On Wed, Oct 17, 2018 at 5:30 PM Diner <bwayst...@gmail.com> wrote: > If you haven't seen the 2002 prime time special "CBS: 50 Years from > Television City," I highly recommend it. One of the best TV history > retrospective specials ever - you can really sense the deep affection the > presenters have for the building. And lots of great, otherwise unavailable > clips, especially in the variety specials segment. > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRmVF4-Rzpk > > Hard to believe that less than 20 years after they paid such an elaborate > tribute to the place and all the history-making moments created there, > they're getting rid of the building. >
Times change, and networks and studios have learned the sad reality that legacies and history do not translate into profit or ratings. > I wish NBC had done a special like this for their Burbank studio. > In the last years of its management under NBC, The Burbank Studios allowed non-union crew, which enraged the lifelong union employees who were the backbone of the place. As a result, nobody who could tell all the classic stories about the building would ever participate in such a special about it. For those who haven’t seen it, Steve Allen did a show on the NBC lot (in what would become Carson’s Tonight Show studio) shortly after the facility was completed. He did a song and dance number through the studio (joined by Dinah Shore, Frank Sinatra, and others). A few years ago, somebody combined present-day video of the place with the Allen footage, and you can see how the place barely changed in all that time. https://youtu.be/zbxoF4F0TrY Aside from cosmetic changes to the exterior, the only major change to NBC was the construction of new control rooms and offices for the Tonight Show in the ‘80s. It was a purpose-built facility, and once completed they hardly needed to change it. Even when the digital revolution came, all they needed to do to the facility was snake new cables through the preexisting cable chases. On the other hand, CBS underwent constant renovations and building upgrades, which did allow it to stay in use a lot longer than NBC maintained the Burbank studios, but those changes were costly. The biggest problem with TV City as a studio is it is not close to any freeways. Too many congested surface streets make it impractical for live programming and news operations. And the bulk of the studios were on the opposite end of town, as were all the supporting businesses. Logistically, it was a nightmare. > > > On Wednesday, October 17, 2018 at 3:24:16 PM UTC-4, brad...@dwx.com wrote: >> >> >> Looks like CBS is trying to sell off Television City due to lack of >> use. So The Late Late Show, >> The Price Is Right and Bill Maher will have to find a new location to do >> their shows. >> >> https://www.newsfromme.com/2018/10/17/home-shopping-network/ >> >> >> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to tvornottv+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
