Trading Spaces
Page 3 of 3
June 22, 2001

I helped at the other house too. The desk I had seen being painted in the workshop turned out to be a computer desk. I happen to be a computer professional in real life, and setting up computers for people is what I do. I offered to set up the PC, but Vern said he would do it himself. I guess he wanted to make sure it was placed right on the desk. But once it was in place, it wouldn't start, so I went over to take a look. Everything looked right, but I noticed that the power cord seemed to be loose in the outlet. I plugged it into another outlet and made sure it was firmly seated, and then it started right up.

I also showed Jessica a little trick to make the "we're done" shot work better. The idea was that Jessica and Mary would be shown at the computer, with the words "We're Done!" scrolling across the screen. She knew how to change the message on the screen saver, and that clicking the Preview button would engage the screen saver. But she was having trouble keeping the mouse still when she removed her hand, so several times she engaged the screen saver and immediate disengaged it by slightly moving the mouse, and at least one shot was spoiled because of this. Between shots, I stepped over to the computer and showed her how to use the space bar to engage the screen saver. In fact, in the episode you can see her moving her hand away from the keyboard as the message scrolls across the screen.

Obviously, that came pretty late in the day, after I had spent several hours on location. After introducing me to the crew at Doug's house, Rudy had left me to my own devices while she went back to her duties. I spent the rest of the day wandering back and forth between the two houses, watching all the action and speaking with whomever had a moment to spare. I spoke at length with many members of the crew, all of whom were unfailingly polite and more than willing to answer my questions, even though for all they knew I was a spy from HGTV. Everyone I met was both extremely nice and thoroughly professional.

I didn't meet Alex. Rudy seemed reluctant to introduce me, for some reason. I did see her on more than one occasion during the day, though. I didn't take any pictures of her, on Rudy's advice, but I did get this nice shot of the AlexCam. (The AlexCam is a digital camcorder that Alex carries with her to capture "spontaneous" interviews with the homeowners and designers.)

My first encounter with Alex was in Vern's house. I was sitting with the producers, waiting to watch on the video monitor as the "clock hands" scene was taped. Suddenly, Alex appeared in the doorway and proceeded to complain vigorously to the show producer. She had heard from a crew member that a planned scene that would have featured her had been cut, and she was very upset about it. The producer tried to explain to Alex that the scene had been not been cut but changed to an AlexCam segment, but I don't think Alex was paying much attention to what was being said. After a couple minutes, the show producer got up and left with Alex to discuss the matter further elsewhere.

Not once during this did Alex give any sign that she noticed there was a stranger in the room. We had not been introduced, and even if someone had told her that Rudy's friend was visiting the location, she had no way of knowing that I was that friend. I could have been a reporter, or an executive from TLC, or someone from Banyan. (Banyan Productions is taking over production of Trading Spaces next season.) I couldn't believe that she, or any adult, would put on that kind of display in front of a visitor. It was fascinating.

Later that morning, when I was outside chatting with a crew member by the catering truck, I saw her again. Hearing loud voices, we looked up and watched as Alex and the producer came out of the house and stood screaming at one another on the front lawn. Finally, Alex stormed to her car and drove away.

Alex stormed to her car and drove away. It was midway through the second day of taping. The rooms were nearing completion, and soon Alex would be needed to conduct the designer interviews and the reveals. And no one knew where she was. The producers set about trying to track her down and figure what to do if she didn't return. I was told later that Amy Wynn had been recruited to do the designer interviews and the reveals if necessary.

Ultimately, Alex did return. I didn't see much of her after that; she spent most of her time with the makeup artist or in her car by herself. I did see her up close and personal as she entered Doug's house to do the designer interview. I was standing on the porch literally right next to the door. Alex came out of her car and entered the house, obviously very intent on the job at hand. Again, she gave no indication that she noticed me at all.

I saw her once more before I had to leave. It was, given what I had seen earlier, possibly the strangest thing I saw all day. I was in Vern's house, waiting to watch the reveal. As the crew did last-minute adjustments to the lighting and sound, Alex, Lorraine and Alison waited in the front hall for their cue to come upstairs for the reveal. I was on the stairs, well back from the redecorated room, and from my vantage point I could clearly see Alex and homeowners in the foyer.

And Alex was great with them. Alison and Lorraine were pretty nervous, because the reveal is shot live to tape and can't be reshot. Alex was laughing and smiling and giving them suggestions about what to say when they saw the room, and I could see the homeowners getting more relaxed she spoke to them. It was incredible, the very model of professional behavior. Why hadn't this pleasant person in the foyer been around earlier in the day?

Late in the afternoon, I found myself outside of Doug's house with several crew members. The projects were done and clean-up was underway. One of the crew was eating some ice cream he had bought earlier when an ice cream truck had driven through the neighborhood.

Off in the distance, we heard jingling bells. We turned, and saw another ice cream truck coming down the street toward us. Amy Wynn immediately dropped what she was doing and sprinted up the street toward the ice cream truck. She caught up with it about two house away. The rest of us watched with no small degree of amusement, having decided that since the truck was already coming in our direction we would wait for it to come to us. Amy Wynn came back with her ice cream already unwrapped as the rest of us ordered our own treats. I got a Snoopy bar; someone else got a Rocket Pop; a third person bought an ice cream bar shaped like one of the Powerpuff Girls.

We all stood there in the driveway, six adults happily eating juvenile snack foods. The sun was shining, the cherry trees were in bloom. I bit off part of Snoopy's nose and smiled, and said what had been on my mind all day.

"This is the best TV show ever!"

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