Warwick ladies club appears on NBC's Meredith Vieira Show
NEW YORK — A long but exciting day in Manhattan was in store for members of a. Warwick ladies club.
It all began when Warwick businesswoman Barbara Sullivan received a phone call in her Las Vegas hotel room at 4 a.m.
Sullivan was attending a trade show there when her daughter Samantha Sullivan, a production assistant at NBC-TV, broke the news to her that Meredith Vieira wanted to interview the PMS (Partying Mothers' Society) Club for her brand new TV talk show.
Sullivan, the founder of the club, needed to round up as many of its members as possible and respond with a head count in less than 24 hours.
A notion begun in 1991
"I started the PMS Club in 1991 as a way for women to get together without children or significant others," Sullivan said. "I originally sent out 17 invitations with a funny letter that said you are cordially invited to the newly formed PMS Club a.k.a. the Partying Mothers Society. Much to my surprise, everyone showed up and the second Thursday of every month for the next 20 years became sacred. Throughout the years the invitation list grew to over 65 women and countless theme parties. But the greatest thing that came from the PMS Club was life long friendships."
The Meredith Vieira Show, which airs on NBC, is a nationally broadcast talk show hosted by Vieira and based at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. She previously served as a special correspondent for NBC News And Sports programming as well as hosting the nationally syndicated game show, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."
The program, featuring about 15 members of the PMS Club, aired on Oct. 13 but had been taped earlier on Aug. 25.
"Excitement was riding high as all the ladies piled into an airport van that departed from Warwick at 5:45 a.m. to make the early Monday morning call time," recalled longtime member Janine Dethmers. "First stop, security check-in, where everyone had to register their names, sign releases and have photos taken for identification purposes. Next, onto the holding area, where the PMS Club gathered in a luxurious conference room and the staff at NBC-TV rolled out all the stops to provide top-notch hospitality with a continental breakfast, coffee, and Meredith Vieira keepsake goodie bags and tee shirts for each guest."
'Wow! You must be ...'
Several shows were being pre-taped that long day and the ladies, who were told what to wear, had to participate in a rehearsal with a Meredith Vieira stand-in. They also accidentally bumped into the real Vieira as she was en route to her make-up call.
"Wow! You must be the Partying Mothers' Society," she said. "I really appreciate all of you coming here today, I know it was a long trip for you. We are going to have a lot of fun on the set."
Finally, it was time for the representatives of Warwick's Partying Mothers' Society to make their national television debut as a live band played background music and a live packed house studio audience cheered them on.
During the show the club members inducted Vieira into the Partying Mothers' Society and Sullivan presented her with its traditional "Hall of Shame Award," for Queen of Daytime TV.
Dinner on Meredith
But the day wasn't over.
After lunch at Carmine's, a family-style Italian restaurant in the Theater District, and some afternoon shopping and sightseeing, the Meredith Vieira Show surprised the members with a family-style dinner at Buddakan, a highly rated Asian fusion restaurant in the Meatpacking district of Manhattan.
"What a really great day it was, way more than we had expected," said Dethmers. "It was like a dream and it made it even more special for us ladies to be together doing as many things as possible to help us reconnect and bond."