'Tonight Show,' 'Late Night' Suspend Production Instead of Moving Forward Without Studio Audiences

Matt Webb Mitovich
·2 min read

Both NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night With Seth Meyers have decided to suspend production effective Friday, after previously considering moving forward without studio audiences, due to coronavirus concerns.

Originally, starting Monday, March 16, NBC’s premiere late-night shows had planned to tape new episodes without a studio audience. Instead, The Tonight Show and Late Night will halt production for two weeks, through a previously planned hiatus the week of March 13.

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“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.

Concerns over coronavirus are rapidly affecting the TV industry. Within just a few days, several other unscripted shows have opted to lose their live audiences, including game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, as well as many daytime series including Live With Kelly and Ryan, The Tamron Hall Show and The View.

Warner Bros., meanwhile, has begun screening studio audience members attending their sitcoms and talk shows: “In response to the impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus), we are asking all guests to confirm that neither they nor any member of their household have traveled within the past three weeks to or through a location that has been deemed ‘Level 3’ by the CDC. These new and temporary precautionary measures have been put in place out of an abundance of caution and out of concern for the health and safety of our guests and staff.”

As for CBS’ The Neighborhood, the show only has one episode left to tape. CBS Television is “assessing the situation daily,” but “has not made a formal decision about the last show.”

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