Behind the Scenes Buzz with Ellen and Ken Jennings

ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW TO GO DARK FOR A WEEK: The Ellen DeGeneres Show will go dark again this week amid an alarming rise in COVID-19 infections in L.A. County. The talk show has been airing reruns since December 10^th, when Ellen DeGeneres announced she had contracted COVID herself. In a memo sent to staff, producers said: “Due to the current surge, we have decided that we will not do any shows next week and instead work from home.”

THE GOLDBERGS & ATYPICAL PRODUCTION PUSHED: Sony Pictures Television is pushing its holiday production hiatus amid a surge in COVID infections. ABC’s The Goldbergs and Netflix’s Atypical were both set to resume this week, but have been pushed to at least January 11^th. Sony joins CBS Studios, Warner Bros. TV, Universal TV and Disney TV Studios’ ABC Signature and 20th Television, which also extended the production hiatuses of their LA series.

DAVID ROMANO DIES: David Romano, a tenor who appeared in Broadway’s original The Phantom of the Opera, and coached Josh Groban and Sarah Brightman, among many others, has died at age 69. “David Romano was an incredible force,” Groban said in a statement. “He was one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, and his knowledge of the voice was pivotal to my understanding of singing. The lessons he taught me, in music and in life, will carry on with me forever.” He died at home, and was suffering from a heart ailment, according to reports.

KEN JENNINGS APOLOGIZES: The Jeopardy! winner Ken Jennings admitted to having tweeted “unartful and insensitive things,” resurfaced after it was announced that he would host upcoming episodes of the show following host Alex Trebek’s death. One of the since-deleted tweets from 2014 state that there’s “nothing sadder than a hot person in a wheelchair.”