On television shows such as talk shows or sitcoms, which are shot in front of a live studio audience, chairs are set up for people to sit on and observe the taping. These chairs range from plastic folding chairs and bleachers to comfortable movie theater seats, depending on the type of the show and its budget. On bigger shows such as "The Tonight Show" or a network sitcom with a live studio audience, the chairs are usually comfortable so that audience members don't make noise by talking or fidgeting, thus distracting the people in front of the camera from giving a good performance. For lower-budget shows or game shows, which can be relatively noisy, the chairs may be a little less comfortable.
For the sets of multi-camera sitcoms shot on a production stage with many cameras at once, such as "Seinfeld" or "How I Met Your Mother," there is a large amount of production furniture that always remains on the stage as part of the scene in a fictional apartment or house. This furniture is integral to the set dressing and is meant to stay there as long as crew is shooting the show, or at the very least during that one particular episode. Certain pieces of furniture may change from episode to episode in these shows, but producers and directors prefer for these sets to stay as similar as possible to each other throughout the run of the television series.
Talk shows also have specific furniture for their productions. This furniture is both part of the set dressing and used by the actual host and guests on the show when they come out to be interviewed. Hosts will sit in relatively comfortable chairs, sometimes behind desks, and other times simply on a couch, facing their audience. The use of the desk versus no desk often comes down to whether it's a late night show or a daytime one. Late night hosts tend to use a desk, while daytime hosts tend to sit on a chouch. Comfortable couches and chairs are also popular pieces of furniture on the small elevated stages where talk shows are held, creating a place where hosts and their guests can sit and be in full view of the studio audience and the cameras.