At which studio facilities were Sesame Street and Electric Company
videotaped during the 1970s?  I have it that "Electric Company" was
videotaped in New York City, however I have nothing further.  I'm well
aware that Sesame Street is *currently* produced at Kaufman-Astoria
Studios in NYC, however this particular studio did not come into
operation during the 1980s, so Sesame Street had to have been taped
elsewhere during the 1970s.

Hi mjsmigel-ga,

Thanks for your question. I used to love “The Electric Company” when I
was little, so this question brought back some fond memories for me.

According to an interview with puppeteer Dave Goelz who worked on “The
Muppet Show” as well as other Jim Henson projects, “Sesame Street” was
shot at Teletape Second Stage Studios at 81st and Broadway in the
early 1970s.

Gonzo Puppeterism: An Interview with Dave Goelz
http://www.muppetcentral.com/articles/interviews/index.shtml

I found another reference in Google Groups that confirms this. A
newsgroup poster mentioned that “Beat the Clock” was shot in the
Teletape Second Stage until “Sesame Street” took over the facilities.

Mark Jeffries “Re: Goodson/Todman & CBS.” Online posting (April 29,
2002) <alt.tv.game-shows> via Google Groups.
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=sesame+teletape+shot+at&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&selm=912f7b90.0204290902.3ef0803f%40posting.google.com&rnum=1

Another site specific to “The Electric Company” has a mention of the
Reeves Teletape Studios being on 81st and Broadway, leading me to
believe that Reeves and Teletape Second Stage were one and the same,
which matches up with what nauster-ga found regarding Reeves Teletape
on IMDB.com. Reeves is the only taping location listed for “The
Electric Company.”

The Electric Company
http://www.yesterdayland.com/popopedia/memories/show_mem.php?ID=SA1327

Company Credits for “Electric Company, The”
http://us.imdb.com/Companies?0066651

Search strategy:
Google search (google and google groups):
sesame kaufman astoria
sesame teletape “shot at”

I hope this answers your question. If you need additional information
or if the links do not work, please ask for clarification before
rating my answer and I will do my best to assist you.

Regards,
luciaphile-ga

I can't chase down enough details to give what I feel is a thorough
answer but:

IMBD shows two taping locations for Sesame Street: Kaufman Astoria and
"Reeves Teletape".
http://us.imdb.com/Companies?0063951

Searching for "sesame street" "reeves teletape" turns up only 2 links,
one of which is an article from a newsgroup archive which seems to
imply that Reeves was the original location for the show:

http://www.cm.nu/~shane/lists/comp.dcom.telecom.tech/2001-02/0037.html

Regarding Sesame Street, might not the first years have been taped at
WNET? Joan Ganz Cooney was working at WNDT, educational Channel 13 in
New York, as a producer of documentaries when CTW was founded. NET
merged with WNDT to allow NET to have access to the production
facilities of WNDT, and the station's call letters were changed to
WNET. WNET became one of the primary sources of PBS programming. WNET
seems to take credit as the originating station for Sesame Street in
their timeline for the 1960s.

http://www.thirteen.org

hlabadie-ga

I haven't found the answer to this yet, but it may be mentioned in A
and E's biography of Sesame Street:

http://www.aande.com/class/admin/study_guide/archives/aetv_guide.0815.html
(Available on video or dvd)

Also, there are a number of references on the web to history and
evaluations of Sesame Street, including:

Getting to Sesame Street: Origins of the Children's Television
Workshop by Richard Polsky (New York: Praeger, 1974),

The First Year of Sesame Street: An Evaluation by Samuel Ball and
Gerry Ann Bogatz (Princeton, NJ: Educational Testing Service, 1970).
(See also, The Second Year of Sesame Street: A Continuing Evaluation,
1971)