"Jon Berndt" writes:

That's how rumours and stories get started and spread. You have no idea who
the guys were, what was "whispered" by the "TV director", or why he was
clapping. Geez, give the assumptions and ridiculous suspicion a rest. You're
not being brainwashed.

Good of you to point that out, and I well-considered that before
sharing my conclusions. But I'm not worried about being brainwashed;
I thought everying knew their (and anyone's) celebrations were
affected by the presence of public cameras. I just thought it was
funny and sad evidence of the ineptitude of NASA PR. Here are more
details that might give slightly more credibility to my
interpretation:

The floor director was obviously that -- frequently seen scurrying
around and wispering to the on-air hostess and her guests, with that
typical ducking under the camera motion. The director scurried over
to the boss who had earlier been an on-air guest and was then standing
away from the hostess among the consoles. The rather minor event
which obviously prompted the whispering occurred just before the
whispering without any spontaneous applause which didn't come until
the whisperer scurried away from the boss (after only 1 or 2 seconds
of whispering) who then immediately roused his crew.