SNL - Saturday Night Live

Show Address:
NBC Studios
30 Rockefeller Center
New York, NY 10112
(49th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues)

Ticket Price:
The tickets for this TV show are free

Contact Numbers:
212-664-3056 (NBC Ticket Desk)
212-664-4000 (NBC Studios)

SNL Show Schedule:

On Saturday nights during the taping season, SNL has two live studio audiences at 30 Rockefeller in
studio 8H. The dress rehearsal is at 8PM, and the live show is at 11:30PM. Audience arrival time for
these shows are 7:15PM (at the latest) for the dress rehearsal and 10:45PM (at the latest) for the live
show. You must be at least 16 years old to attend this show.

The Difficulty Level: Tricky, but not Impossible

In-Advance Tickets - The e-mail lottery:

SNL used to have a snail-mail lottery that you would send in a postcard with your details into NBC and
they would perform a lottery with all the cards. Since the Anthrax attacks at NBC in 2001-2002, lottery
tickets have only been distributed only via an e-mail process.
Currently, for in-advance SNL tickets you can only submit your request during the month of August (we
advise submitting earlier in the month rather than later) and that you should only do it once. If SNL sees
multiple e-mails, they will blackball you and all your email requests will be ignored. Also, do not be
specific in your request. If you choose a specific date, host, or musical guest, your request will be
disregarded or ignored.

Send your e-mail ticket request to CLICK HERE, and include your name and contact information. You are
allowed two tickets per request, per season, per person, per household. Tickets for both the dress
rehearsal and the live show are distributed through this system. If you get the dress rehearsal and want
to switch you will have to do it on-the-day at the studio, but the NBC pages don't like doing it.

SNL receives just 58,000 requests for tickets through this process each year. There are 250 seats in the
studio 8H and there are two shows per night. There are a maximum of twenty five shows per season and
this gives you the odds of one in five chance of getting tickets to this show through this mechanism.
Trying to increase your odds by using multiple email addresses, multiple home addresses etc will get you
banned as many ticket brokers have found out the hard way. Just enter the lottery once. They are also
watching your IP address, so too many requests from your IP address gets you banned and all your email
addresses banned too.

If you win the lottery and are selected for one of the fall (or early winter) shows, you will be notified
sometime in September. People selected for shows later in the season will be notified throughout the
year (sometimes with as little as a 10-day advance notice). Be sure to arrive by the time specified on
your ticket, and, to be on the safe side, try to arrive even earlier. Entry is never absolutely guaranteed,
and you don't want to be a casualty if a bunch of VIPs show up at the last minute with their entourage
and take your seats - because this has happened.

Standby Tickets: The standby line (a.k.a. spending the night on line):
It is a well known fact that tickets to SNL are hard to get. The studio is relatively small, the hosts are big
named celebrities, and the popularity of this show never seems to fade. There are die-hard fans that
make it their life’s work to get into as many shows as possible. There are even fans who have attempted
to see almost every show using the standby method. If you want to take your chances, we're told that
5AM is probably the latest you can arrive and still have some hope of making it. But if you want to make
every attempt to see the show, it will require a concrete sleep over (that is to say, a sleep over ON
concrete!). All our success stories have come from those willing to camp out overnight. You can bring a
blanket and/or chairs, but don’t bring tents or camping equipment. You are allowed to leave the line
briefly to get something to eat or use the restroom, but otherwise you must stay in line at all times. And
while you are sleeping on the street in NYC, you won’t be alone (we have heard of at least two guys who
will be camping out there with you, as they have been going the standby route since 1975).

The standby tickets are distributed Saturday morning at the 49th Street entrance to 30 Rockefeller Plaza,
under the NBC Studios marquee. The tickets are given out by NBC pages at 7AM -- one ticket per person.
The closer to the front of the line, the better, as the order you are in on line determines the order in
which standby tickets are given out. You may be offered a choice of live tickets or dress rehearsal. The
dress rehearsal genuinely is the better show. The show is longer, the cast is more relaxed, and you get
more cast/audience interaction.

An ex-NBC page revealed that SNL is celebrity driven to the core. If a host or musical guest requires a
certain number of seats, it is a given that they get them, which is why the non-VIP audience numbers are
truly not determined until the very last second. These last minute issues will be out of your control
though, which is why the only thing you can do is to get on line as early as you can handle it.

