Inside SNL's Iconic Studio 8H | Set Tour
Today, AD is welcomed by Heidi Gardner, Chloe Fineman, and Ego Nwodim to tour the 'Saturday Night Live' set.
Studio 8H is the NBC studio inside 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York where Saturday Night Live has been made live since its first episode in 1975. In this Architectural Digest tour, cast members Heidi Gardner, Chloe Fineman and Ego Nwodim walk you through the studio and its Grand Central-themed home base. Below you will find the video, the history of the room and how the set is laid out.
Studio 8H at a glance
| Where | 30 Rockefeller Plaza, Midtown Manhattan, New York |
|---|---|
| Built | 1933, as part of the original Rockefeller Center |
| First use | Radio studio for orchestras and variety shows |
| Converted for television | 1950 |
| Home of SNL since | 11 October 1975 |
| SNL’s original set designer | Eugene Lee |
| Current home base | Inspired by Grand Central Terminal |
What do you see in the set tour?
Heidi Gardner, Chloe Fineman and Ego Nwodim show Architectural Digest around the studio they work in every week, and explain how the magic is made each Saturday night. The centre of the tour is the home base, the stage where the host delivers the monologue and the cast say goodnight.
Over 50 years the home base has changed many times. It has been a basement comedy club and the Brooklyn Bridge, but it has always been a love letter to New York. The current version borrows the look of Grand Central Terminal.
How is the SNL studio laid out?
There is no single big stage in Studio 8H. The week’s sets are built in different parts of the room around the audience, which is how a live show can move from one sketch to the next in seconds.
- Home base: the Grand Central-style stage for the monologue and the goodnights.
- Sketch stages: sets are built for that week’s sketches and swapped between them.
- Music stage: where the musical guest performs.
- Weekend Update desk: the news segment has its own corner of the room.
- Audience: seating on the floor and in the balcony, which Eugene Lee counted among his proudest designs for the room.
A short history of Studio 8H
When Rockefeller Center opened in the 1930s, 8H was built as the world’s largest radio studio. From 1937 it was the home of Arturo Toscanini’s NBC Symphony Orchestra, and the first performance of Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings was broadcast from the room.
NBC turned it into a television studio in 1950. By the mid-1970s it had been quiet for years, until Lorne Michaels’ new late-night show moved in. Designer Eugene Lee rebuilt the space for SNL, and it has been the show’s home ever since. The studio has also been used for other NBC programmes, including episodes of 30 Rock, a sitcom about a show very much like SNL.
Questions people ask about SNL’s studio
Where is Studio 8H?
On the eighth floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, NBC’s headquarters in Midtown Manhattan.
Has SNL always been filmed in Studio 8H?
Yes. The show has been broadcast from 8H since its premiere in 1975.
Why does the SNL home base look like Grand Central?
The home base has always been built as a tribute to New York City. The current design takes its look from Grand Central Terminal, after earlier versions such as a basement comedy club and the Brooklyn Bridge.
Who designed the SNL set?
Eugene Lee was the show’s production designer from the very first episode in 1975, and he redesigned Studio 8H for it.
More SNL on Hollywood Box
- How it all started: Billy Crystal saved the first-ever SNL script
- The 50th anniversary documentary: SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night trailer
- Laughter on the live stage: Kate McKinnon breaking people on SNL
- Music from the anniversary show: The Lonely Island medley at SNL50
- Another set tour: Carrie Bradshaw’s And Just Like That home
Sources
- Architectural Digest on YouTube (the set tour)
- Wikipedia: Studio 8H (building, history, other shows)
- Motion Picture Association: behind the sets with Eugene Lee
Updated 5 October 2026 by the Hollywood Box team.
