Late-Night Shows Taped In New York & L.A. Won’t Have Live Audiences Amid Coronavirus Spread – Update

Denise Petski
·6 min read

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UPDATED: HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher will not have a live in-studio audience as of Friday, March 13. Additionally New York-based shows CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers, and syndicated The Wendy Williams Show have opted to temporarily suspend production given the state of emergency declared in New York. All four had previously announced that they would film with no studio audience over coronavirus concerns.

PREVIOUS: The coronavirus has impacted late-night shows taped in New York City and Los Angeles. Due to concerns over the COVID-19 outbreak, CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers, and Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Trevor Noah will all tape without a live, in-studio audience beginning Monday, March 16. TBS’ Full Frontal with Samantha Bee taped Wednesday night’s episode without a studio audience. HBO’s Last Week Tonight With John Oliver and Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen will begin taping without an audience on Sunday, March 15. The decision was made jointly among the late-night shows.

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Los Angeles-based late-night shows Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Late Late Show with James Corden joined the New York-based shows, announcing Friday that they also would tape without live in-studio audiences.

Additionally, Fox News has dropped the live audience for Greg Gutfeld’s Saturday night late-night comedy show The Greg Gutfeld Show.

In similar statements, the networks say the move is being made out of an abundance of caution regarding the spread of the COVID-19 virus and the uncertainty of the situation for future weeks. Air dates will not be affected.

They add that there have not been any developments to cause concern for audiences planning to attend the shows tonight or tomorrow or who have attended in recent weeks.

LA-based A Little Late with Lilly Singh wrapped production in December, so is not affected. NY-based Saturday Night Live is off until March 28 as part of its regular schedule.

Bee is keeping her sense of humor about the situation. She says she will instead “do the show in front of a mirror, which I actually prefer. Despite the efforts being taken, we still have heard from Sean Spicer that tonight’s taping ‘was the largest audience ever to witness an [taping of Full Frontal], period, both in person and around the globe.’ Wow!”

TBS also confirmed that Conan’s remaining shows this week have been pre-taped and that host Conan O’Brien is on an already scheduled hiatus for the next two weeks.

You can read the statements in full below.

From CBS: “Beginning Monday, March 16, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will film without a live, in-studio audience. This move is being made out of an abundance of caution regarding the spread of the COVID-19 virus and the uncertainty of the situation for future weeks. Per guidance from New York City officials, CBS and The Late Show are doing their part to help decrease the potential rate of transmission in our communities. There have not been any specific developments at The Ed Sullivan Theater to cause concern for audiences with plans to attend the show tonight, tomorrow, or who have attended in recent weeks. For several weeks, the team at the theater has been taking all necessary precautions to protect everyone who enters and works in the theater with enhanced cleaning and sanitizing procedures.”

From NBC: “The safety of our guests and employees is our top priority. As a precautionary measure, starting Monday, March 16, we have decided to suspend live audiences for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers. Per guidance from New York City officials, the company is hoping to do its part to help to decrease the rate of transmission in our communities. Our shows will continue filming on their regular schedule, and currently, there will be no impact on air dates.

From Comedy Central: “Our top priority is the safety of our guests and staff. Beginning Monday, March 16th, Comedy Central’s NY based late night series, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, will film without a live, in-studio audience. This move is being made out of an abundance of caution and concern regarding the spread of the COVID-19 virus and per guidance from New York City officials to take appropriate actions. There have been no developments at The Daily Show’s studio to cause concern for audience members who have plans to attend the show tonight or tomorrow. Measures have been taken to protect everyone who enters and works in the office and studio with enhanced cleaning and sanitizing procedures.”

From HBO: “As of this coming Sunday, March 15, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver will film without a live, in-studio audience. We are taking this precaution in accordance with best practices as outlined by New York City officials. We will continue to monitor the situation.”

From TBS: “Due to growing fears over COVID-19, and out of an abundance of caution, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee will tape tonight’s episode without a live studio audience.”

From Bravo: “The safety of our guests and employees is our top priority. As a precautionary measure, we have decided to suspend live audiences for Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. Per guidance from New York City officials, the company is hoping to do its part to help to decrease the rate of transmission in our communities. Our show will continue filming on its regular schedule, and currently, there will be no impact on air dates.”

From ABC: “As a precautionary measure, we have decided to temporarily suspend the live audience for ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ beginning Monday, March 16th. The show will continue to film as scheduled and air dates will not be affected. We will continue to monitor the situation as the safety of our employees and guests are of the utmost importance.”

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