Other Info On Getting Tickets:

Try and avoid going standby if there is excessive popularity for a certain host or a musical guest. Again,
since the show is so celebrity driven, the tickets for those will be much harder to obtain, and clearly less
of the standby audience will make it in. For a recent show in which Steve Martin was hosting, people
were already lining up on Thursday afternoon, which will be a total of 36 hours on line.
Also, don’t attempt to take pictures of the stage or celebrities when you are in the studio. They will take
your camera and toss you to the curb.

NBC has the right to change how to get SNL tickets at any time. If you plan to submit an e-mail lottery
request, you can check NBC.com and see if they are making substantial changes to their current format.
The phone number for general ticket information is (212) 664-3056.

SNL Thursday Weekend Update:

Saturday Night Live started airing 1/2 hour "Weekend Update" specials in prime time on NBC. On
selected Thursday's tickets to this show are available. The ticketing is done the same way as for the
regular show, with advance tickets being distributed to people who entered the August e-mail lottery.

The standby tickets for this show are handed out at NBC Studios at 10am on the morning of the taping.
Standby tickets for Thursday Update are fairly easy to get, so this is a great option if you want to get a
taste of the SNL experience without spending the night on the pavement. (For a recent Thursday
Weekend Update episode, not more than 20 people were in line when they started handing out the
tickets at 10am Thursday morning). CLICK HERE for the most up-to-date information on Thursday
Weekend Update standby tickets.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Show Address:
The CBS Broadcasting Center
528 West 57th Street (between 10th and 11th Avenue)
New York, NY 10019

Ticket Price:
The tickets for this TV show are free

Taping Times:
Last Week with John Oliver tapes every Sunday at. 6:15PM
Arrival time for ticketed guests is 4:45PM and 3:30PM for standby tickets.
Tapings usually take about an hour and a half, but can go longer, so be prepared to stay the entire time.

The show that is taped on Sunday, is edited and airs later that night at 11:00 p.m. on HBO in the United
States and Canada
In the United Kingdom, the show is televised on Tuesday 10.00 pm (GMT).
This show is often repeated through the week on HBO, if you miss it. It is also available on HBO on
demand, a full week after airing.
You must be at least 18 years old to attend a taping

Getting Tickets In Advance:

You must live in the New York City area (NY,NJ,CT) to be eligible for tickets in advance.
Tickets can be requested through their online form at CLICK HERE

This website updates availability and lets you know at what time and date you can apply for tickets.
Unfortunately, the website is often sold out of tickets very quickly, sometimes within minutes. So it can
be frustrating. If your ticket request is accepted, you will receive a confirmation email immediately and
one closer to the date of the show. If you are successful in getting a ticket for advance reservation, you
will receive a confirmation email immediately after the booking and another closer to the show date,
reminding you about your reservation. Bear in mind you cannot transfer the reservation to someone
else, as they require government ID as proof at the door to ensure that the tickets had not been
distributed or sold.
After applying for tickets, the team at theblacklistnyc decides if they want you at their show and sends
you an email invite. Because of this, standby tickets are usually a better option than tickets in advance
for this show.

Getting Standby Tickets:

To get standby tickets, first check the official ticket website at: CLICK HERE to see the time and date of
the show that you want to go to, to make sure that the show is actually being taped on that day as
scheduled. Obviously the website is often indicates "Sold Out status, but that is OK, as it pretty always
says that. If you turn up two hours early, there will be a standby line, where in recent history most
people get in if they have been there for over two hours. If you join the standby line an hour before you
have a 50/50 chance of getting in, unless it is inclement weather or there is some other reason why large
numbers of ticketed patrons did not make it to the show.

When you get to this studio make sure you see the audience associate and tell them that you are there
for the standby line. There are 150 seats in this show, they give out 200 tickets in advance and true-to-
form at least 50% of ticketed patrons do not turn up because the tv show ticket is free and worthless in
many people's minds. This stands you in great stead to get in as standby and often get great seats for
this show, often better than the ticketed patrons

Group Tickets:
This show will not provide group tickets because as the studio audience is quite small, they do not want
to risk the fact that the group may not turn up. This could ruin the production of the show, as there is a
small audience.

Other Information:
There is no coat or bag check at this studio, so travel light. There is no dress code at this show, as they
never tape the audience. Obviously, you cannot bring knives, guns, alcohol or illegal drugs to this show.
Each audience member is subject to a security search.

