UPDATE OF THIS THREAD: https://www.reddit.com/r/panelshow/comments/15gcb95/tourist_to_nz_wanting_to_watch_a_panel_show_7_days/

I am currently writing this at 10.18pm New Zealand time (16 August 2023). Filming for this episode of 7 Days started around 6ish, it ended around 8.45-50ish.

Let me give you a quick rundown.

I arrived at the studio area (an office park) around 4.45pm, and waited for the door to be opened. As people arrived, everyone queued at the back entrance, and Tania (the audience coordinator) took attendance at around 5.15ish. Every member of the audience was given two coupons for the studio 'bar'. Once inside, there were also two ovens that were offering a free pie per audience member by Big Ben Pies. They had music playing at the waiting area as people waited for the doors to the sound stage was opened and as more of the audience came in.

At 5.45pm, we were then told that we were able to enter the sound stage. I took the highest seat of the bleaches and at the corner so I could watch everyone and everything. As everyone shuffled in and took their seat, the warm-up act came out. Co-head writer (and Taskmaster writer & currently a contestant on The Traitor) Sam Smith (not the singer) did such a terrific job warming up the crowd. Since NZ is such a small country, he recognized some of the familiar faces and he riffed with the audiences very well. And he swore a fucklot which I love! And he reminded people that there was a lucky draw from Frank Energy that was giving $500 credit for their electricity bill.

And yes, he did riff on me too for being from Malaysia! And how the hell did I manage to watch a show that was meant for Kiwis, and I could have just saved the money to just watch online at home in Malaysia!

Wonderful!

I enjoyed the entire shoot from start to finish. If you are watching 7 Days tomorrow, Paul Ego captained Justine Smith and Josh Thomson while Laura Daniels led her team that comprised of Liv McKenzie and Ben Boyce. Jeremy Corbett is a very unassuming and very adept host, quick witted and quick to his feet. I love how he riffed well with everyone, especially Paul Ego. Paul, Justine, Josh, and Laura were very good and were very funny. Justine was hilariously uncut and uncensored with herself. From the get-go, weed jokes were already floating in the air. Liv who has done this show a few times already had some jokes that went well or flat. Young comedians like her are always a delight to see and I would love to see her grow and her act grow more. Ben, who is a breakfast radio staple here, is quick witted and he made me cringe with every single pun he made throughout.

They went through the two big news stories for the week as their first segment, 'What's The Story'. There's gonna be a lot of stupid jokes about grass eating and they're gonna keep referencing how Massey is the shittier university amongst the two massive Auckland universities. They were supposed to do a segment called "Yes Minister" where politicians came onto the show and were asked questions where they cannot go 'yes' or 'no', but they instead moved onto Club Tropicana, a Scenes We'd Like to See taken from Mock the Week with a current affairs flair. One of the prompts was Worst Best-Selling NZ Novels, Right Wing Songs, and Scenes of a Disneyland Australia. I had laughed way too much with Josh's shitty jokes and I have to say, Laura really loves doing these sections and she excels at them. Paul Ego also shines here and Justine too with one of the prompts! (I can tell you more about this section if you guys have questions.)

Then, they did Yes Minister with special guest Tamati Coffey, a Labor politician who's going to compete in the upcoming general election. He was a very good sport about the questions, and as expected with fluff comedy pieces like this and him being from Labor, he took it quite easily on the jaw. I did learn a few new things and the things he championed for. Good bloke, but I'm definitely greener than that. Jeremy put up a photo for their caption competition and the comedians did a few more quick jokes.

Then, there was a quick break. The cast took a picture with Tamati and everyone went out for a second drink. Sam came out and gave everyone a Whitaker's Peanut Block. After 15 mins, we were herded back onto the sound stage and a musical act came onto the show. The musical act, Summer of Thieves, did a good job for their segment on "Slice of Seven", a musical parody game. The banter from the comedians from those two pieces were great, and the songs were very topical. We're all gonna save $4 more, right?

The cast took photos with Summer of Thieves and then, they did Good News where Josh, Ben, Laura, and Paul gave what was the best news of the week. Banter was solid there, and they had their final game which was about listing down things in quick succession after being prompted too. Laura had the funniest and the worst prompt to work with, and I enjoy knowing that Sam probably wrote that to mess with her. They wished the audience good night, we applauded, and then they quickly reshot some of the scenes that needed some clearing up right after the main show was over. Then, they had to do their shout-outs to NZOnAir with Jeremy mainly doing it and everyone having a chance to do theirs. Josh flubbed his hilariously and so did Justine who just constantly sweared. Laura and Paul did a few and Liv did one.

When everyone was done, it was a wrap. The cast took photos with each other, Liv's mom was in the audience to see her, and the audience started to trickle out.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable shoot!

I want to thank Tania Goldsbro ([email protected]), the audience coordinator at NEP, for putting me in the list of audience members and making me feel right at home. Sam Smith, if you are here, although we didn't get to riff much as the show was starting, thanks for making me feel very visible as a tourist in your Kiwi pop culture comedy show. I really wanted to talk to you about your work on Taskmaster, but I know you were busy with your time sheets and stuff there to keep up. Thanks for the Peanut Block though! The cast and crew did a wonderful job as well! Everyone in the audience was lovely and so did the few who were shocked that someone from my part of the world would come all the way just to see a panel show.

Also, once again, /u/asylum33 and /u/Contrabassi, your Kiwi friendliness and help has probably made this holiday a very memorable one.

Frankly, I would go again for the finale just because and I would love to bring a friend if she was not busy with her stuff. But hey, let's see how the stars line up :)