Remembering: The Martha Stewart Show

On Tuesday, Martha Stewart and her team of producers taped one of their last live episodes of The Martha Stewart Show at the Chelsea Studios in Manhattan. Martha Moments reader (and First Lady favourite!) David Bondarchuck sent me this photo right after he attended the taping. David, who was a guest on the show just before Christmas, said he cried as he listened to Martha speak about her seven years doing live television and reminisce about some of the highlights. Once the cameras had stopped rolling, everyone on staff came out to the main stage to take a final bow - a poignant moment that garnered lots of applause. It wasn't all about farewells, however. Martha said she is very excited about going back to PBS and revealed to the audience that in addition to Martha's Cooking School, she and her team of producers are working on a gardening show for PBS as well! So, there is something else to look forward to!

Many of us fans - probably most of us - have always been steadfast in our love for what has come to be known among our kind as "the old format." In short, we preferred the informative, well-timed and well-edited taped program from the 1990s and early 2000s, Martha Stewart Living, to the live pace of The Martha Stewart Show. Still, with the show coming to an end, I can't help but feel nostalgic about its finale. Even though we did not have the show in Canada for the last two years, it was comforting knowing I could attend a live taping whenever I was in New York. I liked hearing about Martha's weekends, her trips, her little adventures around the farm.

There was something fresh and vibrant and fun about the show - a new side to Martha that I feel, in hindsight, really needed to be expressed to the public. They were an adventurous seven years for Martha and her team, no doubt, not to mention representative of a lot of very hard work. Below are some remembrances...

Chef Mario Batali inspired the name of this blog when he was a guest on Oprah Winfrey's show. Martha looks lovely in orange - a sweater from Anthropologie! Martha making 'special brownies' with Snoop Dogg: a classic clip that will surely go down in history. Two of my favourites from the show: Joey Kola, who is one of the nicest men in the world, and Aaron Caramanis, who has been working on Martha's television shows since the 1990s. He is an exceptional builder and conceptualizer, responsible for many of the Halloween and Holiday sets. I met them both when I was a guest on Martha's show and they each put me at ease with words of encouragement before the show went live.

Obviously, one of the biggest highlights of my life so far was being asked to be a guest on Martha's show in January, 2010. That's me, above, posing with Martha and some of the other bloggers, including Alexis Stewart and Jennifer Koppleman-Hutt. You can also see the beautiful sign that was made for me by crafter Kristin St. Clair out of yarn. It was attached to the basket of Martha Stewart Clean products that I received as a gift for coming on the show.

That day was such a dream come true for me. Not only did I meet Martha Stewart in person, have a private conversation with her and present her with a special gift and personal letter, but I also got to do a craft segment with her on live television! My day at the studio was thrilling and I cannot express enough how kind, sincere and really wonderful the people who work on this show are. They are so devoted to what they do. The producer of my segment, Lenore Welby, is someone I will always hold in very high regard. She essentially made the dream come true and I will always be grateful to her, just as I am to Martha. What an honor it was to be a part of the award-winning season five of The Martha Stewart Show! I will honestly never forget it.

This is one of my most treasured keepsakes from the Martha Stewart Show. It is a very large, very sturdy tote bag that was given to me by my friend Kenn after he attended a taping. For awhile, there was a small store in the audience waiting area where people could buy t-shirts, bags and caps - even umbrellas! Kenn generously thought of me and got me this tote bag. It is emblazoned with the MARTHA logo that stretches around the sides of the bag. Inside, it is striped with a zipper pouch tagged with the official Martha Stewart Show logo. It's very well made and I keep it in fine condition!

Before I was a guest on the show I had attended a taping of Martha in 2006. Even as an audience member, the experience was wonderul. Obviously, many of you have attended tapings of the show and everyone I have ever spoken to has said what a thrill it was to see Martha in person. That is perhaps one element that will be deeply missed by fans: the opportunity to see Martha live. As much as we all love the well-edited, beautifully-presented, informative style of the Martha Stewart Living program - a format that will be returned to with the new PBS shows this fall - we must admit some disappointment in not being able to be a part of a live audience, privy to the excitement of the production and behind-the-scenes intrigue.  In the end, I will look back fondly on The Martha Stewart Show. It was a necessary phase of evolution in Martha's television career and it yielded some really wonderful, candid moments.

LINKS ABOUT THE MARTHA STEWART SHOW:

Behind the scenes at the Martha Stewart Show

Best Bloopers from the Martha Stewart Show

A tour of the Martha Stewart Show set