Advance and standby ticketing for this show is managed by theblacklistnyc.

Late Night with Seth Meyers

Show Address:
NBC Studios
30 Rockefeller Plaza
(West 49th Street between 5th and 6th Avenue)
New York, NY 10112

Ticket Price:
The tickets for this TV show are free

Contact Numbers:
212-664-3056 (Ticket Line)
212-664-4000 (Production Studios)

Tapes Monday through Thursday at 5:30PM.

Audience members have to be at least 16 years old.

Getting tickets:
Visit the Seth Meyers ticket web page: click here
Or call the ticket hotline at 212-664-3056 to reserve tickets. An NBC Tickets rep will tell you what show
dates are available, take down your request, and then send you an e-mail confirmation. Print the e-mail
and bring it with you to the studio when you go to see the taping. Note: You can only reserve a
maximum of 4 tickets. You are only permitted to make reservations every six months. Ticket
reservations are generally available for tapings about 4-6 weeks in advance.

Standby Tickets:
Get in line outside of NBC Studios, under the marquee on 49th Street (between 5th and 6th Ave), on the
morning of the day you wish to attend. They start handing out the tickets at 10 AM, but if you really
have your heart set on getting in, arrive earlier to get at the head of the standby line. Bear in mind that
they will only issue one ticket per person, so all members of your party need to get in the standby line.
After you're given your ticket, you are told to come back by a specified time in the afternoon to re-join
the standby line inside (take the escalator up to the Mezzanine level) -- you'll be lined up in the order of
the number you were issued that morning. At that point they will determine how many of you are
actually getting into the show, and then issue real tickets accordingly.

Late Show With Stephen Colbert

Show Address:
Ed Sullivan Theater
1697 Broadway
(between 53rd and 54th streets)
New York, NY 10019
Ticket Price:
The tickets for this TV show are free

Seats In The Theatre:

There are 535 seats in total at this theatre
350 seats in the orchestra and 185 seats in the balcony

Taping Days and Times:

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert regular taping times are Mondays through Wednesdays at
5:30 PM and Thursdays at 3:30 PM and 6:45 PM.

Advance Tickets:
Tickets to the Late Show with Stephen Colbert are now available from a third party ticket
manager.
CLICK HERE to access The Late Show schedule and tickets.

Please keep in mind that Late Show tapings are overbooked by 30% so tickets are not guaranteed
entry to the show. If everyone that received tickets actually turns up many people with tickets
would be turned away, fortunately that does not happen regularly. With Colbert's Late Show, this
problem may occur when there is a big star coming to the show, but often they adjust how many
tickets they give out based on that scheduling. For problems with the ticketing website, please
email: CLICK HERE

Ticket Pick Up Times:

Mondays through Wednesdays, the show taping starts at 5:30 PM, but they request that audience
members with ticket reservations initially pick up their tickets at the studio between 2 PM and
and 3:15 PM on the day of the taping and return later in the day for the show. On Thursdays
tapings start at 3:30 PM and 6:45 PM, but it is best if you get on line two hours prior to the
taping. When you pick up tickets they will also stamp your hand, to stop ticket brokers from
redistributing tickets. Picking up tickets earlier, rather than later, will get you a better seat in the
orchestra section, rather than being on the balcony. This show is on a first-come first-served
basis, so the earlier you line-up to pick up the tickets, the better your chances of snagging a front
row seat. For front row seats, we recommend getting on the line at 1PM, otherwise 2PM (12 PM
for 3:30 PM tapings) is just fine for good seats. If you pick up your tickets up at the end of the
pickup window at 3:15 PM, you will end up on the balcony - but you will still get into the show,
unless the guest that night is insanely popular, which means that you may be relegated to
standby.

Show Arrival Times:

At 4:15 PM, everyone who picked up tickets earlier returns to the studio and gets in line in order
of their ticket number. It is well organized.

Standby Ticket - Lottery at 1PM:

If you do not have a ticket, you can enter the standby ticket lottery on the day. By signing up for
the lottery, you are not guaranteed to win a seat in the audience, but you stand a good chance of
getting in because they always give out at least 50 tickets via the lottery every day. You must be
on the standby lottery line at 1PM - you then come back at 4:15 to find out if you won tickets to
the show - there is a very good chance that you will see the show in person. Shows with top "A
List" celebrities mean that fewer standby lottery people get in, but it is still worth a shot, even on
those very popular days. If the weather is bad, or the guests are mediocre, most of the lottery
standby line gets in because many regular ticketed people do not turn up. Ticketed people often
do not turn up if the weather is bad. Ticket brokers also book lots of tickets and are often unable
to resell them, which means that they do not turn up either, meaning more slots for everyone
else.

