Late Night With Seth Meyers Releases Latest Episode Without Guests or Audience

The COVID-19 coronavirus has been a topic of conversation among the world of late-night television for months, as fears of the virus’ spread grow more and more mainstream. In recent days, that impact has grown even more prominent, with many of the shows that film in New York banning audiences or shutting down altogether. Late Night with Seth Meyers has since enacted both precautions — but not before leaving fans with a worthwhile segment. On Thursday, the NBC series uploaded a sixteen-minute-long “A Closer Look” video, which discusses President Donald Trump’s primetime address regarding the coronavirus epidemic. Because of recent events, the video does not feature a host or a guest, just Meyers talking to the camera.

This will be the last new “episode” for Late Night for the next few weeks, as both it and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon will suspend production through a previously-planned hiatus, which was initially scheduled for the week of March 23rd. Both series were scheduled to have episodes on the week of March 16th, but those seem to have been canceled.

“We will continue to monitor the situation closely and make decisions about future shows as we get closer to the start of production,” NBC said in a statement.

This news comes as both series were already planning on taping shows without an audience beginning on the week of March 16th, a move that had been announced days prior. CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver had also joined in on the movement, while TBS’ Full Frontal with Samantha Bee already taped without an audience this week.

At the time of this writing, New York has declared a state of emergency with regards to the coronavirus, with New York City alone having 95 confirmed cases. Nearly 2,000 people have gone under voluntary quarantine in New York City, with 29 people under mandatory quarantine.

“I don’t think for most of us who even have been in public life a long time we’ve seen a situation quite like this, where we receive extraordinary new information on what now feels like an hourly basis, so we’re constantly making adjustments,” New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement (via CNBC).

What do you think of Late Night With Seth Meyers‘ latest coronavirus-related “episode”? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!