In my six-and-a-half years of writing for Digest, this was my third time serving as an extra on BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL. And I must say, it was a far different experience from my prior gigs (in 1998 as a hospital orderly and in 2001 as a caterer at Thorne and Brooke's garden wedding). For those appearances, I was only required to be on the set for a couple of hours, and my job was done. So, when I got the invitation to be part of the opening night of Oscar's club, Ozzz, I readily agreed. Hey, what's a couple of hours, right?

The first proposal from B&B's casting office was to join a crowd of other extras as partying patrons. Unfortunately, I had to nix that because it required being on the set for several hours on two consecutive days. Because I couldn't be out of the office for that long, I asked for something a little less demanding -- and agreed to the next offer: playing a lighting director who would only be present in two scenes.

The call time for my big day was 2 p.m., for which I dutifully showed up. After getting my outfit from the wardrobe department (dark shirt, dark slacks), I headed down to the set and then waited ... and waited ... and waited. As I already knew, but was pointedly reminded, crowd scenes can be technically demanding and time consuming -- very time consuming.

At least I was entertained. I took a seat behind the cameras and watched Bobbie Eakes (ex-Macy) perform on-stage before a cheering audience. I truly marveled how this multitalented actress tirelessly sang and danced take after take after take -- decked out in a tight dress and high heels -- without ever slowing down. Between scenes, Eakes, Darlene Conley (Sally), Jennifer Finnigan (Bridget), Brian Gaskill (Oscar), Winsor Harmon (Thorne), a very pregnant Schae Harrison (Darla), Sean Kanan (Deacon), Daniel McVicar (Clarke) and Sydney Penny (Samantha) took turns coming over to keep me company.

Eight o'clock came around and it was time for a dinner break. B&B ordered tasty take-out from the popular barbecue restaurant at The Grove mall next door to the studio. Even though the kitchen of the CBS commissary had closed down hours before, our meal (ribs, chicken, baked beans, mashed potatoes, vegetables, garlic bread and lots and lots of cookies) was laid out in the dining room. Kudos to the actors for chowing down their grub without getting a drop of barbecue sauce on their clothes!

Taping resumed and they finally got to my scenes (with Gaskill) at 11:15 p.m.! Although I had no dialogue, an hour-and-a-half passed before I finally got to leave. Yep, it was officially tomorrow. Talk about an extra long day.