TPIR and other Studio 33 Game Show Taping Schedules (70's-80's)

[3StrikesFan]

With all the game shows that aired in the 70's and 80's that were taped in Television City, (TPIR, Card Sharks, Match Game, WoF, etc.) how did the taping schedules(including TPIR) go for both nighttime and daytime shows? I seem to remember that TPIR taped 2 shows a day Mon-Wed, but I could be wrong.

Did some shows get taped on particular days or were they split up where one particular show taped in the afternoon and a different one taped at night? Were any game shows taped on weekends? I always wondered how this worked when there were so many game shows taping from Studio 33 during this time.

[jimlange]

Bob Stewart has said many times that Pyramid taped *15* shows in one weekend.  

jimlange

[Axl]

3StrikesFan wrote:
Did some shows get taped on particular days or were they split up where one particular show taped in the afternoon and a different one taped at night?

The answer to the second part is no.  Not enough time to change sets.


During much of the 70s, the main tenants were TPiR and various variety shows.  TPiR generally taped M-W while the Carol Burnett Show (or a different show during hiatuses and summer breaks) would be in rehearsal... usually in the spaces now occupied by Studios 56 & 58.  Then on Thursdays, the variety show would take over for set construction and camera blocking, doing their tapings on Fridays.  Other game shows, often as not, would tape on the weekends.


Because of all of the show juggling, some programs had rather irregular taping schedules.  That was also the case when dealing with some of the talent schedules (not unlike what they've had to do with Drew Carey until recently).  Match Game was almost always shot on the weekend and almost never shot in consecutive weeks because both Gene and Charles were commuting from the East Coast.

[SteveGavazzi]

I wish I could give a more detailed answer, but I do know that during the summer of 1976, Price was taping three shows a day every Monday and Tuesday.

[vintageTPIRfan]

1972-6 must have been quite a busy time for 33.  In addition to TPIR, Match Game, Now You See It, Carol Burnett and All in the Family, I would imagine that Maude, Good Times and One Day at a Time were taped there as well (not sure about Sonny and Cher and Cher's solo show).  The Norman Lear sitcoms moved over to Metromedia Square during the 1975-76 season.

I attended a taping of Spin-Off (starring Jim Lange) in June 1975 on the second/upper level of Television City (studio 41, maybe?).  I was only 11, so was too young for TPIR (I was crushed) and could only attend either Spin-Off (which hadn't premiered) and Gambit.  What was I thinking?  Anyway, while in line we met a woman who had recently won a car TPIR, which was equivalent to rock stardom to me at the time.

It would be interesting to see taping schedules for the whole complex from that era.  It seemed like every other CBS show was coming from Television City in the mid-70's

[Justin M. Walker-Daniels]

The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour was taped in studio 31 next door to Studio 33. Just so you know

[Axl]

Justin wrote:
The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour was taped in studio 31 next door to Studio 33.

Actually, Sonny and Cher bounced back and forth between 31 and 33.  I think the producers had to work around the duo's performing schedule a little bit, so they'd end up in whichever studio was available.  In fact, I think there were times in which the audience segments (open/close/musical guest) were taped in one studio while the sketch segments (which used canned laughter) wound up being taped in another studio on a different day.


Several of the sitcoms had to move around, too.  As you can see from Mark Evanier's website, "All in the Family" was taped at different times in Studios 31 and 41 while it was at Television City.


The moral of the story: all of TV City was very busy back then, which is why they expanded.

[tybuki]

I can tell you that during the 80's, Pyramid generally taped on Thursdays and Fridays, Press Your Luck taped every other Saturday (5 shows) and Sunday (6 shows), and Body Language taped on the opposite weekend of PYL.

[hyhybt]

I've never seen Body Language, but Press Your Luck doesn't look like it was done in 33.

[Axl]

hyhybt wrote:
Press Your Luck doesn't look like it was done in 33.

I think they ended up having to shoot there for one weekend (producing, I assume, two weeks' worth of shows).  Their normal home was Studio 41.

[TVC]

3StrikesFan wrote:
...How did the taping schedules (including TPIR) go for both nighttime and daytime shows?

If I'm not mistaken, there were periods in the 1970s when the daytime and nighttime (syndicated) versions of TPIR were recorded on weekends. But on those occasions when I attended tapings in the late 1970s/early '80s, the daytime show was produced on Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday, two episodes per day.

Axl wrote:
Sonny and Cher bounced back and forth between 31 and 33.

FWIW, below are links to a couple QuickTime clips of programs that were produced in Studio 31 in the early 1970s. Note the portable bleacher-style seating.

All in the Family

The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour

[tpirfan28]

Axl wrote:
I think they ended up having to shoot there for one weekend (producing, I assume, two weeks' worth of shows).  Their normal home was Studio 41.

Specifically, the two most famous episodes were shot in 33...the run of Michael Larson.

One way you can tell...if you can see the audience in the background, then it's not 33.  If you can't see the audience, then you are in 33.

[OldPrice75]

TVC wrote:
If I'm not mistaken, there were periods in the 1970s when the daytime and nighttime (syndicated) versions of TPIR were recorded on weekends. But on those occasions when I attended tapings in the late 1970s/early '80s, the daytime show was produced on Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday, two episodes per day.

I can confirm that the first trial hourlong show was taped on a Saturday.

[price_authority]

Game shows with celebrity guests generally taped on weekends due to the greater availability of celebrities on weekends.

When Barker emceed nighttime TPIR, on some days three shows were taped: two one-hour daytime shows and a half-hour nighttime show in the evening.

The trial week of one-hour shows was taped over the weekend of August 30 - 31, 1975. I believe they did two shows per day, in which case they would have had to tape an extra day to get a fifth show.

[TVC]

price_authority wrote:
The trial week of one-hour shows was taped over the weekend of August 30 - 31, 1975. I believe they did two shows per day, in which case they would have had to tape an extra day to get a fifth show.

When they taped two episodes per day, three days per week, the production yield exceeded the weekly consumption of episodes. Every five weeks of production would generate an additional week of shows. This arrangement could allow for a longer summer hiatus period and occasional weeks off during the normal taping season.