Studio 8H is a

television studio A television studio, also called a television production studio, is an installation room in which video productions take place, either for the production of live television and its recording onto video tape or other media such as SSDs, or for t ...

located in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The studio is a part of NBC Studios, the home of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

television network A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or multichannel video programming distributo ...

, located at

30 Rockefeller Plaza 30 Rockefeller Plaza (officially the Comcast Building; formerly RCA Building and GE Building) is a skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Completed in 1933, the 66 ...

. It is most notable for housing the live broadcast of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'' (''SNL''), which has been broadcast from the studio since the show's inception in 1975.

Construction

Studio 8H was originally built in 1933, at the time of Radio City’s initial construction. It was intended not only for orchestral performances but also for radio variety programs with large studio audiences. It became the home of

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orch ...

NBC Symphony Orchestra The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra conceived by David Sarnoff, the president of the Radio Corporation of America, especially for the conductor Arturo Toscanini. The NBC Symphony performed weekly radio concert broadcasts with Tosca ...

in 1937. At the time of construction, Studio 8H was the world's largest

radio studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

, feet with a height of three stories, which could house a full orchestra. It was converted for television use in 1950, primarily for the live broadcast of ''

Kraft Television Theatre ''Kraft Television Theatre'' is an American anthology drama television series running from 1947 to 1958. It began May 7, 1947 on NBC, airing at 7:30pm on Wednesday evenings until December of that year. It first promoted MacLaren's Imperial Chees ...

''.

History

Hymn of the Nations 1944 OWI film (25 NBC Symphony Orchestra playing Verdi's Inno delle nazioni)

Studio 8H is now most prominent for housing the

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

show ''

'', which is broadcast

live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music *Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of albums ...

. It was revamped just before the 1975 premiere of ''SNL'' at a cost of $250,000. Two episodes of NBC sitcom ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live'', takes ...

'', "

Live Show "Live Show" is the fourth episode of the fifth season of the American television comedy series ''30 Rock'', and the 84th episode overall. It was directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller, and co-written by series creator Tina Fey and co-showrunner a ...

" and "

Live from Studio 6H "Live from Studio 6H" is the nineteenth episode of the sixth season of the American television comedy series ''30 Rock'', and the 122nd episode overall. It features a return to live broadcasting from the season five episode "Live Show", both of ...

" were also broadcast live from the studio, a departure from the show's usual film format. The first season finale of ''

The Apprentice ''The Apprentice'' is a Reality competition, reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with variou ...

'' and the fifth anniversary special of ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...

'' both used the studio for one night each. Likewise, ''

Later with Bob Costas Later may refer to: * Future, the time after the present Television * ''Later'' (talk show), a 1988–2001 American talk show * '' Later... with Jools Holland'', a British music programme since 1992 * ''The Life and Times of Eddie Roberts'', or ...

'', ''

Love, Sidney ''Love, Sidney'' is an American sitcom television series which aired two seasons on NBC, from October 28, 1981, to June 6, 1983. It stars Tony Randall as Sidney Shorr (a single, closeted gay man), Swoosie Kurtz as Laurie Morgan (a single mother wi ...

'', the 50th anniversary television episode of ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 A ...

'' in 1990, '' House Party with Steve Doocy'', and the fifth anniversary special of ''

Late Night with David Letterman ''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on NBC, the first iteration of the ''Late Night'' franchise. It premiered on February 1, 1982, and was produced by Letterman's production company ...

'' were broadcast from Studio 8H. ''

Last Call with Carson Daly ''Last Call with Carson Daly'' is an American late-night television series that was broadcast by NBC from 2002 to 2019. Hosted by former MTV personality Carson Daly, the series was initially formatted as a late-night talk show in line with ''Th ...

'' used the studio until 2005, when the show moved to Studio 9 at the NBC Studios in Burbank, California. The show ''

Your Hit Parade ''Your Hit Parade'' was an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1953 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. During its 24-year r ...

'' filmed in 8H, where

Fred Rogers Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003), commonly known as Mister Rogers, was an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television se ...

worked writing music for the program. Years later,

Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and singer. He rose to fame on the sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', for which he was a regular cast member from 1980 to 1984. Murphy has als ...

performed a parody of Mr. Rogers' children’s show character named "Mr. Robinson" on ''Saturday Night Live'' in Studio 8H. In January 1975, a special one-hour episode of the daytime drama '' The Doctors'' was taped in Studio 8H. It usually was taped in Studio 3B. During the Summer of 1990, ''Today'' relocated its set from Studio 3B to Studio 8H, to allow for construction of a new set that debuted in Studio 3B on September 10, 1990. In May 2002, NBC celebrated its 75th anniversary and used 8H to shoot the live broadcast of the event.

Lorne Michaels Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian-American producer, screenwriter, and comedian. He is best known for creating and producing ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and producing the '' La ...

(executive producer of 8H mainstay ''Saturday Night Live'') executive produced the event. The studio was also used for the live parts of the season finale of ''

The Celebrity Apprentice ''The Celebrity Apprentice'' is an American television reality competition series. It was a variation of ''The Apprentice'' series, hosted by then real estate developer (later 45th president of the United States) Donald Trump from 2008 to 2015, an ...

'' on March 27, 2008.

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

's ''

Morning Joe ''Morning Joe'' is an American morning news and liberal talk show, airing weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time Zone, Eastern Time on the cable news channel MSNBC. It features former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough r ...

'' news program celebrated its tenth anniversary with a show before a live audience at the studio on September 19, 2017. The studio was also used for the show's post-election coverage on November 7, 2018 as well as November 10, 2016 and November 7, 2012.

References

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