A couple of weeks ago I got shut down in an attempt to eat my lunch at WMBD/WYZZ/CI Proud TV studios. You can read all about that by clicking right here. I was somewhat defeated, but the day turned out okay after having fun at Ferdindand’s Wigs. Well a couple of days later I got a message on facecrack from a producer there, Taylor Mickelberry saying that he saw the post and said if I wanted to come back, I could not only eat my lunch in there, but they wanted to talk to be about being a guest on the new WYZZ morning show, Good Day Central Illinois! Well, no way do I turn down an invitation for lunch, especially when it involves an offer to be on TV, so it’s off to the MBIP Mobile we go!
Since Taylor invited me, I offered to bring the lunch and I ordered it from one of my favorite places, Khaki Jack’s. There’s bartender Chuck with the lunch and notice how the pizza is packaged. We’ll get back to that later! Now it’s off we go...
Down University Street to the CI Proud TV Studios which is home to WMBD and WYZZ channels. And I have to add here that WYZZ are quite unfortunate call letters, but what are you going to do?
Obligatory front door mirror shot! I also need to ask how they got the 3131 address here, I wondered last time and forgot to ask.
Deja vu! There’s Julie the receptionist who we met on our last visit here and then promptly got thrown out! She laughed when she saw me and I said, “Let’s try this one more time!” She looked at me like I was nuts, but I’m used to that look and asked her to call Taylor. So she called Taylor and...
Whoomp, there he is, producer Taylor Mickelberry and he’s taking us back to the TV Studio where we’re going to eat lunch with the morning news anchors and hosts of Good Day Central Illinois, Lindsey Mills and Clay Gordon and Meteorologist Lauren Rainson.
Here’s the portal that looks into the TV studio where they’re wrapping up the afternoon news and weather.
This is really cool because they’re on live so we had to be quiet. After they wrapped up I got a shot of the three of them at the news desk, from left: Clay Gordon, Lindsey Mills and Lauren Rainson. Are they the best looking news team in Central Illinois or what?
Just to add a little goofiness to the good looks, they let me sit at the news desk for a photo.
This is Mark Macgregor, who’s the director here and he took that last photo as well. A true multi-tasker!
Here’s is the set where they film their afternoon “Living Well” segments and check out what’s on the counter, a fifth of whiskey! They certainly do know how to live well!
Okay, it’s time for lunch and remember at the top of the post I mentioned something about the pizza packaging? Well, here goes, I love Khaki Jack’s and everyone who works there and the owner Tony is a great guy, but I have two words for all of them: PIZZA BOX! Every time I get a pizza from there it comes wrapped up in a bag and foil and it bugs the living shit out of me! It always messes up the toppings and cheese and it drives me absolutely nuts. It’s hard to see in the picture, but I’ve put arrows as to where the cheese was muddled beyond repair. And is there anything worse than muddled cheese? Methinks not! Anyway, let’s move on before I have a complete meltdown. Sheesh!
This was really a fun lunch! Lindsey, Clay, Lauren and Taylor are super nice and it was fun trading stories and hearing how they all landed here in Peoria. And as I mentioned earlier, we talked about me being a guest on the morning show, Good Day Central Illinois and it turns out they want me to be a semi/regular guest maybe a couple times a month and talk about MBIP adventures and Peoria! I happily accepted and this should start happening sometime in February! Stay tuned for further details as they unfold! I love the last shot here as Lauren gleefully looks on while Taylor cleans the table! Sometimes being a producer isn’t as glamorous as it sounds! Don’t worry Taylor, I empty trash for a living, so I know the feeling!
After lunch, Taylor took me to the production area of the TV studios and all the screens, buttons and keyboards are pretty impressive back here!
This is one of four editing rooms and for some reason I find it pretty creepy and scary. It looks like a weird interrogation/torture room to me. Visions of Bob Larson doing strange and unusual things to Kurt Pegler popped in my mind as we stood there and it was pretty frightening. Let’s move on!
This is the newsroom and there’s lots of hustling and bustling going on in here!
Clay wanted to show me something at his desk back here...
It’s a sign that says, “Bob Sat Here,” referring the aforementioned Bob Larson. This was Bob’s desk and Clay showed me his phone which still has makeup in the holes where you talk into. He told me if you sniffed it, you can actually smell Bob Larson. So I took a sniff and I smelled Bob! My life is now complete!
Here’s a shot of the back of the newsroom complete with Lauren still gloating over the fact that she forced poor Taylor to clean the table after lunch. The lesson learned here is: Don’t mess with Lauren!
Lastly, Taylor took me to the advertising offices where Ellen struck a pose at her desk. Ellen told me that she reads MBIP and has even gotten some advertising leads from it. I’m glad that somebody’s making money off of this blog!
And as the lights are dimmed in the studio, it’s time to call an end to this television lunching day! Thanks to Taylor for setting it all up and to Lindsey, Clay and Lauren for being so nice and great luncheon companions! And stay tuned for details about my first guest appearance on Good Day Central Illinois! We’ll see you all tomorrow!
Related Post: Gettin’ Wiggy Wit It @ Ferdinand’s Wigs (Originally Attempted To Eat My Lunch @ WMBD TV But Sadly I Got Shut Down There)