The Prospect Studios

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Prospect Studios (also known as ABC Television Center [West]) is a lot containing several television studios located at 4151 Prospect Avenue in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, at the corner of Prospect Aveune and Talmadge Street (named in honor of silent screen star Norma Talmadge), just east of Hollywood. For over fifty years, this facility served as the West Coast headquarters of the American Broadcasting Company, before the network moved its main headquarters to the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. From 1949 to 2000,the ABC's owned Los Angeles television station, KABC-TV, was also located there. The station moved to a new state of the art facility located on a portion of Disney's Grand Central Center campus in nearby Glendale, California in December 2000.

Opening in 1915 as The Vitagraph Studio, the original silent film plant included two daylight film stages, support buildings and many exterior film sets. In 1925, Vitagraph's founder Albert Smith sold the company to the Warner brothers. In 1927, the facility became The Warner East Hollywood Annex and was used for many large-scale films. Here, in 1927, Warner Bros. shot portions of the historical first sound film, The Jazz Singer, using the Vitaphone process which synchronized audio and picture. The "interior" club scenes for the film were shot in Stage 5, still located today in the center of the Studio Lot. In the 1930s and '40s, Warner Bros. continued to shoot on the Lot using large water tanks, ship and backlot sets.

In 1948, the property was sold to the newly formed American Broadcasting Company, and the film lot was transitioned into the new world of television as the ABC Television Center. Then, ABC proceeded to place their new Los Angeles television station, KECA-TV (now KABC-TV) in the newly-purchased lot, a year later. Construction on the studio lot to bring it to its more familiar current form took place in 1957. ABC still uses the Prospect facility as a network retransmission center for its programming. Many great and memorable television shows, including those produced for ABC, other networks or syndication, have been produced in the studios. American Bandstand started recording there in 1963 (moving from Philadelphia). ABC's longest running program, General Hospital, now in its 44th year on the air, has been taped at this location since the mid 1980s after relocating from the Sunset-Gower Studios in Hollywood. Many other classic television shows were also produced there including The Lawrence Welk Show, Barney Miller, Fridays, Mr. Belvedere, Benson, and Soap.

Four of the most well-known game shows in television history were recorded at ABC Television Center: Family Feud (1976-85, hosted by Richard Dawson), Let's Make a Deal (1968-76, hosted by Monty Hall), The Dating Game (1965-74, hosted by Jim Lange), and The Newlywed Game (1966-1974, hosted by Bob Eubanks). Other game shows taped there included Hollywood Squares (hosted by John Davidson), and Password All-Stars (1971-75, hosted by Allen Ludden).

Davidson, along with Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton and Cathy Lee Crosby co-hosted That's Incredible!, an ABC show that ran from 1980-84, and considered one of the first true shows of the reality TV genre. ABC's long-running show, America's Funniest Home Videos, taped here from 1990-97.

Elizabeth Vargas anchors ABC World News Tonight from ABC News's Los Angeles Bureau, located at The Prospect Studios.

The Los Angeles Bureau of ABC News is also located at The Prospect Studios. The facility also served as broadcast headquarters for ABC's coverage of the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games.

In 1996, ABC became part of The Walt Disney Company, the origins of which trace back to its first studio in Silver Lake. As the television and film industry entered the next millennium, the Lot was renamed The Prospect Studios. In 2002, the property underwent a major renovation to position its facilities for the future and new technical innovation.

Current shows besides General Hospital produced here, including the FX network's hit drama, The Shield, and talk program, Soap Talk on the Disney-owned SoapNet, as well as ABC's Thrusday night hit program, Grey's Anatomy.