COVID 19 has not only altered the way families gather, but also how television and Hollywood are filmed. Hosts conversing and entertaining audiences on television used to be the highlight of the award, reality, and live audience shows.

Live shows allowed hosts to move the energy around during any setting they were in. If the crowd laughed, the aura was light. When the crowd booed, the aura was rowdy. And now, the aura is just awkward!

With states across the nation issuing stay-at-home orders, all types of unconventional home offices are popping up. Not everyone can just open their laptops and work from the kitchen table. To continue bringing necessary news to television, networks had to find creative ways to thrive while bringing good tv to daytime television.

Dozens of anchors are now connecting with audiences from home. Television anchors have had to think outside of the box and build a DIY studio that has a teleprompter, lights, and a robotic camera.

Savannah Guthrie, a co-anchor of NBC’s “Today” show, broadcasts from the basement of her home in upstate New York. Stephen Colbert drew laughs when he delivered his “The Late Show” monologue from his bathtub; and Jimmy Fallon showed us how he juggled “The Tonight Show” while dealing with his two daughters.

Across the entertainment industry, casts and crew are beginning to return to work after a five-month hiatus. In states with looser restrictions, such as Georgia and New York, production is starting to crank up under tight controls that alter how sets operate.

Instead of crew members freely mingling, they’re being divided into “pods” that limit how production departments such as wardrobe or lighting can function. Covid-19 officers monitor the health of the cast and crew to determine who is allowed on set. As claimed by the “LA Times”, “Zones” indicate where that cast and crew can go.

The first major awards show to go virtual was the 2020 Emmy Awards. The Emmy’s was creative in the way that they brought the show virtually to the viewers. According to “The Washington Post”, one hundred and thirty cameras and lighting kits were shipped to nominees across the world since social distancing guidelines would not permit any mass gatherings.

Many Hollywood blockbusters also had to shut down production during the pandemic. Movie producers had to get innovative in how they approached filming. Some movies that were scheduled to hit theaters are now being streamed on-demand.

With large public gatherings heavily discouraged or prohibited across the country, distributors are releasing some of their new titles to the only venue accessible to most people during the coronavirus pandemic: the living room.

As stated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website stated, “In general, the more closely you interact with others and the longer that interaction, the higher the risk of COVID-19 spreading.”

Therefore, your home is the safest location to watch anything right now. If any of these productions continued to film, there would most likely be even more cases of COVID.

An iron-clad vaccine will be needed before producing movies and television can shift back to how production teams worked prior to COVID. Until that miracle vaccine is available, Hollywood and television will have no choice but to stay creative with how they bring entertainment to people. More importantly, showbiz leaves people feeling comforted, educated, and loved during a time of uncertainty.