The ABC Entertainment Center (including the Shubert Theatre and ABC's corporate headquarters) is located in Century City, across the street from the Century Plaza Hotel, just north of 20th Century Fox Studios, and within walking distance of the Century City Shopping Center.

Two TV shows used these distinctive twin 44-story towers and the fountains at the ABC Entertainment Center as settings for their fictional detective agencies: "Remington Steele" (with Pierce Brosnan, in his pre-007 days) and "Moonlighting" (with Cybill Shepard & Bruce Willis - in the days before Bruce became an action hero.)

The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) started out as the junior member of the Big Three TV networks in the early days of television. But over the years ABC grew to become a major player.

During the 1950's and 1960's, ABC achieved only limited success in denting the Top 15 list (of most popular shows for those decades), scoring only a few times, with "The Real McCoys," "Disneyland" and "Bewitched." But other ABC shows, such as "The Mickey Mouse Club," "Leave It to Beaver," "The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet," "The Untouchables," "The Donna Reed Show," "The Addams Family," "The Partridge Family" and "American Bandstand" also did well.

But the 1970's was a breakthrough decade for ABC, when the network took the TV world by storm with such popular sitcoms as "Happy Days," "Laverne & Shirley," "Three's Company" and "Mork & Mindy," as well as with romantic adventure shows like "Charlie's Angels," "Hart to Hart," "The Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island" - not to mention NFL Monday Night Football.

It was during nightly coverage of the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979 that "Nightline" with  Ted Koppel was born, finally giving ABC a way to compete head to head with NBC's formidable "Tonight Show."

During the 80's, ABC gave us "Who's the Boss?," "Moonlighting," "Dynasty" and "Thirtysomething," while in the 90's ABC they offered up "Twin Peaks," "Lois & Clark," "Ellen" and "The Wonder Years." ABC has also given us some of the best miniseries ever made, including "Rich Man, Poor Man," "The Winds of War" and the unforgettable saga, "Roots."

Today, ABC has climbed out of a recent slump a little in the ratings department, with the help of Regis Philbin's "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?," and recent hits such as "Home Improvement," "Grace Under Fire," "Spin City," and "Boy Meets World," and with current sitcoms such as "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," "Dharma & Greg" and "Drew Carey." plus dramas like "NYPD Blue" and "The Practice." Also among the network's top-rated shows have been their news programs, such as "PrimeTime Live" "20/20," the ABC Evening News with Peter Jennings, and the always popular NFL Monday Night football games.

In July of 1995, ABC was bought by the Walt Disney Company, and word has it that ABC is shopping around for a new location for their main television studio. Since the purchase, some of their programming has taken a distinctive Disney turn, including the return of "The Wonderful World of Disney" on Sunday nights

Although NBC Studios (in the Valley) and CBS TV City (in Hollywood) both invite the public in to watch live tapings as members of a live studio audience, that's not the case with ABC. Other than the local Eyewitness News broadcasts and soap operas (such as "General Hospital"), no ABC television shows are currently produced at either ABC Television City or the ABC Entertainment Center. All ABC shows are done "out" - that is, they are taped at other studios, then aired on ABC.

There was one notable exception recently. Several segments of "The View" (the early morning talk show with Barbara Walters) were taped before a live studio audience at the ABC Television Center, but the show has now returned to its regular home in New York.

In order to watch an ABC show being taped, you'll have to contact one of the audience services (such as "Audiences Unlimited") for tickets, and then go to another studio to see the show being taped. (See the separate pages about getting tickets to live tapings.)

 Getting there: The ABC Television Center is located to the east of central Hollywood, on Prospect Avenue (about half a mile to the northeast of KCET Studios). / From Hollywood & Vine, go east on Hollywood Boulevard (about two miles), to just past Barnsdall Park (and just before Vermont Avenue), where Hollywood Boulevard takes a sharp right (southeast) turn. At this point, don't follow Hollywood Boulevard. Instead, go straight ahead (east) on Prospect Avenue. Follow Prospect Avenue east for about five more blocks, and ABC Studios will be on your left (north) side, just past Talmadge Street.