She’s back! Ellen DeGeneres to resume talk show production next week

Ellen DeGeneres will return to work on Monday (11.01.21).

The star’s self-titled talk show has been airing reruns since 10 December after the 62-year-old presenter was diagnosed with coronavirus but filming was due to resume on 4 January at the Warner Bros. lot.

However, rising cases of the virus and the fact Southern California’s hospitals are overstretched made the date untenable, but it has now been confirmed production will star next week, but without a studio audience.

Other restrictions will be in place, including Ellen being joined only by a skeleton staff and crew, with a goal to minimise the number of employees needed at the show’s offices at any given time.

However, the studio have confirmed all crew members will be paid during the modified production schedule following previous uncertainty in the early days of the first lockdown in 2020.

Like Ellen’s show, ‘Dr. Phil’ will also resume production next Monday from its Paramount Studios set but it will feature a live audience on Zoom.

The current situation in California has seen night time talk show hosts Jimmy Kimmel and James Corden return to broadcasting from their homes this week.

Opening his programme on Monday night (04.01.21), Jimmy laughed: “Hi, I’m Jimmy, I’m the host of this house. Thanks for watching from your house. This is our first show of the new year. And exciting new year. 2021 is in, 2020 is out.

“I’ve been bubbling with enthusiasm, optimism. I’ve been ready for a return to normalcy. And here I am doing the show from my kitchen again.

“Because there’s a deadly virus, that seems to be living in LA now. It seems to have taken permanent residence here. I believe it lives across the street from me in Kendall Jenner’s old house.”

And James was also back in his own garage set at home, where he had broadcast a lot of his own show earlier in the pandemic during the summer.

He told ‘Late Late Show’ viewers: “A very warm welcome back to my garage. That’s right, we’re back in lockdown for a few days. We’re going to be doing the show from my house until it’s safe to return.

“So, once again, I’m saying hello to my garage and good-bye to my pants.

“Remember when everyone was making sourdough bread? Do you remember that? Back when people had energy.”