Judy had taped the "I Happen To Like New York" portion that afternoon without an audience, wearing a tan version of the black dress that she finally wore. The tape was shown to the audience that evening and then Judy and Silvers proceeded with the sketch. For the first take, Judy wore the tan dress but, after the playback, it was decided that her stomach was too visible and that she should change into the black dress. The odd thing about Judy was that no matter how thin she got after she lost weight in '62, (and she was very thin at the time of that show), she always had a bit of a stomach that good costuming and camera direction were usually able to hide or minimize. After the second take, (wearing the black dress), was completed, Judy told the audience, "Now I'm going to watch the tape so they can yell at me and say 'What are we going to do with your stomach?!  What are we going to do with your stomach?!'"

While I'm on the subject I should say that I was never very happy with the '63 special but, some of my fondest memories of Judy were from the three nights of taping that I attended. She was obviously very tired and had been working, with little rest, for more than two years. Aside from the fatigue, her spirits were wonderful and she could not have been more gracious to the audience. During breaks she would ask if people were hungry and explained that coffee and Danish were there for them in the hallway outside the studio. On the final night of taping, she, Goulet and Silvers, still in costume, stood in line at the studio door and shook hands with each audience member, thanking them for being there. I was very touched by the gesture because it was far beyond what was expected of Judy and she was, so clearly, exhausted. She did, in fact, sleep part of that night in her dressing room and then completed the show, without an audience, in the early morning hours. If I remember correctly, it was reported that she finished at around 5 a.m.

Just to add to the Garland minutia, the show was taped before an audience of only about 100 people each night.  The audience consisted mainly of "agency" people and sponsors' employees and friends. Kathy Towne, who was  the NY chapter head of the fan club at the time, managed to get a few tickets for each taping from the Fields/Begleman office, which she distributed to club members in the area. The studio was on West 27th Street in Manhattan and I believe that it had been where Phil Silvers taped his highly successful Bilko shows in the 50's.