Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Studio 54
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
=== CBS Studio 52 === The Columbia Broadcasting System ([[CBS]]) leased the New Yorker Theatre in August 1942 for use as a [[radio]] soundstage.<ref name="nyt-1942-08-19">{{Cite news |date=August 19, 1942 |title=Rents Another Theatre Close to Times Square |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1942/08/19/archives/rents-another-theatre-close-to-times-square.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220914171829/https://www.nytimes.com/1942/08/19/archives/rents-another-theatre-close-to-times-square.html |archive-date=September 14, 2022 |access-date=September 14, 2022 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref name="p1335152006">{{Cite news |date=August 19, 1942 |title=Broadcasting Co. Rents West 54th St. Theater |work=[[New York Herald Tribune]] |page=30 |id={{ProQuest|1335152006}}}}</ref> The theater operated as a radio and [[television]] studio for three decades,<ref name="Haden-Guest p. 25" /> known as '''Radio Playhouse No. 4'''<ref name="Bloom2007" /><ref name="b1165" /> or '''Theater No. 4.''',<ref name="p1269906833">{{Cite news |date=March 8, 1945 |title=Gen. Roosevelt War Company Inducted Here: 452 Women Entrain for Camps After Ceremony in C. B. S. Radio Theater |work=[[New York Herald Tribune]] |page=21 |id={{ProQuest|1269906833}}}}</ref> then converted for television in 1949, becoming CBS-TV Studio 52.<ref name="Ellerbee p. 50">{{harvnb|Ellerbee|2016|p=50|ps=.}}</ref>{{efn|In a 1997 book by Anthony Haden-Guest, the studio's associate director Ed Gifford said that the theater was known as "Studio 53". However, this claim is not corroborated by any other source.<ref name="Haden-Guest p. 26">{{harvnb|Haden-Guest|1997|p=26|ps=.}}</ref>}} Shielded television cameras had to be developed due to strong magnetic interference from equipment at a neighboring power substation for the New York City Subway system.<ref name="Ellerbee p. 44">{{harvnb|Ellerbee|2016|p=44|ps=.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=January–March 1967 |title=Broadcasting |magazine=Broadcasting |publisher=Broadcasting Publications Incorporated |page=94 |volume=72 |issue=1}}</ref> The studio was one of seven that CBS operated in New York City.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lohman |first=Sidney |date=May 1, 1949 |title=News and Notes of Television; Eisenhower War Film Series to Start Thursday – Other Items |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1949/05/01/archives/news-and-notes-of-television-eisenhower-war-film-series-to-start.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125173934/https://www.nytimes.com/1949/05/01/archives/news-and-notes-of-television-eisenhower-war-film-series-to-start.html |archive-date=January 25, 2022 |access-date=September 14, 2022 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> At that time, several Broadway theaters had been converted to TV studios due to a lack of studio space in the city.<ref name="p1285972745">{{Cite magazine |date=August 9, 1950 |title=Radio: Legit to AM-TV Scorecard |magazine=Variety |pages=27 |volume=179 |issue=9 |id={{ProQuest|1285972745}}}}</ref><ref name="p1335476080">{{Cite news |last=Allison |first=Gordon |date=October 9, 1950 |title=TV Networks Adding to Space On Large Scale: Six More Theaters Taken, With Total at 15; Other Leases Throughout City |work=[[New York Herald Tribune]] |page=30 |id={{ProQuest|1335476080}}}}</ref> Likely the first television show to be produced at Studio 52, was ''The 54th Street Revue'', which premiered in May 1949.<ref name="Ellerbee p. 50" /> Another early show produced at Studio 52 was ''[[The Fred Waring Show]]'' in 1950.<ref name="p1879113211">{{Cite magazine |date=February 6, 1950 |title=The Waring Show on TV |magazine=Newsweek |pages=52 |volume=35 |issue=6 |id={{ProQuest|1879113211}}}}</ref><ref name="Ellerbee p. 57">{{harvnb|Ellerbee|2016|p=57|ps=.}}</ref> Studio 52 and the neighboring Studio 50 (now the [[Ed Sullivan Theater]]) were among CBS's busiest stages by the early 1960s.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=November 7, 1962 |title=Radio-Television: Overcrowded Studio Facility Snag Creates Gleason-'Candid Camera' Impasse With CBS-TV in the Middle |magazine=Variety |pages=21 |volume=228 |issue=11 |id={{ProQuest|1017079921}}}}</ref> The theater hosted such shows as ''[[What's My Line?]]'', ''[[The $64,000 Question]]'', ''[[Video Village]]'', ''[[Password (American game show)|Password]]'', ''[[To Tell the Truth]]'', ''[[Beat the Clock]]'', ''[[The Jack Benny Show]]'', ''[[I've Got a Secret]]'', ''[[The Original Amateur Hour|Ted Mack and the Original Amateur Hour]]'', and ''[[Captain Kangaroo]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Who We Are: Studio 54 |url=http://www.roundabouttheatre.org/About/Our-History/Studio-54.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714125550/http://www.roundabouttheatre.org/About/Our-History/Studio-54.aspx |archive-date=July 14, 2014 |access-date=July 11, 2014 |website=[[Roundabout Theatre Company]]}}</ref><ref name="Ellerbee p. 57" /> Studio 52 was used to tape many of the CBS shows that involved [[panel discussion]]s. Members of the public could also buy tickets to view these tapings. ''The New York Times'' said in 1965 that many of the regular audience members were older women.<ref name="p116885037">{{Cite news |last=Rinzler |first=Carol |date=June 6, 1965 |title=The Town's Best Bargain: A TV 'Sit-In' |work=[[The New York Times]] |page=X17 |id={{ProQuest|116885037}}}}</ref> The soap opera ''[[Love of Life]]'' was produced at Studio 52 until 1975 and was the last show to be taped there.<ref name="Ellerbee p. 57" /> CBS moved most of its broadcast operations out of Studio 52 in 1976 and placed the theater up for sale.<ref name="Ellerbee p. 56">{{harvnb|Ellerbee|2016|p=56|ps=.}}</ref>
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)