Standby Ticket - Last Minute Tickets at 4:15PM

Different from the standby lottery, this is for people who just want to turn up at the last minute
and see if they have any spare tickets left. All you need to do is turn up at 4:15PM and go to the
front of the line, where they will let you know if they have any tickets left. The seats will be in
the balcony, which is actually a better place to see the show anyway as it is not blocked by the
three huge TV cameras that are on the ground floor. If the guest is not an A-Lister, the chances
of getting these tickets if 50%. If the guest is popular, there will be no tickets left at this time.

Guests Are Often Not Present At Taping:

Colbert's Late Show announces the guests and musical performances in advance on his website
Click Here. This allows you to gauge the level of interest and also determine the weather which
is often the biggest factor for these types of shows where standby tickets are available. Colbert
often pre-records guests interviews and musical pieces, so the audience ends up just watching a
pre-recording of the guest, which can be very disappointing. This can happen because of
scheduling conflicts or for security issues (like the President is on the show). The show does not
pre-announce that they will be doing that at any time, until they introduce the guest and then they
just cut to the tape that was recorded a few days earlier, with Colbert wearing the same clothes as
today.

Balcony Versus Orchestra:

The ground floor orchestra seats provide a closer experience to the stage and are better for the
warm up, but when taping actually begins the five huge cameras block all the audience views of
Colbert and of the stage. The view from the balcony is much better for the actual show and is in
now way worse than the ground floor, in many respects it is much more enjoyable because the
cameras do not block the view. You are given the choice of where you want to be when you walk
in, so bear in mind that your view may be blocked.

Special Needs and Disabled Access:

For questions about special ticket reservation requests you can email The Late Show at CBS at:
CLICK HERE

Show Phone Number:

You can call the automated line at The Late Show at 212-975-8800 or email at CLICK HERE.
You can press # to leave a message, but they have been unreliable in returning messages as we
are sure this phone line gets swamped. If you call CBS at 212-975-4321 and ask to be transferred
to The Late Show, a staffer will usually pick up the line to help you.
The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon

Show Address:
NBC Studios
30 Rockefeller Plaza
(West 49th Street between 5th and 6th Avenue)
New York, NY 10112

Ticket Price:
The tickets for this TV show are free

Getting Tickets
The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon has become the hottest TV show ticket in New York City.
Even though it is very popular, you can still get tickets for this show, just not through the official
channels.

The Ticket Basics:

 The tickets are free

 The show is shot in NBC Studio 6B at 30 Rockefeller Plaza
 The main show is at 5PM, the rehearsal show is shot at 2PM
 No groups larger than four people are allowed
 The name on the booking must match government ID at the door
 Everyone gets searched
 No bags or luggage allowed
 Individuals cannot exceed more than 1 show taping within a 6 month period, as it is
logged by the NBC pages.
 No recording devices. NBC has an overzealous media ban. They may take phones away
at the door. Camera's are out-and-out banned

Getting Tickets In Advance: The low-down on the internet:

NBC is using an outside company, 1iota.com, to provide online ticket booking services for
Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show. When you visit their web site it will appear that all the tickets and
show dates are already booked months in advance. When NBC releases a new set of tickets to
this show, all the tickets are booked out within minutes of becoming available on this web site -
so it is not a very useful way of getting tickets to this show. What is interesting is that most
people who book tickets through this method do not actually turn up for the show - it's often
booked by ticket brokers trying to resell these tickets, people outside the area who just want a
memento or other people with no real desire to actually go to see the show. The official web site
is, however, at: CLICK HERE
You can also call 1iota at 1-323-825-4484, but do not expect them to be very helpful. As far as
they are concerned, the show is booked solid, so they may just say "goodbye" and then will hang
up - which is what they did to our researchers. This dead-end will lead you to the much better
solution, which is standby tickets below.
Standby Tickets At The Studio
At 9AM on every show day, 90 standby tickets (yes, that is ninety standby tickets) are given
away at the NBC Studios for this show.
Perhaps the only value of the 1iota.com web site is to actually show you when a show is
scheduled, even though it will usually indicate a "Sold-Out" status - so this will give you an idea
of when to go for standby tickets.

