The Price Is Right is the next production to pause production amidst growing concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic. According to TMZ, the hit CBS game show won’t film any episodes — either with or without an audience — for at least the next two weeks. “Production sources tell us they [The Price Is Right] are shutting the showdown for the obvious reasons — protecting the crew, Drew and the audience from contracting the disease,” the paparazzi site reports.
Last week, most late-night television shows either filmed their episodes without a live studio audience or didn’t film new episodes at all, in the case of The Tonight Show and Late Night With Seth Meyers.
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As of this writing, over 181,200 cases of COVID-19 have been reported around the world, including 4,287 in the United States. According to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker, at least 7,115 deaths have been contributed to the infection of the coronavirus — including at least 50 in the United States.
In addition to many delays on television productions, Hollywood is heavily impacted by the pandemic as most studios have switched release dates for movies set for release between now and May. In the case of Universal, any movies scheduled in the coming weeks for theatrical release will instead be pushed to on-demand services so that people can rent and stream from the comfort of their homes.
“Given the rapidly evolving and unprecedented changes to consumers’ daily lives during this difficult time, the company felt that now was the right time to provide this option in the home as well as in theaters,” the studio said in a statement on Monday. “NBCUniversal will continue to evaluate the environment as conditions evolve and will determine the best distribution strategy in each market when the current unique situation changes.”
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