ABC’s ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ Shuts Down Production Over Coronavirus, Joins CBS’ ‘Late Show’, NBC’s ‘The Tonight Show’ & ‘Late Night’, Syndicated ‘Wendy Williams Show’ – Update

Nellie Andreeva
·3 min read

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UPDATED, Friday PM: ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live is joining fellow late-night shows CBS‘ Late Show with Stephen Colbert, NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers in suspending production over the coronavirus. “Jimmy Kimmel Live has determined it is in the best interest of the staff and crew to suspend production on the show beginning Monday, March 16. We will continue to monitor this and hope to be back on the air with new shows Monday, March 30,” the network said in a statement Friday.

UPDATE, March 12: CBS’ Late Show with Stephen Colbert is joining its NBC late-night counterparts in suspending production. “The Late Show has postponed production on the three original episodes scheduled for next week, which lead into a previously scheduled hiatus,” the network said in a statement. “We will continue to monitor the situation closely with plans to return on Monday, March 30.”

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PREVIOUS: With state of emergency declared in New York over the coronavirus pandemic, New York-based shows have started to suspend production. That includes NBC’s late-night programs The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers, and syndicated daytime talker The Wendy Williams Show. All three had previously announced that they would film with no studio audience over coronavirus concerns.

NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon will tape an original episode today, March 12, without an audience. Late Night with Seth Meyers will not tape an episode today and an encore episode will air. Instead, a new “Closer Look” will be posted as a digital exclusive. You can watch it below. In it, Meyers addresses the show shutting down.

Beginning tomorrow, The Tonight Show and Late Night will pause production through their previously planned hiatus, which was scheduled for the week of March 23.

“We will continue to monitor the situation closely and make decisions about future shows as we get closer to the start of production,” NBC said in a statement.

The Wendy Williams producers informed the staff of the production shutdown Thursday afternoon:

To Our Dedicated Wendy Show Staff:

The safety and well-being of our employees is our top priority. Considering the current escalation of the Coronavirus, production will be put on hold, indefinitely. However, the office will remain open for you to pick up any materials or personal items. In place of live shows we will air repeats and we will continue to monitor the situation with the CDC and city officials to determine the best time to return and produce live shows again. Thank you for everything you do and please stay safe!

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