Midwood, Brooklyn - Television

Television

"Midwood, Brooklyn, A Community From Which Great Television Entertainment Has Emanated ... from Perry Como to the '60s Hip Hullabaloo to 'The Cosby Show' to CBS daytime's 'As The World Turns'!"

In 1952, NBC Television purchased part of the Vitagraph Studios, which then became known as NBC Brooklyn. Studio 1 is along Locust Avenue. A new larger studio known as Color Studio 2 is at 1268 East 14th Street, on the northwest corner of its intersection with Avenue M. Programs such as The Perry Como Variety Show, TV's adaptation of Broadway's Peter Pan with Mary Martin, The Sammy Davis, Jr. Variety Show, the nighttime version of the quiz show Tic Tac Dough, Sing Along With Mitch Miller (And His "Sing-Along Gang") (1961–1964) which featured a then-young singer named Leslie Uggams, who years later became best known for her role in the historic TV epic Roots, were all taped there for later broadcast. Old NBC press releases show that two of the earliest shows to emanate from there (both then considered early NBC "Big Specials") were The Esther Williams Aqua Special (10/29/1956), and Satins & Spurs (10/12/1954). The same Brooklyn studios were used in more recent decades to broadcast the soap opera Another World, Another World "spin-off" soap drama Somerset (1971–1976), the situation comedy The Cosby Show, and three 1975 episodes of Saturday Night Live. There was also an NBC News NASA Apollo Space Mission Special taped here, a short-lived mystery detective drama, and a weekly circus variety show (the later two for another network). Bill Cosby and crew after a period of time relocated the show to their new home at the Kaufman Astoria Studios in Astoria, Queens. The "second" NBC Cosby Show that followed (co-starring the late comedic actress Madeline Kahn, most notably of Mel Brooks hit comedy films Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein) was also taped at Kaufman Astoria Studios.

In 1965–66, the studios were also home to Hullabaloo, a popular weekly NBC prime-time musical variety series, produced by Gary Smith and Dwight Hemion (Smith being best known for producing Barbra Streisand TV specials). Hullabaloo first aired on NBC on the evening of 1/12/1965, and its final episode was aired on 4/11/66. The program featured bands at the top of the music charts, singers and other celebrity entertainers of the period such as Sonny & Cher and Tina Sinatra, and many performers from the so-called British Invasion, like The Rolling Stones, Herman's Hermits, The Dave Clark Five, Petula Clark, Marianne Faithfull, The Moody Blues, and Donovan. It first originated from the NBC Studios in Burbank, California, and its premiere was hosted by Jack Jones. After a brief period of time the program was moved east to NBC Color Studio 2 in Midwood. During its New York heyday a few episodes were also recorded at NBC's headquarters studios in Rockefeller Center. Brian Epstein, manager of The Beatles, also hosted a Hullabaloo program from London. Neither The Beatles nor Elvis Presley were ever a guest or host of the aforementioned variety shows, however.

The Sammy Davis, Jr. show was taped in the much smaller Studio 1 located along Locust Ave. The audience entrance was on the northernmost part of East 13th, opposite the outdoor scenic storage yard. In the early 1970s the NBC TV variety show Kraft Music Hall was taped in Studio 2. Ed McMahon, country music star Eddy Arnold, and John Davidson were frequent hosts. Guests included Johnny Cash, Simon & Garfunkel, Woody Allen, Wayne Newton, Bill Dana, Alan King, Bobby Darin, Dionne Warwick, her sister Dee Dee Warwick, Mitzi Gaynor, Roy Rogers and his wife Dale Evans, and many others. Desi Arnaz hosted one episode. His ex-wife actress/TV icon comedienne Lucille Ball and her kids specifically flew in from Hollywood to cheer him on, on this his return to TV. One memorable episode of the Kraft Music Hall program was hosted by comedian Don Rickles, which featured him walking off a Coney Island–bound Brighton Line subway train at the Avenue M station, then speaking about old Brooklyn memories, old childhood street games of the past while walking the avenue, then playing a game of "Kick-the-Can" and New York-style stickball, all actually filmed on location on E. 15th Street between Avenue M and the old Vitagraph Studios building at Chestnut Avenue.

