NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) — On Monday, Jimmy Fallon, host of the Tonight Show returned to the studio at New York’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza to host his first show there since the start of the coronavirus shutdown in March.
Fallon, like virtually every other late night host, has been recording his show with from home with a bit of DIY magic.
For Fallon’s return to the studio, not everything was quite back to normal yet. There’s still no studio audience, and guests are still interviewed remotely.
In the opening segment of the show, a camera follows Fallon as he leaves his New York home, and dons a blue facemask in preparation for his walking commute from his Brooklyn home to the midtown Manhattan studio.
Upon arriving, he has his identity checked by a doorman and then submits to a temperature check before making his way into the studio, where he is greeted by his house band The Roots (all safely socially distanced) and takes a seat on a stool in the freshly revamped Tonight Show set.
Fallon’s studio crew is also fitted out of the virus, each wearing a plastic face shield and a mask while standing what appears to be at least six feet apart from one another in the largely empty studio.
Fallon detailed the safety measures in place to keep the cast and crew safe, including regular testing for the virus, temperature checks and regular cleaning of the facility.
“This has truly been done the safest way possible and we would only do it that way,” Fallon said in his opening monologue.
He also shared some words of encouragement for his fans in parts of the country where the virus is spreading.
“To all the states going through the tough parts right now, our friends in Florida, Arizona, Texas, California, all over the south, I know how hard it is,” Fallon said. “And I’m not gonna lie to you, it’s rough. But I guess I’m here to show you that there is a light at the end of the tunnel if we all do our part and keep each other safe.”
Guests for the first show back in the studio included New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, actor Charlize Theron, and musical guest Little Big Town.
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