Daytime talk shows try to maintain some normalcy amid the pandemic: The Wendy Williams Show still uses a warmup comedian for its virtual audience

Variety

“We have quite a large studio space and over one hundred bodies that have come a long way from other countries and states and all around the city, screaming and yelling, so standing on the floor without that, it felt like maybe it was going to be more drastic of a change than it actually turned out to be," says Wendy Williams Show executive producer David Perler. But the virtual audience, with a warmup comedian, has helped bring some normalcy to the show. “It’s a hot ticket — even the virtual audience,” says Perler, who is thrilled the show can still employ the audience department, while many other media companies have been forced to make cuts. “We want to make sure that we give as much of the in-studio experience to these virtual viewers as possible. We wouldn’t be there if it weren’t for our ‘co-hosts,’ and that’s why Wendy treats them like her co-hosts, not like an audience.”