Many of the noted variety shows (with the exception of Mitch Miller) had a live studio audience for both rehearsals and/or actual show recording. Often NBC Guest Relations staff could be found standing on the street outside the studio offering free tickets to the dress rehearsals and/or the actual taping of those 1960s programs, and sometimes even The Cosby Show. The only exception to that was the brief Saturday Night Live stint at the studio (which was pre-filled to capacity) as well as "big name" guest or host show tapings (e.g. The Rolling Stones or Desi Arnaz, especially with the presence of Lucille Ball at the studio to cheer on Arnaz). NBC Guest Relations operated a charter bus to/from their Rockefeller Center headquarters to the Brooklyn studio for pre-ticketed 1960s audience members, so that they did not have to travel by car or subway. They also did so for The Cosby Show. Fans in the know could always be found outside the studio entrance waiting to greet their favorite celebrity, many of whom in turn were happy to stop and chat, sign an autograph, pose for a photo, all without the hassle of present day out-of-control paparazzi. From the 1950s through the original Cosby Show years, the NBC Brooklyn studio presence in Midwood basically transformed the community's Avenue M into Brooklyn's own versions of Broadway and Hollywood. Fond memories of the great many "A-List" celebrities that had performed inside the former NBC Studios and walked the local streets still exist today. Now, many within the community, and visitors alike, do not even know that a television production studio exists at the location, nor that the adjacent present-day Shulamith School property was once an early major silent film studio. A few old classic episodes of Perry Como, Hullabaloo, and Kraft Music Hall (taped at the studio) can be found on VHS and DVD, as well as on YouTube. The Museum of Television and Radio (New York and Los Angeles) has a collection on the noted television programs.

NBC sold the studio in 2000. The facility is now known as JC Studios. The CBS soap opera As the World Turns was taped here from January 2000 until June 2010. The series was cancelled after 54 years. The final episode aired on September 17, 2010.

When NBC Brooklyn Color Studio 2 was built, the studio was at the time said to be "the largest color TV production studio in America", rivalling Pinewood Studios just west of London.

According to the NYC Mayor's Office Of Film, Television and Theater, the present JC Studios building consists of Stage 1, which is 11,200 sq ft (163' × 70', w/a 24-foot (7.3 m) ceiling height), and Stage 2 which is 9,700 sq ft (130' × 75', with a 38'-10" ceiling height). There are 31 dressing rooms, two control rooms, hair, makeup and dressing areas, and one edit suite. Two very large and visible NBC 'N' logo signs were placed on the East 13th and 14th Street upper parts of the big Red Brick Studio 2 Building on Avenue M until The Cosby Show years. To the dismay of many remaining long-time residents, both were taken down when NBC vacated the premises, prior to the studios being sold to JC Studios.

The nearby Edward R. Murrow High School offers its students classes in television production and had its own student-produced local Public-access television program on BCAT called T.E.R.M. Many of its former students are currently employed in some form of television production, including news at WNBC and Fox 5 WNYW.

Among movies and TV shows that have been filmed in Midwood are:

• América (1972) – TV series
• The Godfather (1972)
• Just Looking (1999)
• The Squid and the Whale (2005)
• The Lords of Flatbush (1974), scenes filmed at James Madison High School and along Bedford Avenue, Avenue P, Quentin Road and Kings Highway
• The Cosby Show Avenue L entrance, and school name sign of E.R. Murrow High School, various episodes
• Seinfeld Episode 134 – "The Abstinence" (11/21/96) Avenue L entrance of E. R. Murrow High School, school name sign changed to "E. R. Murrow Jr. High School"
• Scenes from the film The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), directed by Woody Allen and starring Mia Farrow and Jeff Daniels, inside the Kent Theater on Coney Island Avenue