The standby tickets are given out promptly at 9AM and are all numbered. You have to return at
3:45PM (For the 5PM show) to find out if you are getting in. After the regular tickets have gone
in (the folks that actually do turn up from 1iota) the standby people with the lowest numbers go
in next. On very popular days, only ten standby people may get in and on other days, everyone
may get in. The biggest factors that go into whether you will get in are the weather and what
celebrities are appearing on that day. Also the day of the week can have a big affect, Fridays and
Mondays are often very busy, other mid-week days not so much. Amazingly, not all ninety
tickets are given out, the ones that are left over are given out at the managers station inside the
NBC Experience during the morning, but with a high number on the standby ticket, you may find
little or no chance of getting in to the show - especially if there are some big celebrities on the
show that day.

Although the standby tickets are given out at 9AM, its best to get their earlier to get a lower
number, as they get in first. The line begins forming at 6AM and each person is allowed one
standby ticket only and must be present. We have not seen any "SNL" style overnight liners yet,
but with some of the biggest stars, it may well happen. The standby ticket line forms at the 49
West 49th Street entrance to 30 Rockefeller Plaza, between 5th and 6th Ave's, underneath the
NBC awning.
To get more information about the standby line, you can call NBC at 212-664-3056

Monologue Rehearsal Tickets

Much like Jimmy Fallon's old stint on SNL, where they do the full show in rehearsal every week,
The Tonight Show allows an audience in to the studio for Jimmy's monologue rehearsal that is
shot at 4PM and lasts for 20 minutes. This is a test to see if the jokes work or not and they then
adjust the script for the live-tape show that goes out later on the day. Tickets to rehearsal are
available at: CLICK HERE
They also say that anyone who goes to the rehearsal has a good chance of getting standby tickets,
but this is not true, as the standby tickets are usually numbered far below those given out at 9
AM. This web site, just like the 1iota web site, is overbooked and most people who apply don't
actually turn up, especially if its bad weather.

The Best Ticket Strategy

Obviously online tickets is a good way to start, but as the web pages are always completely sold
out, there is not much point, but it is worth checking.
If you are in a Jimmy Fallon kind of mood and have the time to spare, you can turn up in the
morning at 30 Rock for the standby tickets, see the monologue rehearsal at 2PM and come back
for the full show at 5PM. A great day of entertainment for free!

Please let us know about your experience at this show!

America's Got Talent

Show Address:
America's Got Talent is shot at various studio locations around New York City including:

Radio City Music Hall Hammerstein Pier 92/94 Studio New Jersey Performing Arts Madis
1260 Avenue of the Ballroom 711 12th Avenue,  Center 4 Penn
Americas 311 W 34th St New York, NY One Center Street New Y
New York, NY 10020 New York, NY 10001 10019. Newark, NJ 07102
888-GO-NJPAC

Ticket Price:
The tickets for this TV show are free

Minimum Ages:
You must be at least five years old to attend the show.

Difficulty Level: Medium

Getting Tickets Online:

To join the wait list or request tickets to see a taping in person CLICK HERE

Phone Requests
You can call for AGT tickets at 818 295 2700

Standby Tickets:
Standby tickets are available for every show taping as they have quite a few people that do not
turn up for this show, so there are always available seats on standby. They tend to fill the back of
the theater with the standby's but will slot a few standbys into sections that have not yet been
filled, sometimes up front, if some celebrities have failed to arrive. If the celebrities do arrive,
they make the standby's move to another seat to accommodate them.

Group Ticket Reservations:

America's Got Talent welcomes groups. Schools, teams, churches, and other organizations who
want to send 20+ people to attend the show can book their group by calling 818-880-8200
Taping Locations:
The AGT show shoots at various taping locations around New York City, listed above in the
show address section.
Radio City is on 6th Avenue and 50th street and is close to bus and subway public transportation.
The New Jersey Performing Arts Center is close to New York City and easily accessible via
public transportation.
CLICK HERE for public transport options, or CLICK HERE for directions by car.
Madison Square Garden is in the middle of Midtown Manhattan, accessible by subway or bus.
Pier 92/94 Studio is on the West Side HIghway at 55th street and is not very convenient to any
public transportation. It may be best to walk from Midtown Manhattan or catch a cab to the
studio.