Viking TV Part 2
In September of 2023 I hosted my first Viking TV episode, "shooting it" remotely from my laptop while Viking TV director James Prismal coordinated the filming and episode from his London office. At the conclusion of the episode James remarked about how smoothly it had gone. The episode aired on Monday November 6 and I watched it from my Mom's living room in Columbus. The reaction to the episode was very positive and in a series of emails between myself and the two Viking TV staffers I'd "met" virtually - James & Ciara Cassidy - they gave me strong indication that perhaps there would be more episodes to come. I was excited and as the early steps unfolded I shared the news with my social media gal-pals in the TV business.....
By the time we got past the holidays had passed I had suggested a few options to James and Ciara without anything substantial being developed. But then James pitched the idea that when Kim and I arrived in London in late August to begin our "British Isles Explorer" itinerary on Viking Oceans, that the Viking TV crew meet us and have me give a guided tour of the ship from a guest's perspective. I was "all in" on the idea and quickly shared the news with Karli Barnett who has been an avid follower of our adventures, to the point of talking about them / promoting them on her Facebook "LIVE" chats on the weekends.
And so after a couple of email exchanges I began working on a "script" for how I thought the episode might unfold. After I'd sent a couple of drafts to the Viking TV office I thought if I were going to be filmed "live" on camera I could use some professional guidance. So I emailed both of the girls who anchor their own newscasts and asked if they would be interested in looking it over for me....
Both, as you can see were positive about the script but didn't give a lot of specific suggestions. Still I was oh-so-appreciative that they took the time to look it over. The next step in my preparation was when Kim and I wen on the "Empires of the Mediterranean" itinerary on Viking Oceans in late April, I had Kim film me as I did a "rehearsal" video. Here's the result:
Viking TV Rehearsal
After I watched the video I shared with Viking TV that I thought it was perhaps too short and I also felt that the stories I told were a bit "forced" into the episode and didn't really add to the content. I exchanged several emails with James about the logistics of our "shoot" upon our arrival onboard the Viking Neptune prior to our departure. Finally we were ready to head out and had an uneventful flight to London and soon were on board the Neptune. There we met up with our great friends Pam & Bob Murray from the St. Louis area; and Claudia & Gary Wanlin from the San Francisco area. Here's how I described the evening prior to the shoot and then the day of the shoot in my journal for the trip....
Day 2: London - Viking TV Episode Shoot
For those of you who really know me, you KNOW how much I enjoy travel and especially to learn about new lands, and visit new places. But today was one of THE BEST days of our traveling adventures, because today the Viking TV crew of James & Ciara came on board this morning and we spent the entire day filming for an upcoming episode of Viking TV. In the episode which is tentatively set to air on Monday November 11 (mark your calendars!) I provide a guided tour from a guest's perspective of what it's like to come on board a Viking Oceans vessel and the various places you can enjoy on the ship while you are traveling. Not only was this exciting to be a part of, but last night at dinner James had told me that "everyone on board knows about you, what you're going to be doing, and are very appreciative that you're doing it." I wondered just how serious he was, but as we left the restaurant James pulled Kim and I aside and told us he'd added on the drink package (at a cost of $350 per person!) in appreciation for our efforts. WOW. Then this morning when I was downstairs right after breakfast I walked by an office where a Viking staff person was working and he called out "Good morning!" I replied, thinking it is so typical of Viking staff to be so friendly. When I returned and walked by and was several steps past the office I heard, "Mr. Love!" I turned and the staff member came out and was walking towards me. He stuck out his hand and I read on his badge he was the General Manager of the ship! He said, "We are so happy you are on board with us and filming this episode. Thank you! And.....we added on the "silver spirits drink package for you" and if a larger suite opens up we will upgrade your stateroom - but we are nearly full so I'm not sure that will happen. But thank you so much." I was so impressed that he even offered to upgrade us. Once Kim and I met with James and Ciara I asked again about what would be the plan, and they said "how ever you want to do it," so I suggested we follow the "script" I'd laid out earlier for them and we began shooting. Nearly every scene led to multiple "takes" as a guest would walk into the frame or more often the lighting was bad as I walked around talking. But throughout the shooting both of them kept remarking "you're a natural at this" and "that was brilliant Mark!" I was very flattered. Near noon we were filming on the upper deck where the World Cafe is so they wanted to film us sitting down to eat, and then we all had a leisurely lunch together. We resumed filming and for the episode's finale they had Kim and I order drinks and then go out on the upper deck. James went to the top deck and launched a drone which filmed us toasting one another and then soared off to take a panoramic view of London. THAT will be cool. As we did one last scene in the living room where I closed the episode down I thanked both James and Ciara for spending so much time with us and giving me the opportunity to do another episode. Both then remarked they were "sure there will be more episodes" and said what they wanted to do next was to arrange for me to join them on a cruise and film an episode throughout the cruise. I LIKE THAT idea :) It was just a great day. Big thanks to my wife Kim for being so supportive (and making several "cameo appearances" in the shoot, and for taking the action shots below! This evening we depart from London and will sail to Dover for tomorrow's adventure!
We were home for only two weeks before Kim and I took off for another river cruise through France for two weeks and upon our return, less than two weeks after that I was off to Ohio to visit my family. On the day before I was set to fly home from Ohio I reached out to James & Ciara asking if the November 11th date was still a go. Within an hour James had replied that he'd forwarded my email to "Paul" who was doing the final editing. Then the morning prior to my afternoon departure I got a "Final Cut" version of the episode and a "reel" which could be used as a "trailer" for the episode. Here's that short video:
Viking TV "Teaser"
I had a lot of cool reactions to the video
And that brings us to the "release" of the actual "live" video on November 11th. I was in front of the big screen TV (with the laptop connected) to watch the presentation and even though I'd seen it numerous times I still watched with great interest. Again, I thought the presentation was slick and I was made to look like a real pro TV host. It didn't take long for friends and family to begin reacting. The first comments online were typical of what kept rolling in.....
But the highlight of the reactions came later when our son Brad sent me the photo below. Our grandson, Oliver had come home from school and was immediately interested in watching his Grandpa on TV. And what made this even cooler was that this evening he was being featured at the Orlando Solar Bears hockey game where he and his teammates were playing in between periods. For any "normal" 8yo THAT would be the highlight of the day for them, but no he wanted to watch me and my presentation. And even better than this, immediately after he finished watching he called me via FaceTime and as I answered the call he's got a big grin on his face and is applauding while saying, "GREAT job Gradpa, you were great!" THAT was the best!
When I shared the link with gal-pal, CBS-Miami evening news anchor Lauren Pastrana, she replied right away with her congratulations and promised to watch it later.....and hopefully give me some constructive feedback.
And so as of this writing, just three days past the release of the episode, it has been very well received and now I'm hopeful that another episode will be in the works soon!
