Be Part of the Studio Audience
Attending free tapings of popular television shows is fun and free but the wait for tickets is often long; many shows have stand-by options if you're willing to stand in line.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
(Daily Show Studios, 513 West 54th St.)
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart tapes every Monday through Thursday at 5:45 PM. To request free studio audience tickets to attend a live taping, call (212) -586-2477. You must be 18 or over to attend.

Last Call with Carson Daly
(NBC Studios, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, 50th St. & Sixth Ave., 212/664-3056)
To get tickets, email your request to [email protected] or call 212-664-3056. You'll be able to hear upcoming bookings and make reservations to come to the show. The show will be taped in front of a live audience in NBC's famed Studio 8H in Rockefeller Center. You must be 16 years or older and you can reserve up to four tickets.

The Late Show with David Letterman
(The Ed Sullivan Theater, 1697 Broadway bet. 53rd & 54th Sts., 212/975-5853) -
If you want to hear an in-person rendition of the Top Ten, be prepared to wait about one year - unless you're very lucky and snag a standby ticket. Send written ticket requests to: Late Show Tickets The Ed Sullivan Theater 1697 Broadway New York, NY 10019 Only two tickets are awarded per postcard. You must be 18 to attend the taping. Standby tickets are distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis by calling 212/247-6497 at 11 am on taping days. Tapings take place Monday through Wednesday at 5:30 pm and Thursday at 5:30 pm and 8 pm.
 
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
(NBC Studios, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, 50th St. & Sixth Ave., 212/664-3056 or 664-3057) -  Call to order tickets in advance or send a postcard to:

NBC Studios Late Night with Conan O'Brien
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112
Include your name, address, phone number, and number of tickets you're requesting (up to a limit of four). For standby tickets, get in line at the entrance to the GE Building at 49th Street at 9 am or earlier on the day you wish to attend. One standby ticket is allotted per person; standby tickets do not guarantee admission. Tapings are held every Tuesday through Friday at 5:30 pm (standby ticket holders must arrive at the studio by 4:45 pm). You must be 16 or older to attend a taping.

Live With Regis and Kelly
(ABC Studios, W. 66th St. bet. Columbus Ave. & Central Park West, 212/456-3054) - Although there's a 12-month wait for mail tickets, you have a good chance at same-day tickets. To obtain tickets in advance, send a postcard to: Live Tickets Ansonia Station P.O. Box 230777 New York, NY 10023-0777 Include your name, address, date of the show you'd like to attend, telephone number, and number of tickets you'd like (no more than four tickets to each person requesting). Same-day tickets are available by getting to the corner of 67th Street and Columbus Avenue as early as 7am to request a standby number. After ticketholders are seated, standbys are seated on a first-come, first-served basis. Children under 10 are not allowed in the studio.

Saturday Night Live
(30 Rockefeller Plaza, 50th St. & Sixth Ave., 212/664-4000) - SNL is a very hot ticket among visitors and New Yorkers alike. Due to the show's continuing popularity, written requests are accepted only during the month of August. Lotteries are then held throughout the season. If your postcard is chosen, you will be notified one to two weeks in advance of the taping. In August, send written ticket requests to: NBC Tickets Saturday Night Live 30 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 10112 Standby tickets for both the dress rehearsal (audience arrival time: 7pm) and the live show (10pm) are given out at 9am on Saturday mornings at the 49th Street entrance to NBC Studios.

The View
(ABC Studios, 320 West 66th St., located just past West End Avenue)
You obtain free tickets in advance, send a postcard only to: Tickets, The View, 320 West 66th Street, New York, NY 10023. Include your name, address, and daytime phone. You can also obtain tickets by going to The View’s web site at www.abc.abcnews.go.com/theview/main.html and clicking on request show tickets. The show airs Live Monday - Friday from 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon.

See Shows Taping from Outside the Studio
New York City is home to several shows on which onlookers can be part of the backdrop. So if you find yourself in the Big Apple without coveted tickets to see Rosie, David or the SNL crew, there's still a chance to wave hi to family and friends back home - just be sure to arrive early and wear comfortable shoes.
The Early Show (Fifth Ave. at 59th St.) -- The ground-level set, located in the General Motors Building at Trump International Plaza, is visible to passersby through huge glass windows. See Bryant Gumbel and Jane Clayson on The Early Show; CBS News also films other national and local news broadcasts here.

Good Morning America (Times Square at 44th St. and Broadway, 212/580-5176) - Come by weekday mornings from 7am to 9am to see Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson.

The Today Show (30 Rockefeller Plaza, Fifth to Sixth Aves.) - The Today Show's studio is on the ground floor at the corner of 49th St. and Rockefeller Center. Inside, Katie Couric and Matt Lauer tell the country what's going on; outside a crowd of people waves signs and hopes to get on television. The show airs Monday--Friday 7am--9am. If you want a good spot, get there pre-dawn, try to stand toward the southeast corner (directly behind the anchor desk) and carry a sign that says something goofy enough to be noticed.

Total Request Live (1550 Broadway, bet. 44th and 45th Sts., 212/258-8000) -- Young visitors gather at 3:30pm weekdays outside MTV's studios hoping to catch a glimpse of heartthrob Total Request Live host Carson Daly. Although part of the studio faces the street, it's on the second floor, so street-level fans can't see too much. Young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 who want to be part of the studio audience can call the TRL audience hotline at 212/398-8549 or try for standby tickets starting at 2pm by lining up at 44th St. and Broadway