
CBS Television City in Los Angeles
'CBS Television City' is a
television studio located in the
Fairfax District of
Los Angeles' West Side at 7800 Beverly Boulevard, at the corner of Beverly and Fairfax Avenue. It is one of two
CBS studios in the area—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.
Television City opened its doors on
November 15,
1952; it was built on the site of a former racetrack , the former home of the
Pacific Coast League baseball team
Hollywood Stars (
Gilmore Field), and before that, it was an
oil field.
The stark modern architecture 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 four new soundstages plus additional office space and technical facilities such as editing rooms and storage.
CBS programs were generally in black and white until the fall of 1965, with the exception of a few specials produced at NBC studios and
Red Skelton's weekly programs (which were taped at another Los Angeles studio that Skelton had purchased, during the early 1960s).
Television City finally began taping programs in RCA's compatible color in the fall of 1965 and by the following year all programs were in color.
Its most famous soundstage is Studio 33, which is the current home of the long-running CBS game show, ''
The Price is Right'' and 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 old
1970s -
1980s Gene Rayburn hosted version &
1998 version), ''
Hollywood Squares'' (the recent version hosted by
Tom Bergeron), ''
Bullseye'', ''
Family Feud'' (the
Ray Combs-hosted version) and the 1980s revival of ''
Card Sharks''. In March 1998, on the 5000th episode of ''The Price is Right'' after Studio 33 (actually the 5131st episode), CBS re-dedicated the soundstage 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 sitcom ''
Three's Company'' was 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 spiel. All shows aired on CBS unless noted:
★ The ($10,000/$25,000/$100,000)
Pyramid (1973; 1982-88; 1991-1992; taped at Studio 31 & 33)
★
Alice (1976-85; pilot only; remaining episodes were taped in Burbank California)
★
All in the Family (1971-79; first six seasons were taped here; remaining seasons taped at now-defunct
Metromedia Square)
★
American Idol (2002-present; airs on the
Fox network)
★
Archie Bunker's Place (1979-83)
★
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (Fox 2006-Present)
★
Art Linkletter's House Party (1952-69)
★
Blackout (1988; taped at Studio 33)
★
The Bold and the Beautiful (1987-present)
★
Body Language (1984-86; taped at 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)
★
Card Sharks (1986-89 on CBS, 1986-87 on syndication, taped at Studio 33)
★
The Carol Burnett Show (1967-1978; taped at Studio 33)
★
Child's Play (1982-83; taped at Studio 33)
★
Dancing with the Stars (2005-present; airs on
ABC; taped at Studio 43)
★
Deal or No Deal (early episodes taped in Studio 46; 2005, airs on
NBC)
★
Dennis Miller Live (1994-2002; aired on
HBO)
★
Double Dare (1976-77)
★
The Ed Sullivan Show (West Coast shows)
★
The Edsel Show (1957)
★
Family Feud (taped here from 1988-95 at Studio 33, and 1999-2000 (syndicated); aired on CBS, 1988-93; will return to the Bob Barker Studio for their syndicated 2007-2008 Season)
★
Gambit (1972-76 at Studio 41 and 43)
★
Gameshow Marathon (2006; taped at Studio 46)
★
Good Times (first two seasons, 1974-75, were taped here; aired on CBS, 1974-79)
★
High Rollers (aired in syndication, 1987-88; taped at Studio 41)
★
Hollywood Squares (1965 pilot, originally shot for CBS, was taped here; aired in syndication, 1998-2004; taped at the Bob Barker Studio)
★
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 at Studio 43)
★
The Larry Elder Show (taped in Studio 31; aired in syndication, 2004-2005)
★
Late Show with David Letterman (when the show tapes in Los Angeles)
★
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (1995-present)
★
Married with Children (aired on FOX, 1987-1997) (the show taped episodes here from 1993-1997 at Studio 33)
★
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 at Studio 33)
★
Maude (1972-78)
★
The Merv Griffin Show (1969-72)
★
The Mike Douglas Show (aired in syndication, 1961-82; taped here from 1976-82)
★
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 New York's set was remodeling to color)
★
The Pat Sajak Show (1989-90 at Studio 56)
★
Pet Star (aired on Animal Planet 2003-2005)
★
Pictionary (aired in Syndication, 1997-98, was taped at 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 at Studio 41, select episodes at Studio 33)
★
The Price is Right (1972-present aired on CBS, 1972-1980 (syndicated), 1985-1986 (syndicated) and 1994-1995 (syndicated); taped at Studio 33 since 1972, which was renamed the Bob Barker Studio in 1998)
★
Real Time with Bill Maher (2003-present, airs on
HBO)
★
The Red Skelton Show (1953-70)
★ (2005), (2006)
★
Rodeo Drive (aired on Lifetime, 1990)
★
The Roseanne Show (1998-2000)
★
Show Me the Money (2006; aired on
ABC)
★
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)
★
Survivor Finale (airs on the
CBS network)
★
Tattletales (1974-78 and 1982-84 at Studio 31)
★
Three's Company (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, while the pilot was shot at
ABC Television Center)
★
Tic-Tac-Dough (Aired on CBS briefly in 1978; taped at Studio 31 from 1978-1980; remaining seasons from KCOP's Chris Craft Studios)
★
The Twilight Zone (original version aired 1959-64; six episodes from the second season (1960-61) were produced here)
★
The Tyra Banks Show (syndication; 2005-present)
★
Wheel of Fortune (taped from 1989-95 at 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)
★
The Wizard (2007 at Studio 56 with Craig Ferguson)
★
The Young & The Restless (1973-present taped at Studio 41)
References
★
Behind the Scenes at CBS Television City
★
CBS.com
★
Internet Movie Database
Other usage
★ 'CBS Television City' is also the name for a research facility and merchandise store, operated by CBS, located in the
MGM Grand Hotel and Casino,
Las Vegas,
Nevada.
★ The facility doubled as the fictional "City of Broadcasting" in the
1996 film, ''
That Thing You Do!''
★
Screeching Weasel released a 1998 album entitled
Television City Dream