Ellen DeGeneres and Wendy Williams Set TV Returns After Coronavirus Hiatus
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Ellen DeGeneres and Wendy Williams are both returning to TV, following weeks of hiatus due to the coronavirus outbreak. Both daytime hosts will film from home, as they practice self-quarantining, while production on the sets of their shows remains shut down.
“The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and “The Wendy Williams Show” will return with new content on Monday.
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DeGeneres will be back with full, remotely produced episodes. The at-home edition of her hit talk show will feature celebrity interviews via video chat. Next week’s guests include Jennifer Lopez, Chrissy Teigen, John Legend, Drew Brees and David Spade.
“Since going into quarantine two weeks ago, I’ve been doing my show at home every day. But only for Portia. Starting Monday, you’ll be able to see it, too, and I can’t wait,” DeGeneres said in a statement.
DeGeneres has been keeping busy creating social media content to keep her followers entertained, while they’re quarantined at home as well. Her YouTube channel’s new series, “Ellen’s Home Quarantine,” features DeGeneres calling her celebrity friends to chat. Videos of her calls to Teigen and Legend, and Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel have gone viral.
Williams will return with fresh segments that will air within previously taped episodes. The new content will be filmed from her New York City home, with the host giving her take on pop culture stories. The series will feature her popular “Hot Topics” and other signature show segments like “Ask Wendy.”
“I may not be in my purple chair, and it may not look the same, but I’m very excited to get back to my Wendy Watchers,” Williams said in a statement. “There’s so much uncertainty in all of our worlds right now and we need each other!”
“The Wendy Williams Show” halted production on March 12, due to growing coronavirus concerns. Prior to production being shut down, her show — along with many other daytime and late-night shows — eliminated its live studio audience, in an effort to practice social distancing.
Last week, freshmen daytime hosts Tamron Hall and Kelly Clarkson also returned with new content filmed from home. ABC’s “Tamron Hall” aired new segments, mixed in with previously filmed episodes, as did NBC’s “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”
Television’s “new normal” has hit all time slots, including late-night, which returned last week with many hosts filming remote episodes. Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah and Conan O’Brien all aired new shows, shot in their homes, and James Corden hosted a primetime concert from his home garage, “Homefest: A Late Late Show Special,” which raised money for charity organizations working toward coronavirus relief.
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