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Meeting Lesley Boone At Stuckeybowl -by Ginnie P. I have to begin by saying that never has a show impacted my life in so many ways as ED has. Besides being a great show and the only one I have seen every first run episode of, it's brought a lot of wonderful people into my life. Many of them I communicate with regularly via email. A lot of "coincidences" have also occurred. There are numerous instances of short degrees of separation with a few cast members. All of this makes me believe it was fate that led me to watch TV on my birthday that fateful night 3 yrs ago when ED premiered. One coincidence started over a year ago when I attended an auction that Justin Long was appearing at in Westfield, NJ. There was a couple there that I didn't really speak to but I kept thinking seemed like very generous, nice people. Months later I was at the Caroline Rhea show when I ran into them again and then one more time at another of Caroline's shows. A few months ago I ran into them again at Foxwoods Casino. All these run-ins led to a friendship that has become very dear to me in a short time. When seeing them at Foxwoods I mentioned an online auction which was for the opportunity to meet Lesley Boone. They bid and won. Being the kind and generous people they are they asked if I'd be interested in going with them. I felt bad that I was given this opportunity over others but I would have been crazy to say no so I gratefully accepted. This event occurred Wednesday, October 22 and now I want to share it with the rest of you. I woke up Wednesday morning excited about the day to come and nervous because I was taking a drive into NJ by myself for the first time. I arrived almost 2 hours before my friends that I was to meet for lunch at 1pm. After lunch and killing some time afterwards, we headed to the set for our 4pm appointment to begin our edventure. We didn't know what to expect other than that we'd tour the sets and get to meet Lesley Boone. We didn't know if it would be just a quick hello or what. We were met by Alison from production when we arrived, who took us on a short tour of the set that was being set up for the Christmas episode. After about 30 minutes we were ushered into the classroom set to wait for Lesley to finish filming. They were currently filming episode 10. A few minutes later a beautiful young woman walked in and that person was Lesley. I was struck by how youthful she appeared in person. After a couple of minutes she was called back to the set to film a scene with Tom and 2 students and told us to come watch. That was a nice surprise doubled by the fact that Tom was there and in the scene. While they were setting up we chatted some with a couple of crew members and got to hear some of their perspective on things. Seeing the scene filmed was a great opportunity and a lot of fun. My favorite part was between takes though to watch Tom and Lesley goofing around. They began singing their lines and at one point before starting up slapped each other 5. You could tell there was a real friendly camaraderie there. When they were done it was also nice to see them congratulate and shake the hands of the guest stars. A few minutes later Lesley came back into the room followed by Tom. He was on his way out but wanted to say a quick hello. He shook our hands and took a picture with Lesley. When he left Lesley brought us over to craft services where we could all talk a little easier. We were told to have anything we wanted and what did we take? Water! When we got there we chatted with Lesley for a good 20minutes at least asking and answering all sorts of questions. She was shocked at how much was spent for the auction especially seeing that it was far more than the other "more valuable" things on the list. She asked how we all knew each other and Larry filled her in on the details. We talked some about ED discussion boards. Lesley expressed concern about some of the negativity and delving into the casts' personal lives. Alison (from production) said there was a lot of concern over the extensive spoiler knowledge posted and the sources. Some things we asked Lesley about were her storylines and she said she would have one over the next few episodes but it's been hard, with the focus being on Ed and Carol, to give everyone a chance, especially since they have such a large cast. We asked how many episodes were needed for syndication and she said it's a hard show to syndicate since it has ongoing stories and not one you can just tune into whenever you feel like. Because of this season's ratings so far, optimism for a season 5 is low. The show is hoping for a move back to Friday nights at 9pm where they had better ratings. In other shocking news, we heard that Justin Long is no longer with them. They hope he will return after shooting the movie he's doing but nobody is sure. We discussed her career and other things she's done. Various crew members and extras came by while we were talking and Lesley greeted them all. Everyone seemed to love her and we could see why. It was a very happy set. She took pictures with all of us and made some jokes about everyone needing to use good toilet paper. Eventually she signed some pictures before going back to filming. Some other miscellaneous things that occurred include meeting the guy who plays Mark's friend Jimmy. Michael Genadry was on set that day but we never saw him. Over the summer on a rainy day I had my ED hat on while shopping in Target when I was approached by a lady who introduced herself as the show's propmaster. I saw her during the set visit and she spent a few minutes chatting with us. She joked that she could have introduced us to Lesley for a lot less money :) She also reassured me I'd be able to find my way back to Long Island which I was extremely nervous about. One other "star" we met was 'Willie Butch' and trainer. She had 'Willie Butch' perform some tricks for us and let us in on some secrets including the fact that 'Willie Butch' is truly a "bitch". I have some pictures that will be included with this story for you all to enjoy :) All in all it was a great time. Lesley spent a lot of time with us and gave us a very memorable experience. I will be forever grateful to her for her kindness and taking so much time with my friends and I. I am also eternally grateful to my friends for inviting me along and sharing their edventure with me. (Webmaster's Note: Thanks to Ginnie P for this informative article and the photos.) |
