CBS Studio 54…Inside Liederkrantz Hall, 1960
On March 11, 2014
- TV History
CBS Studio 54…Inside Liederkrantz Hall, 1960
Although Studio 54 is the larger of the two second floor studios, it only hosts three cameras instead of the four in Studio 53. Quite a few of the CBS daytime dramas came from Liederkrantz Hall which was well suited for this kind of daily activity. The most well known show to originate in 54 was ‘The Secret Storm’. Thanks to Gady Reinhold for these historic pages.
Unique to these shows was the live music with piano and organ that was supplied by Paul Taubman. He also did “As the World turns” and the “Edge of night.” My mom called these shows, “Her Stories’ and watched them faithfully for over 20 years. These were the launching pad for many acting careers. Although produced on tape, they had the feeling of live TV, and as far as I am concerned, that is real TV. Watching these shows was a great classroom for dramatic blocking, camera angles and directing.
From Studio 54, here’s 1960 clip of ‘The Secret Storm’. It ran from 1954 till 1974. It started as a 15 minute show but in 1962 went to half and hour and competed against NBC’s ‘The Match Game’ at 4PM. This was the last network soap opera to go color which finally happened in 1968. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KalAURaT1l4#t=8