8 TV Tapings To Attend in New York City

Kevin Whipple /
Kevin Whipple / | © Culture Trip
Dana deLaski

Many television shows are taped in New York City, and attending a taping can be a memorable experience. Tickets to TV-show tapings are usually free to the public. Most programs let you reserve tickets online in advance, or you can opt to wait outside the studio on the day of the show. Here are some of the most popular television shows taped in NYC that you can attend.

The Daily Show With Trevor Noah

The Daily Show With Trevor Noah airs Monday through Thursday at 11pm on Comedy Central. This Emmy-winning and Peabody Award-winning program discusses and satirizes current events, and it’s become famous for its smart yet controversial analyses of the news. You must be 18 or older to attend a taping, and you’ll want to snag a reservation in advance to guarantee yourself a seat. Tapings are at 6pm.

733 11th Avenue, New York, NY 10019

Trevor Noah during a taping of ‘The Daily Show’

Early risers can grab a seat at a live taping of Good Morning America – ABC’s morning news segment, which is taped each weekday morning in Times Square at 7am. Co-hosts Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, Lara Spencer, Amy Robach, Michael Strahan, Sara Haines and Ginger Zee deliver the morning headlines, weather reports, interviews and more. Request a ticket online, where you can also see which celebrity guests will be making an appearance.

500 Broadway at 44th Street, New York, NY 10036

US Marines wait in Times Square to appear on ‘Good Morning America’

Late Night With Seth Meyers

You’ll have to book a ticket four to six weeks in advance to catch Late Night With Seth Meyers – one of the most popular shows on television. It tapes Monday through Thursday at 6.30pm; check-in is between 4.30 and 5.15. You can get a separate ticket to watch Seth Meyers rehearse his monologue on the day of the show. Tickets for the monologue rehearsal are given out by interns at 11.30am at The Shop at NBC Studios.

Studio 8G, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112

The ‘Late Night With Seth Meyers’ logo decorates the NBC Experience Store window in Rockefeller Center

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

The Tonight Show – the longest-running night-time franchise on NBC – airs Monday through Friday at 11.30pm. The famous talk show is currently hosted by Jimmy Fallon, who’s had every celebrity guest under the sun (including Barack Obama). Booking tickets in advance can be tough due to the show’s extreme popularity. You can try lining up for a ticket early in the morning outside 30 Rockefeller Plaza, or – as with Late Night With Seth Meyers – try to get a ticket to a monologue rehearsal.

Studio 6B, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112

Jennifer Aniston and Jimmy Fallon on ‘Late Night With Jimmy Fallon’ in 2011

The View

Created in 1997, The View (weekdays 11am to noon) is a current-events talk show hosted by women, each of whom offers her opinions on the news. Whoopi Goldberg moderates the conversation; the line-up currently includes Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Abby Huntsman and Meghan McCain. Tickets for this show are not as hard to come by as they are for other shows on this list. You can order them online beforehand, and you’ll need to arrive only half an hour ahead of time.

57 West 66th Street, New York, NY, USA

Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Walters, President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Joy Behar, Sherri Shepherd and Elisabeth Hasselbeck on ‘The View’ in 2012

Today

NBC’s morning news and lifestyle show Today doesn’t require tickets. If you want to attend it, line up outside the ground floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza at the corner of 48th Street. Arrive early to get a good spot since the show starts at 7am. The program, which originally aired as The Today Show in 1952, is currently hosted by Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb, who introduce both celebrity and musical guests.

30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY, USA

Miley Cyrus performs on ‘Today’ in 2013

Saturday Night Live

The beloved comedy-sketch show Saturday Night Live (SNL)airs 11.30pm to 1am and features celebrity hosts and musical guests. The show is immensely popular, so it’s no surprise that tickets are coveted. They are given out once per year via lottery. Of course, you can always try getting a standby ticket – as long as you’re willing to wait outside 30 Rockefeller Plaza before 7am.

30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112

Alec Baldwin (left) and Phil Hartman kissing each other in a ‘Saturday Night Live’ skit

Inside the Actors Studio

Inside the Actors Studio brings actors, writers and directors on stage for interviews. The shows are taped at the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace University. Most of the audience members are students of the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace, but members of the public can sometimes get tickets by waiting outside the Schimmel Center on the day of the show. In September 2018, it was announced that James Lipton – the series’ host since it began in 1994 – would be retiring and that guest interviewers will be used in the future. The tapings will continue at the Schimmel Center.

Michael Schimmel Center, 3 Spruce Street, New York, NY 10038

Lauren Bacall talks with Actors Studio students on ‘Inside the Actors Studio’

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