CBS Television City

CBS Television City is a television studio located in the Fairfax District at 7800 Beverly Boulevard, at the corner of Beverly and Fairfax avenues. It is one of two CBS studios in southern California — the other is CBS Studio Center, located in the Studio City section of the San Fernando Valley, which houses additional production facilities and the network's Los Angeles local television operations.

Since Television City opened in 1952, numerous TV shows have been broadcast live or taped at the facility, including many shows not broadcast on CBS. During the opening credits of many of the shows taped here, a voice-over announces the phrase, "From Television City in Hollywood".

History

Television City opened on November 15, 1952. It was built on the site of a former football field and race track, Gilmore Stadium. Before the stadium, it was an oil field.

Gilmore Stadium was part of a sports/entertainment complex that included Gilmore Field and the Pan Pacific Auditorium. The stadiums and auditorium were built on what was once 287 unincorporated acres known as Gilmore Island, and the fortune that led to their construction had origins similar to a television sitcom plot.

Arthur Fremont Gilmore brought his family to Los Angeles from Illinois in 1874, started a dairy business and eventually made enough money to buy part of Rancho La Brea, roughly bounded by Beverly Boulevard, 3rd Street, Fairfax and La Brea avenues. By the late 1930s, the Gilmore company had built both the football stadium and the baseball park. Gilmore sold the stadium to CBS in 1950, and that year's Turkey Night Grand Prix midget race (now held at Irwindale Speedway) was the last race run on its track. Two years later, CBS built Television City on the site. After the Hollywood Stars transferred out of the city in 1958, the ballpark was razed and that property also became part of the Television City complex.

The stark modern architecture at CBS Television City consists of black and white planes meeting at razor-sharp corners, with accents of dazzling red, the work of Pereira & Luckman of Los Angeles. The studio facility was built to handle the larger production needs for the network, most of which took place at the rather cramped Columbia Square.

The building initially held four soundstages (Studios 31, 33, 41 and 43), but a renovation in the late 1980s added two new soundstages plus additional office space and technical facilities such as editing rooms and storage. Another renovation added two studios in what had been rehearsal halls in the original building.

Studio 43 was equipped with RCA TK-40A color cameras in 1954, with cables allowing any of the original four studios to use those cameras. In 1956, Studio 41 was equipped with RCA TK-41s. However, CBS color broadcasts decreased in frequency until the following decade, when the 1964 production of Rogers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella" was recorded. CBS programs were generally in black-and-white until Norelco PC-60s were installed starting in 1964. [cite web
last = Reitan
first = Ed
title = "Early Color Television Studio Facilities"
url = http://www.novia.net/~ereitan/studios.html
accessdate = 2008-05-22]

Its most famous soundstage is Studio 33 (the Bob Barker Studio), which is the current home of the long-running CBS game show, "The Price is Right", the syndicated game show Family Feud (making its third appearance, 1988-95, 1999-2000 were the others) the HBO late night series, "Real Time With Bill Maher". This soundstage recently broadcast an episode of the Australian chat show Rove Live live via satellite to Australia.

This soundstage was also the home of "The Carol Burnett Show" in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as notable game shows, "Match Game" (the 1970s - 1980s Gene Rayburn hosted version, and the 1998 version), "Hollywood Squares" (hosted by Tom Bergeron), "Bullseye", and the 1980s revival of "Card Sharks". In March 1998, on the 5000th episode of "The Price is Right" (actually number "5133"), CBS named studio 33 as the Bob Barker Studio in honor of the show's longtime host and executive producer.

When sitcoms were increasingly taped in front of a studio audience in the 1970s, many shows were recorded on soundstages at CBS Television City, such as "All in the Family", "Maude", and "Good Times". The ABC sitcoms "Three's Company", and "Welcome Back, Kotter" were also taped at CBS Television City.

CBS Television City is also home to CBS' visual effects studio, CBS Digital. "Television City" is a registered trademark of CBS for its TV production facilities.

"From Television City in Hollywood..."

