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Culture & Living
Has the quarantine life made your favourite talk shows even more hilarious?
Jimmy Kimmel: “My blood type right now is Disney +ve.”
While hosting journalists, designers and celebrities who had flown in from all across the world, Milan Fashion Week found itself at the nucleus of the outbreak of a disease in February 2020. The front-rowers had arrived, the runways were set, and collections of haute couture were ready to be showcased. What followed a rushed introduction to COVID-19 was a rapid response from the fashion houses. One of the most format-altering moves was when Giorgio Armani live-streamed its show without any physical audience. Despite the confusing initial effects of a virus that was soon termed a pandemic, the show went on.
Fast forward to March 17, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live opened with a display of drawings of the host’s five-year-old daughter, followed by a whole episode set inside his house. The bright cityscape backdrop of Kimmel's talk show set had been replaced by a chest of wooden drawers and a couple of black and white framed pictures on the walls. One of America's most popular talk shows was now being shot, produced and hosted from home.
In The Daily Show's host, Trevor Noah's words, “We’re in a weird space. It feels like the end of the world, and it’s not, but we also cannot treat it like nothing is happening. So we do have to find that balance.” And find the balance is what directors, creators, hosts, celebrities and many other professionals soon did.
For the first 11 seconds of Kimmel’s quarantine minilogue, we heard a child sing the intro music of the show, and also a few chirpy giggles. Then followed the host, kicking off the pilot at-home episode. “Since I have nothing to do, and the fact that you’re watching this makes me assume you have nothing to do, I’m gonna shoot a mini monologue every day until we get back…,” he said. “…My blood type right now is Disney +ve.”
Watch the content of the video featured, and you may find yourself thinking that our favourite late-night talk shows may just be becoming even more hilarious now that they're turning into home productions, complete with kids joining in and cue cards signing out. And just when you think this new format couldn't possibly get more entertaining, the hosts find a way to top trending charts once again. That’s what happened when, on the same day as Kimmel's episode aired, Stephen Colbert hosted The Late Show from his bathtub. That's right. He also got the details right with the dense lather. “Stay hunkered down and please enjoy this episode of The Lather Show with Scrubbin' Colbath!,” the YouTube description read. His first guest that night was, “as you can see, Mr Bubble.” The cherry on top: he did it all while wearing a suit.
A few hours later, again, on the very same day, The Tonight Show’s Jimmy Fallon showed us around his home and introduced his wife, just before their daughter entered the scene to cuddle their Labrador pup. In a nutshell, the first episode of the popular talk show’s home edition was far from filtered and polished. “I have a whole lot of jokes here,” he said while holding a sheet of paper that looked rather full. “So I’m going to read them to you. We’ll see if things get funny.” But more noteworthy than the jotted down one-liners was the fact that despite being closer than ever to his work station (aka his attic), Fallon was still, like so many of us around the globe, “20 minutes late to work”. Doesn't get more relatable than that.
Most recently, this month, Ellen DeGeneres kicked off a similar set of activities for The Ellen DeGenres Show. “Thanks for not being here,” she began. “I’m filming this in my living room because it has the best light. And also because all the other rooms are filled with toilet paper.” The comedian has also taken to YouTube and started Ellen’s Home Quarantine series, where she tackles a 4,000-piece puzzle in her palatial house, calls up celebrities and shares her thoughts during self-isolation. The candid phone-shot videos, though a personal project, don’t stray far from the aesthetics of her iconic NBC show.
Following one of the episodes of any of the shows will lead to an observation that not only have hosts spun their quarantine notes into hilarious anecdotes, but also presented the legacy content in a way that manages to seem even more friendly and relatable. As we quarantine at home, we can now at least be sure that as long as we've got WiFi, we can be both connected and entertained. God bless the internet.
Also read:
Will the coronavirus crisis change cinema for ever?
