Dafttart is a broadcast techie person by profession, but it was my first time in a 'live' studio. Fascinating, and incredibly slick. The cameras are huge and frighteningly mobile, trailing heavy cables which force the audience into a sort of slo-mo double-dutch skipping to avoid them.
My personal favourite moment was Mr Copeland and Loyd Grossman (a UK-based Bostonian, TV-gormand, and purveyor of overpriced pasta sauces) going head to head over Keith Moon. It was somewhat surreal. Mr Grossman took Mr Copeland to task for commenting on Keith Moon's parlous stick-grip, snapping "You think Hendrix was out of tune, Moony didn't hold his sticks right - next you'll be complaining about the way Rembrandt held his brush." He'd rather missed the point of Mr Copeland's comments (i.e. these things don't matter), but it was a nice pay back - or pay forward, can't remember the order - for Mr Copeland's "What IS that accent??!"
(A sample of the most unique vowel sounds in UK broadcasting is available here for overseas chums who haven't experienced Mr Grossman:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dZ7UVaL6F4)
The whole thing would have been fun-free without dafttart and I was very glad to be there with a pro who could advise on how not to get in shot
PS Smax - Ms Laverne looked far more gorgeous in person than on the telly.