadian Sharilyn Johnson, according to the epic rant she just uploaded to Huffington Post. Johnson had to be in the live Daily Show audience on election night, because she's been watching everything Jon Stewart has ever done since 1994, is also super-into Stephen Colbert, has friends on staff, knows line-runners by name, etc. etc. Johnson (on left in photo) lined up a ticket seven months in advance, confirmed and reconfirmed, traveled to New York from Toronto, waited in line and then watched as her world ENDED.
Only maybe 21 people from line got into the studio, due to VIPs taking seats, and Johnson was approximately number 40. Out of 250. She yelled, looked for "Teri and Jessica from the audience department," called a friend on staff — nothing. Then the bitterness set in.
The Daily Show must have known this was going to happen. That's why it weirdly made everyone re-confirm on Oct. 27! And if Johnson had only known, she could have totally called in some favors and gotten VIPed. But the bastards never warned her. AFTER ALL JOHNSON DID FOR THEM!
I am owed. Not the cost of my flight. Or the cost of my hotel. Or even the vacation days I took, which I could have used to visit my family. What I'm owed is the experience of witnessing history take place somewhere other than alone an empty bar on 11th Avenue, sucking on a can of Bud Light, feeling completely emotionally empty.
Because of the incompetence of others, I was robbed of an experience that should have been sublime, moving, and meaningful.
What was taken away from me cannot be remedied with a VIP ticket — essentially a shorter wait in line NEXT time. At this point, I can't plan to have a next time. How do I stand outside under that awning again, without being reminded of what was done? How do I look at the heads of the audience department, knowing how negligent they were through this entire situation? I don't plan to ever go back.
At least her friend "Tracey" from Britain made it in. Bittersweet. OMG, this is just like that time a dolled-up Mary Rambin got ditched by Julia Allison and Megan Asha outside the Sex And The City premiere, which was also disastrously overbooked! It's also just as sad and profound.
Seriously, though, why do shows treat their live studio audiences so almost sadistically poorly like this? Don't they know the fans who show up for these tapings are INSANE and already have impossibly high expectations and told 200 of their closest friends, in advance, about how awesome everything was going to be, thus guaranteeing they will curse your name endlessly online if they ever get locked out? (NB to David Letterman: I'm still sorry I mauled your cameraman that one time, but he always set up his shots so as to MOCK YOU. You should really fire that jerk. Anyway call me!)
(Photo above from Johnson's website.)
Send an email to Ryan Tate, the author of this post, at ryan@gawker.com.
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
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