Late-night hosts such as Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, and Desus & Mero had been preparing for the coronavirus panic to impact their studio-audiences, however, they were caught off-guard when their networks pushed them to record without studio audiences on Thursday night instead of Monday like originally planned. Still, the hosts were good sports, embracing the opportunity to keep their audiences safe.

Stephen Colbert conveniently had neurosurgeon and CNN correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, as a guest on his no-audience episode. Even without an audience present, Colbert knew the questions his audience would have wanted him to ask. Right off the bat, Colbert asked about the very “blurry” line between caution and panic. Gupta responded responsibly, “I think it feels different for different people and it changes,” he started. “It’s changed a lot over the last two months. I don’t think it should ever cross into panic because panic doesn’t serve any purposes, certainly from a medical standpoint”. Gupta also offered the comforting sentiment that a majority of people will likely be able to get through this pandemic without serious health effects. 

Our favourite take comes from hosts of the #1 show in late-night – Desus & Mero, who weren’t nearly as emotionally supportive or informative as their peers, but still managed to keep things fun for their viewers at home. In front of their staff-exclusive audience, Desus & Mero discussed how it’s easier now than back in the day, to stay at home all day because of “in-app purchases”, among other things. 

Stay safe everyone!