The Masked Singer is aiming for normalcy by avoiding coronavirus mentions and making it feel like there's a normal audience

The Hollywood Reporter

"When you watch Masked Singer, you are not going to feel like it's a different show. It feels like there's an audience there," Fox alternative boss Rob Wade tells The Hollywood Reporter of Season 4, premiering tonight. While there won't be a regular audience, there will be a small audience whose reactions will be enhanced by augmented reality technology to make it seem like a full studio. "We managed to get some people in for reactions," says Wade. "We managed to get audiences that we could composite. We've used AR technology to make it feel like there's people there. So, when you're watching Masked Singer you will, for all intents and purposes, feel like you're watching exactly the same show. We had smaller groups of people in there reacting, we had the audience at home who voted, but you're going to feel like there's an audience in the room." Executive producer Craig Plestis tells Variety The Masked Singer also wanted to avoid any appearance of Zoom. “I think we’re all exhausted being on Zooms every day and so is the average viewer,” he says. “The last thing they want to have is watch a TV show that looks like work. Our mission was to try to make it as familiar as possible and to go back to old school. How do we do that? Through a lot of innovation, through some virtual reality stuff that we’ve been playing with, to make the sets even bigger. It’s not going to feel like a COVID show. And I think we really achieved that. It feels like a broadcast network TV show, and not a Zoom call.” Meanwhile, Wade says the show has moved past the Nick Cannon anti-Semitic controversy. “This is not something that anyone has taken lightly,” Wade tells Variety. “We obviously condemn any form of hate directed toward any community and we’re committed to combating bigotry. And the conversations with Nick were so swift and it was so clear of his remorse. And it felt like this was something that we needed to try and resolve and not create a wedge in between us and him. Because I think it’s a lot easier to hold someone accountable for their actions if we’re still working with them rather than not working with him.” ALSO: Ken Jeong may be reality's biggest star with The Masked Singer and I Can See Your Voice.