These are shows that originated from this historic television studio. Almost every show taped here used the title line in the opening announcement. All shows aired on CBS unless noted:

* The ($10,000/$25,000/$100,000) Pyramid (1973 (promotional); 1982-1988; 1991-1992; taped at Studios 31 & 33)
* Alice (1976-85; pilot only; remaining episodes were taped in Burbank)
* All in the Family (1971-79; first six seasons were taped here; remaining seasons taped at now-defunct Metromedia Square)
* All New Beat the Clock (1979-1980; Monty Hall emceed; taped in studio 31)
* The Amanda Show (1999-2002; taped in Studio 58); aired on Nickelodeon, taped its first 17 episodes here, the remaining episodes taped at the Sunset Gower Studios)
* Amateur's Guide to Love (1972; taped at Studio 43)
* American Idol (2002- present; taped at Studio 36, airs on Fox)
* Archie Bunker's Place (Taped here from 1979-82, and at Universal City Studios from 1982-1983)
* Are You Kidding? (1990 Primetime Special; taped at Studio 31)
* Art Linkletter's House Party (1952-69)
* Bedroom Buddies (Syndicated 1990; Taped at Studio 42)
* Blackout (1988; taped in Studio 33)
* The Bold and the Beautiful (1987-present; studio 31)
* Body Language (1984-86; taped in Studio 33)
* Bullseye (1980-82 taped at Studio 33; first six months originated from NBC Studios in Burbank)
* The George Burns & Gracie Allen Show (1950-58)
* Can You Top This? (Syndicated 1970; Taped at Studio 33)
* Card Sharks (1986-89 on CBS, 1986-87 on syndication, taped in Studio 33)
* The Carol Burnett Show (1967-1978; taped in Studio 33)
* The Celebrity Game (1964-1968; Taped at Studio 41)
* Child's Play (1982-83; taped in Studio 33)
* Contraption (aired on the Disney Channel 1983-1989; taped in Studio 31)
* Crosswits (syndicated 1986-87; taped in studio 33)
* Dancing with the Stars (2005-present; airs on ABC; taped in Studio 46)
* Deal or No Deal (early episodes taped in Studio 46; 2005, airs on NBC)
* Dennis Miller Live (1994-2002; aired on HBO; studio 33)
* Dinah! (daytime talk show starring Dinah Shore; syndicated; studio 31)
* Dirty Rotten Cheater (2003; taped at Studio 41) (aired on PAX-TV)
* Don Adams' Screen Test (syndicated 1975-76; studio 31)
* Don't Forget the Lyrics! (2007-present, airs on Fox)
* Double Dare (1976-77; taped in Studios 33 & 31)
* Double Exposure (1961; taped at Studio 43)
* Earn Your Vacation (1954; taped at Studio 41)
* The Ed Sullivan Show (West Coast shows)
* The Edsel Show (1957)
* Face the Facts (1961; taped at Studio 43)
* Family Feud (1988-95 (in Studio 33), 1999-2000 (in Studio 36); aired on CBS 1988-93)
* Follow the Leader (1953; taped at Studio 33)
* Full House (1987 Unaired Pilot; taped in Studio 43)
* The Game Game (syndicated, 1969-1970; taped at Studio 43)
* Gambit (1972-76 in Studio 41 and 43)
* Gameshow Marathon (2006; taped at Studio 46)
* The Gong Show (syndicated 1988-1989; taped at Studio 41)
* Good Times (first two seasons, 1974-75, were taped here; aired on CBS, 1974-79)
* Greed (1999-2000, aired on Fox)
* High Rollers (Syndicated, 1987-88; taped at Studio 41)
* The Hollywood Game (1992; taped at Studio 33)
* Hollywood Squares (1965 pilot, originally shot for CBS, was taped here; aired in syndication, 1998-2004; taped in studio 33)
* Hollywood's Talking (1973; taped at studio 31)
* The Jack Benny Program (1950-65)
* The Jeffersons (first season, 1975, was taped here, taped at Metromedia from fall 1975-1982, and at Universal City Studios from 1982-1985; aired on CBS, 1975-85, did not use the opening spiel)
* The Joker's Wild (aired on CBS 1972-75; was taped here at Studio 31 1972-75 and again in 1990 at Studio 33)
* The Judy Garland Show (1963-64 in Studio 43)
* The Larry Elder Show (taped in Studio 31; aired in syndication, 2004-2005)
* Late Show with David Letterman (Los Angeles tapings in 1994 and 1995; studio 36)
* The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (1995-present; studio 56)
* Married with Children (aired on FOX, 1987-1997) (the show taped episodes here from 1993-1997 at Studio 33, First 7 seasons taped at the ABC Television Center, Sunset Gower Studios, and now-defunct Metromedia Square)
* Masters Of The Maze (1994-96; taped at Studio 31) (aired on Family Channel)
