They run through their lines, they do some spots and things to get the camera locations and things set up, and then they start filming before a live audience at seven o'clock at night. My wife and I left at one thirty in the morning, and my daughter, with the rest of the cast members, left at four in the morning, and they were due back for another shooting twelve hours from the time that they left. That was on Tuesday, so she had to be back Wednesday at four in the afternoon to pick up the scripts for the next week's show. It gets even tougher, according to Dungey. Even with that schedule, the actors have to know their lines.
Every movement has to be memorized.
There are no tele-prompters, there are no cue cards, you have to know your lines cold. It's just very demanding, very taxing. But if it's what you love, and obviously people in this business love it. It's what they live for. At least half of Dungey's family does live for the screen.