Studio Audience Sizes?

[Argo]

I was just watching some old games the other day and was wondering just how popular it was to see some of these games in person? I know some shows were taped in small studios, but were the audiences always full when there was one?  I know a lot of shows "sweetened" them a bit or relied heavily on it, but some didn't seem to bother. I thought Concentration (Narz) was a bit odd with this. The earlier episodes seemed to have a lot of sweetening while on the later shows they didn't seem to bother. Also, did audience size ever affect host performance? I assume it would to an extent. I think Geoff Edwards shows in Canada were taped without an audience, or at least a very small one. It must make it very difficult for a host to work without one.

[Chief-O]

I think I've noticed with Hall "Split Second" that, especially after car wins, there just didn't seem to be too much excitement among Monty and the contestant; the mood in the room just seemed "dry".

[johnnya2k3]

KCBS' "2 On The Town's" game shows episode went behind the scenes at Pyramid; even though it was done at Studio 33, the audience was that small...even for a very popular show!

$1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime was like that as well; in one episode on YouTube, there was no sweetening during the first segment, and we got to hear the true audience applause. Either the person in charge was napping or forgot about it in post-production.

/Another reason for the "portions of the program not affecting the outcome of the game have been re-created or edited" disclaimer

[That Don Guy]

IIRC, during the first run of TattleTales, Bert Convy said there were 125 in each section; later, he said 100.

Also, I think the celebrity version of Beat The Clock had 100 in each of the two team's sections.

[Ian Wallis]

In a couple of the Eubanks  Card Sharks episodes that have run on GSN in the past month or so, when they show the 10 participating audience members, you can see that there were a lot of empty seats.  I guess with so many tapings of various shows back then it was hard to always fill it.

[TimK2003]

In a couple of the Eubanks  Card Sharks episodes that have run on GSN in the past month or so, when they show the 10 participating audience members, you can see that there were a lot of empty seats.  I guess with so many tapings of various shows back then it was hard to always fill it.

I think it was pretty easy to fill seats for game shows in Manhattan since you easy had at least as many people passing places like 30 Rock and The Ed Sullivan Theater as there were seats for the shows every 5 minutes.  It wouldn't take long to get at least a decent sized (not 100% full) audience there. Were there/Are there any NYC-based game shows that were/are paying people to fill seats (moreso shows shot in Manhattaan than those shows in the boroughs)?   

The studios in La-La Land, especially the Big 3 networks, weren't exactly on the main drags for foot traffic, especially ABC TV Center.  I'm sure LMAD and FF was always turning away later arrivals, as was TPIR, WoF & J!, but they really had to bust a hump for getting the other game shows filled out there -- giving out tickets on Hollywood Blvd. and other touristy areas hoping people will find the studios, for example.



 

[Nick]

giving out tickets on Hollywood Blvd. and other touristy areas hoping people will find the studios, for example.

I witnessed this for Wheel tickets on one of my visits a few years back.  Perhaps somebody around here knows the seating capacity of Stages 10 and 11 at Sony and how they compare to the capacity Wheel and J! had when they taped at Burbank and Metromedia Square respectively, but I daresay a good portion of their seat fillers these days are guests of the contestants.  At Wheel, the audience is divided into three sections.  The contestants-in-waiting occupy audience right (side nearest the Wheel) and the guests audience left.  Regular ticket holders generally fill out the center section.  There were still several empty seats in the crowd at one of the last taping sets of Wheel I attended.