How to Get Tickets to Hot TV Shows!
How to Get Tickets to TV’s Hottest Studio Audiences
The Oprah Winfrey Show (talk show)
Location: Chicago, IL
Difficulty: Average
Time Required: varies
Decide when you would like to see a taping of Oprah’s show. It must be less than one month in advance. Oprah tapes her shows from September to early December, and from January to early June only.
Pick your first choice of days. Tapings are usually on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m., CST. Make sure you have some alternate dates in mind. There are sometimes tapings on Mondays and Fridays.
Call the Oprah show, (312) 591-9222 (Monday through Friday, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. CST).
The number is almost always busy, but persistence may eventually pay off.
Tips:
* The best time to call is between 1:30 and 3:00 p.m. Central time.
* The worst time to call is right after the show ends at 3:00 p.m. CST.
* You must make reservations by phone. No standby tickets are available.
* Last minute reservations are sometimes available, but they are rare. Check here for availability.
* No one under 16 will be admitted. Those 16-17 will only be admitted if they can present a birth certificate, and are accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.
Deal or No Deal (game show)
Location: Culver City, CA
Difficulty: Very Difficult
Time Required: Unknown
Tickets are no longer available through the studio or the network (NBC), but ticket services such as tvtickets.com, hollywoodtickets.com and tvtix.com may be able to get them for you.
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (late night talk show)
Location: Burbank, CA
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 2-3 weeks minimum, 6 weeks is recommended
From the website: “Tickets to The Tonight Show with Jay Leno are available by U.S. mail.
To order, send a self-addressed stamped envelope with a brief letter listing the desired date of taping and three alternate dates. You can request up to four tickets, but seating is limited. Audience members must be at least 16 years old. If tickets are available for the date you request, they will be sent to you by return mail approximately 2-3 weeks prior to the show date. All mail requests are processed on a first come, first-served basis and should be submitted at least 6 weeks in advance.”
Jeopardy! (game show)
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: Varies
Write to:
JEOPARDY! TICKETS
PO Box 3763
Hollywood, CA 90028
Or Call: (800) 482-9840
10:00AM to 4:00PM
(Pacific Standard Time)
Family Feud (game show)
Location: Tribune Studios, Los Angeles, CA
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: Varies
Call: (818) 295-2700
Wheel of Fortune (game show)
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: Varies
Write to:
Wheel of Fortune
P.O. Box 3763
Hollywood, CA 90028
Or call: (800) 482-9840
10:00AM to 4:00PM
(Pacific Standard Time)
Late Night With Conan O’Brian (late night talk show)
Location: New York City, NY
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 10 minutes
1. You may request up to four free tickets by calling the NBC ticket office at (212) 664-3056 in advance. Ticket requests are no longer accepted via U.S. Mail.
2. A small number of standby tickets are available on a first come, first served basis on the morning of taping days. Limit one per person.
3. Gather under the “NBC Studios” marquee at the 49th street entrance of 30 Rockefeller Plaza no later than 9:00 a.m. on a taping day for standby tickets.
Tips:
1. Make sure to wait at the 49th Street entrance for standby tickets.
2. Stand-by tickets do not guarantee admission.
3. No one under 16 will be admitted to the taping.
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (fake news show)
Always check the official Web site to see a list of available taping dates: http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/XJ&sdn=talkshows&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.comedycentral.com%2Fshows%2Fthe_daily_show%2Fextras%2Ftickets.jhtml
Location: New York City, NY
Difficulty: Varies; Appears to get harder as the show grows more popular
Time Required: One week for reserved tickets, same day for stand-by tickets
Request tickets to attend a live taping of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart by sending an email to requesttickets@thedailyshow.com. Send your email by 11:30 A.M. (EST) on Friday for tickets to see a taping the following week. There is no guarantee that you will receive tickets for your requested date. Tickets will be allocated to the first sixty (60) people who respond per date.
If you are chosen to receive tickets, you must respond to the e-mail containing your ticket information in order to confirm your attendance at the taping. You must have a ticket, and you must be at least 18 years old, in order to be admitted to the studio.
If you are interested in trying for stand-by tickets, you must arrive at the studio (733 11th Avenue, between 51st Street and 52nd Street), by 5 P.M., Monday – Thursday. Taping begins at 5:20 p.m.
Good Morning America (early morning variety news show)
Location: New York City, NY
Difficulty: Varies
Time Required: Varies
Request advance tickets online: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=144752
Note: A popular way to get involved with the show is simply to loiter outside the studio in Times Square while the show is taping. Popular weather-person Al Roker often speaks to random visitors outside the studio, and many other GMA events take place outside as well! The official site notes the following about this method:
* Wear comfortable shoes and avoid clothing that endorses a business or product.
