Two late-night staples and a syndicated talk show will be suspending production.
Pictured: Jimmy Fallon. Credit: NBC |
Amidst Coronavirus fears, NBC has decided to suspend production on Jimmy Fallon's The Tonight Show and Late Night with Seth Myers. Originally, the two programs were going to continue churning out new episodes with the absence of a live studio audience. But, it seems like the network is taking more severe precautionary measures in order to ensure that the virus does not end up spreading more than it already has. Nonetheless, fans of the two shows should not worry as both are slated to resume production on March 30, 2020. The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon normally airs Monday through Friday on NBC at 11:35/10:35c while Late Night with Seth Myers airs in the timeslot directly after it at 12:35/11:35c. Jimmy Fallon began hosting The Tonight Show on February 17, 2014 while Seth Meyers began his stint as a late-night host on February 24, 2014.
While the two NBC programs are expected to return in the near future, The Wendy Williams Show has shut down production indefinitely. The twelve-year old daytime fixture will air repeats in place of what would have been original episodes. These three are just some of the many shows to take action as the number of Coronavirus cases continue to rise. Wendy Williams's talk-show has already been renewed through 2022 and is produced by Perler Productions and Wendy Williams Production. CBS Television has distributed it since its tenth season.
In addition, although they are not shutting down production, game shows Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! will not be taping future episodes in front of a live studio audience. Given that host Alex Trebek currently has pancreatic cancer, this act has been administered to protect him from the disease. The duo of iconic game shows are under the Sony Pictures Television umbrella. Other titles that have gotten rid of the studio audience include The Ellen DeGeneres Show and The Talk. It is unknown when the live studio audience will return to these programs.
What do you think of this news? Are you a fan of any of the shows listed above? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.