Where Was Dance Party USA Filmed?

The show felt like it could be happening anywhere in America, but the answer is specific, and it's pure Philadelphia.

Dance Party USA was filmed in Philadelphia, at WPHL-TV/17 and WGBS, across its 1986–1992 run. The production offices were just across the river in Camden, New Jersey. So while it beamed out nationally on the USA Network, everything you saw was made in the Philadelphia area.

The same room as Dancin' On Air

There's a reason the studio looked familiar to Philadelphia viewers: it was the same one used for Dancin' On Air, the local show that came before it. During 1986–1987, the two shows shared the studio and set, the national show was quite literally built in the local show's room. More on that in Dance Party USA vs. Dancin' On Air.

Nise Productions: the company behind the studio

The production company on the mail-in card was Nise Productions, the Philadelphia-area outfit run by executive producers Frank and Michael Nise. It was the same company that created Dancin' On Air for WPHL-17 in 1981, and when the USA Network hired the Nises in 1986, the national show was born out of that operation. The split was pure Delaware Valley: the cameras rolled in Philadelphia, while the company's offices sat across the river at 413 Cooper Street, Camden, New Jersey, the address that appeared on the show's own on-air mail-in card.

Frequently asked

You found where it was made, now find the seat it plays best from.