* Bring photo ID for security clearance.
* You’re welcome to bring signs, but they shouldn’t have website addresses or product endorsements.
* Bring a sweater or jacket if you’re attending a Good Morning America Taping – they keep the studios pumped full of refrigerated air.
The Late Show With David Letterman (late night talk show)
Location: New York City, NY
Difficulty: VERY difficult
Time Required: Varies; difficult to choose your preferred date to see the show
Check http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/show_info/ls_show_info_get_ticket_online.shtml for the latest ticket information.
Tickets can be obtained via CBS’s online form or in person at the Ed Sullivan Theater, 1697 Broadway between West 53rd and West 54th Streets, Monday – Friday, 9:30 a.m – 12: 30 p.m. and Saturday/Sunday, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. (The site says: “Please do not line up prior to 9:00 a.m. Anyone violating this policy will not be eligible to receive tickets.”)
You can get Stand-by tickets for a taping on the day of your choice by calling (212) 247-6497 starting at 11:00 a.m. on the day of the taping you wish to attend, and giving them your name. You will then be placed on a list, and you must appear at the theater about 1 hour before taping to determine whether any stand-by seats are available once regularly ticketed guests are seated. Make sure to bring photo identification, as only those on the list will be given stand-by shows.
Saturday Night Live (sketch comedy show)
ORDERS ARE BEING TAKEN DURING THE MONTH OF AUGUST ONLY
Location: New York City, NY
Difficulty: Medium-Difficult
Time Required: Tickets are available by mail for random shows only
“Stand-by tickets are available at 7 a.m. on the 49th st. side of 30 Rockefeller Plaza on the mornings of the tapings. You may choose a stand-by ticket for either the 8pm dress rehearsal or the 11:30pm live taping. Stand-by tickets are limited to one per person and are issued on a first-come, first-served basis. Please be advised that a stand-by ticket does not guarantee admission and no one under the age of 16 will be admitted.”
Martha Stewart
Location: Chelsea, New York City, NY
Difficulty: Difficult
Time Required: Varies – Spring and Summer tickets were sold out early.
To check the availability of tickets, call 917-438-5999.
Each major network has its own standards and methods for attending their live studio audience programs.
CBS:
“There are three ways you can get get tickets:
1. By mail:
The old tried and true way is to write for them.
Send a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) to:
CBS Tickets
[Name of the show]
CBS Television City
7800 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Be sure to include a note specifying which show you want to see, how many tickets you need , and the date you would like to attend.
2. In Person:
The second way to get your tickets is by going to the Studio where the show is being taped. Show up either a few days in advance or early in the morning the day of the show.
It’s a good way to get your ticket at the last minute. But during the busy tourist months, it’s a wild card as to whether tickets will still be available at the Studio Ticket Window. During July and August there are people on line as early as 4:30-5:00 in the morning for tickets to “The Price Is Right”s. Over at the NBC studio, people sometimes start lining up for the Tonight Show at NBC at midnight the night before. But if you’re kind of a “go with the flow” person, this can be a flow to go with.
You can go down to the ticket booth at CBS Television City in Hollywood (see the above address) and pick up your tickets in person, starting two weeks prior to the taping day, up to the day before the taping. No tickets are available on the actual day of taping.
3. Online: THE EASIEST WAY TO GET YOUR FREE TV TICKETS
The third way is to use a studio authorized ticketing service, a liaison for the Studios. You can either go online to their website, phone them or find their reps at popular tourist spots places like Grauman’s Chinese Theater or Venice Beach.
Their job is to make it easy for you to get these free tickets. Some of these ticket agents are very caring and do not give out more tickets than there are seats – so your chances of getting in are very, very good (as long as you arrive not a minute later than the arrival time stated on the ticket).
A Really Great Place Is: TVTIX.COM. You can get free tickets to most of these shows by simply clicking here to order your tickets online. You’ll even be able to print out your tickets on your computer’s own printer.”
ABC:
Varies by show. Check http://abc.go.com/site/tvtickets.html.
NBC:
Varies by show. Check http://www.nbc.com/Footer/Tickets/
FOX:
Fox gives tickets through ticket dealers Audiences Unlimited at 1-818-753-3470 or try their website at: www.tvticket.com
If Audiences Unlimited cannot help, try “On Camera Audiences” at 1-818-295-2700.
