A Brief History Of CBS Studio 52…254 West 54th Street

Here’s a shot of the long running CBS soap opera ‘Love Of Life’ in rehearsal at Studio 52, which is located just around the corner from The Ed Sullivan Theater on Broadway. Actually, it’s around either corner because Studio 52 went all the way from the front entrance on 54th to the 53rd Street back entrance which is just across the street from the entrance to the famous Birdland nightclub.

Speaking of famous nightclubs, after CBS sold it in 1976, Studio 52 was bought by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager and opened as Studio 54 in 1977. The venue was built in 1927 and opened as the Gallo Theater and changed hands several time till it closed in 1940 under the name of The New Yorker Theater.

CBS bought the property in 1943 and turned it into a radio theater, which Studio 50 (Sullivan Theater) was too at the time. As you’ll see in another post at the top of this page, this studio was converted to television in 1949, not long after Studio 50 and 51 made the leap.

When the now famous ‘$64,000 Question’ debuted, in 1955 it was from Studio 52 and along the way, ‘Video Village’, ‘Password’, ‘To Tell the Truth’, ‘Beat the Clock’, ‘I’ve Got a Secret’, and ‘Captain Kangaroo’ all called Studio 52 home.

It seems that except for ‘$64,000 Question’, pretty much all the shows to come from Studio 52 were move ins from other theaters. One of those move ins was ‘I’ve Got A Secret’ and here is the first episode of that show to originate at Studio 52 from June 12, 1960. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJqXuzejV2k

I was in this venue earlier this year and can best describe it as long and narrow. When radio left and television took over, most of the floor seats were taken up and most of the audiences were seated in the balcony as the floor space was needed for cameras and stages. The floor seat were temporary and could be moved around. At one time, there was an underground passage from Studio 50 to Studio 52 but when 50 was remodeled for David Letterman, that passage was bricked up.

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