'The Tonight Show,' 'Late Show' To Return With Fully Vaccinated Audiences
By Fletcher Peters Twitter @fIetcherpeters May 24, 2021 at 3:07pm
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After over a year without full live audiences, two hit late shows are breaking from the coronavirus mold. Both CBS's Late Show With Stephen Colbert and NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon have announced their plans to invite guests back to their shows.
Late Show was first to announce, noting that live audiences would be back in the studio starting June 14 as coronavirus-imposed restrictions begin to lift. Colbert has hosted 205 episodes of the talk show without an in-studio crowd, helming the show out of his home or from a room in the Ed Sullivan Theater. The audience will be back at full capacity, and all audience members must be vaccinated.
The return will be done in adherence to New York State's adoption of CDC guidelines for fully vaccinated individuals and has been reviewed by state officials. All Late Show staffers will continue regular COVID-19 testing and screening.
"Over the last 437 days, my staff and crew (and family!) have amazed me with their professionalism and creativity as we made shows for an audience we couldn't see or hear," Colbert said in a statement. "I look forward to once again doing shows for an audience I can smell and touch."
The Tonight Show's similar announcement came only a few hours later, planning to bring in a full, fully-vaccinated audience to 30 Rock in early June. This news comes three months after the series brought back a limited audience on March 22.
Saturday Night Live returned to a full, live audience this weekend for its Season 46 finale, while The Tonight show has still been using limited capacity audiences.
Earlier this month, Jimmy Kimmel told Deadline he was also looking to get a proper audience for his LA-produced show sometime in June. Still left to return are Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Late Late Show with James Corden, and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
Stream The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Paramount+
Where to Watch The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
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