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Conan O’Brien will resume airing his show on Monday, March 30 despite his staff being forced to work remotely due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The longest-running late-night host’s show "Conan" has been on hiatus since March 16 but has continued to produce content in the form of short videos and a podcast in an effort to continue to entertain the countless viewers stuck inside practicing social distancing. However, unlike his late-night cohorts whose shows are currently suspending production, TBS announced in a press release that "Conan" will cope with the conditions and begin airing new episodes shot on an iPhone.
"The quality of my work will not go down because technically that’s not possible," the host joked in the release.
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The new episodes will broadcast without a studio audience and will see O’Brien conducting guest interviews via video chat. The entire production staff will continue to work from home to produce the new formatted episodes out of an abundance of caution over the coronavirus.
Conan O'Brien will reformat his show to accommodate his employees working from home. (AP)
"Our first priority is the health and well-being of everyone in the Team Coco family, and our second priority is to try and find a way that we can do our jobs safely, from home, and contribute some entertainment for our fans out there who may be hungry for silly distraction," said executive producer Jeff Ross.
Speaking to Variety, Ross explained that the idea came from O’Brien wanting to keep his staff employed and continue to produce comedy.
"He likes to make stuff – as we all do. We are in the business of making content and this what we do. The idea that we can’t do it is a little frustrating," Ross told the outlet. "We have a staff that wants to work, that doesn’t want to not get paid, and you just want to keep the business going."
Ross noted that about 75 people help put the show together each day. He explained that O’Brien, who is notorious for his drive and work ethic, didn’t stop making content even when the show went off-the-air.
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"We were making stuff and putting it out and trying to be a distraction, but we just realized – why not just do the show?" Ross noted. "It will be different, and it may not be pretty, but we’re going to do it."
Conan O'Brien will resume broadcasting his show despite concerns over the coronavirus. (Getty)
This isn’t the first time that the former "Tonight Show" host has adjusted the format of his late-night program. In 2018 he announced that he was reducing the show to a half-hour and only interviewing one guest each episode.
"Since I inherited my Late Night show in 1993, TV has changed exponentially. I'd like to think I have evolved with many of these changes, but now it's time to take the next leap," O'Brien wrote in a press release at the time. "A half-hour show will give me the time to do a higher percentage of the comedy in, and out, of the studio that I love and that seems to resonate in this new digital world. It's still going to be me hosting a very silly show, but I want segments on my half-hour program to link to digital content, deepening the experience for my younger fans, and confusing my older ones."
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The format change took place in 2019.
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