Ellen DeGeneres had to press pause on her talk show in mid March, and while she won’t be back in her studio on the Warner Bros. lot for a while, The Ellen DeGeneres Show is starting up again — just in a very different capacity.
“Since going into quarantine two weeks ago, I’ve been doing my show at home every day. But only for Portia,” said DeGeneres in a statement to Deadline on Friday. “Starting Monday, you’ll be able to see it too, and I can’t wait.”
DeGeneres also went on Instagram to reveal how this new take on her talk show would work, sharing that she now has a camera set up in her home. The first guests on the series, who will appear remotely, will be couple John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, with DeGeneres’ DJ Stephen “tWitch” Boss also in attendance.
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“We’re going to be doing interviews and it’s going to be fun,” DeGeneres explained.
In the early days of the coronavirus spread in the United States, The Ellen DeGeneres chose to do significant vetting of their audience members, before eventually being forced to film without an audience entirely. Just days later, production shut down, as did most of Hollywood.
DeGeneres’ show won’t be the only daytime talk show to change things up due to the coronavirus spread. Rachael Ray will film her show out of her home in upstate New York, and Wendy Williams will film new segments from her place in NYC, according to Deadline.
The pivot to recording from home means that these stars have essentially had to adapt to a YouTube creator-like format in order to get their content to the masses.
While this is a break in form for talk shows, many fans at home are used to watching self-created content, given the prevalence of internet stars who don’t have large crews or extensive equipment at their disposal. Elsewhere, celebrities like Miley Cyrus have already made homegrown internet “shows” for a socially isolated audience. DeGeneres herself launched YouTube series Ellen's Home Quarantine, in which she calls her celebrity friends.
Will DeGeneres’ talk show thrive without a fancy stage and IRL guests? Tune in Monday to find out if the magic is still there.