Surreal Life: Evolution of the TV Talk Show Set, 1964 to Present

The evolution of the TV talk show set only lightly mirrors design changes that were going on in the rest of the world at the time.  Plaids, bold colors, African tribal prints, rubber plants–whatever was happening at the world outside migrated into the studio set.  But for the most part, these are not meant to be real.  They are surreal environments, where everyone sits facing one direction.  Where one man has a desk yet no one else does.  Where the person in the chair closest to that man’s desk is the favored one, and everyone else is pretty much ignored.  This is the world of the TV talk show.

1964

1969

1974

Mid-1970s

1976

Mid 1970s

1980

1990s

2009

2009

2014

By Lee Wallender

Deception, influence, fakes, illusions, themed environments, simulations, secret places, secret infrastructure, imagined places, dreamscapes, movie sets and props, evasions, camouflage, studio backlots, miniatures.

Leave a comment

Exit mobile version