* Match Game (1973-82 and 1998-99; aired on CBS 1973-79 and sydication 1979-1982; taped in Studio 33; a pilot for TBS Superstation was taped in 2008 in Studio 33.)
* Matchmaker (syndicated 1987-88; taped in Studio 31)
* Maude (1972-78)
* The Merv Griffin Show (1969-72)
* The Mike Douglas Show (syndicated, 1961-82; taped here from 1976-82)
* Morris Cerullo Help Line (airs on ION Television; taped at Studio 33 until 2008)Fact|date=March 2008
* Night Games (1991-1992; taped at Studio 42)
* No Relation (aired on FX 1996-1998; taped at Studio 33)
* Now You See It (1974-75; 1985 (Pilot); 1989; taped at Studio 33)
* One Day at a Time (1975, pilot and one episode)
* Password (West Coast shows while during New York studio color conversion; was taped at Studio 33)
* The Pat Sajak Show (1989-90 in Studio 56)
* Pet Star (aired on Animal Planet 2003-2005)
* Pictionary (syndicated, 1997-98, taped in Studio 33)
* Playhouse 90 (1956-61)
* Politically Incorrect (taped at Studio 41; aired on Comedy Central 1994-97; and later ABC 1997-2002)
* Press Your Luck (1983-86; taped in Studio 41, various episodes in Studio 33)
* The Price is Right (1972-present aired on CBS, 1972-1980 (syndicated), 1985-1986 (syndicated) and 1994-1995 (syndicated); taped in Studio 33 since 1972, which was renamed the Bob Barker Studio in 1998)
* Real Time with Bill Maher (2003-present, airs on HBO, tapes in Studio 33)
* The Red Skelton Show (1953-70)
* (2005), (2006)
* Rodeo Drive (1990; aired on Lifetime) (Taped in Studio 33)
* The Roseanne Show (1998-2000)
* Show Me the Money (2006; aired on ABC)
* Shopping Spree 1996-1998 studio 33 aired on The Family Channel)
* The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967-70)
* So You Think You Can Dance (2005-present; airs on the Fox network)
* The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour (1971-74)
* Spin-Off (1975; Taped in Studio 41)
* Sports Challenge (aired in syndication 1971-1979; taped at Studio 33, 1973-1979) (Taped at KTLA from 1971-73)
* Stump the Stars (1962-64; taped at Studio 41)
* Survivor Finale (airs on the CBS network)
* Tattletales (1974-78 in Studio 41; 1982-84 in Studios 31 and 43)
* Tell It To Groucho (1962; taped in Studio 33)
* That's My Line (Goodson-Todman reality show; summer 1980 and 1981; studio 33)
* Three's Company (studio 31; aired on ABC, 1977-84, second through sixth seasons [1977-1982] shot at CBS while the first, seventh and eighth seasons [1977, 1982-1984] were shot at Metromedia square; the pilot was shot at ABC Television Center)
* Tic-Tac-Dough (Aired on CBS briefly in 1978; taped in Studio 31 from 1978-1980; remaining seasons from KCOP's Chris Craft Studios)
* Tony Orlando and Dawn (1974 - 1976)
* The Twilight Zone (original version aired 1959-64; six episodes from the second season (1960-61) were produced here)
* There's One in Every Family (1952-53; Taped in Studio 41)
* 3rd Degree (Syndicated 1989-1990; Taped in Studio 41)
* The Tyra Banks Show (syndication; 2005-2007 at Studio 56); tapes in New York as of season 3
* Video Village (studio 43; 1961 - 1962; the show moved to Hollywood from New York and Monty Hall took over as emcee from Jack Narz; Heatter-Quigley Productions)
* Wait 'Til You Have Kids (1996-1997; taped at Studio 33) (aired on The Family Channel)
* Welcome Back, Kotter (aired on ABC; taped in 1975-76, PILOT and first season at Studio 41) (remaining episodes taped at the ABC Television Center and now-defunct Metromedia Square)
* Wheel of Fortune (taped from 1989-95 in Studio 33; daytime version aired on CBS, 1989-91 and NBC 1991; also aired in syndication)
* Whew! (1979-1980 at Studio 33)
* Win, Lose or Draw (aired on NBC, 1987-89, and in syndication, 1987-90, taped at Studios 33 & 41)
* Wipeout (1987; taped PILOT episode at Studio 33, the series was taped at the Paramount studios)
* The Wizard (2007 in Studio 56 with Craig Ferguson)
* The Young & The Restless (1973-present taped in studios 41 and 43)
* You Don't Know Jack (2001; taped at Studio 36) (aired on ABC)
* Your Surprise Package (1961 - 1962; daytime game show with George Fenneman; studio 43)

References

* The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows
* [http://www.j-shea.com/TVCity Behind the Scenes at CBS Television City]
* [http://www.cbs.com CBS.com]
* [http://www.imdb.com Internet Movie Database]