Why do Living Room presenters not social-distance?
Studio 10 presenters social distance... but not those from The Living Room.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
A new-look Living Room debuted on 10 last night.
The new show does away with the studio audience and separate segments for a new ‘home-base’ with the cast giving a hero family a makeover.
Social media was divided over the new format. While some were not in favour of change, others welcomed the makeovers and bright colours. Everybody seemed to welcome Amanda Keller, Chris Brown, Miguel Maestre and Barry du Bois back on screen after the show was previously axed by 10.
But there is little explanation around why the presenters are ignoring social distancing, including yesterday in a Live interview on Studio 10. This was even more stark given Studio 10 presenters were observing current guidance -as does The Project, Neighbours, Have You Been Paying Attention?, MasterChef Australia.
Amanda Keller this week told TV Tonight, “That’s because we’ve been in a bubble with each other. We film with each other in the same way your family has a bubble, and certain friendships can have a bubble.”
10 did not respond to enquiries.
Keep a distance of 1.5 metres between yourself and other people.
Do not shake hands, hug or kiss as a greeting.
48 Responses
Amanda’s quote is a bit strange. Masterchef the contestants have been living together and yet they still had to social distance when the lock downs started. I don’t think these hosts have been living together so why should it be more lenient for them?
Good point
Love the new Living Room. Lot’s of fun and very funny to watch.
I missed it….was going to watch encore today…but too early…thought it would be around midday…
I missed it….was going to watch encore today…but too early…thought it would be around midday… v
Let’s focus comments on Living Room / TV in relation to this matter please, not wider debates on pandemic etc.
With due respect, this article’s main focus is on why the presenters are not doing physical distancing, which is a health requirement in dealing with the current pandemic. People’s discussions on this topic are inevitably going to go towards the state of the pandemic as it relates to the show’s attitude towards physical distancing, especially given current events in Melbourne.
Thanks… show’s attitude to social distancing is fine, and why it was raised… where comments start to drill down into various states / premiers etc we stray away from the TV relevance.
Love the outrage from some people in the comments here. “Why aren’t other people perfect like me? I’m angry!!!”
I’m certainly not claiming I am perfect. But I am immunocompromised. I have barely left my home in 3 months because of this virus. And people like presenters on The Living Room showing a lax or privileged attitude to physical distancing frankly scares the crap out of me, because people will follow their example and throw caution to the wind.
Lol. It makes me laugh that everyone is so concerned about the hosts not social distancing. Get over it!! Just appreciate the show for what it is. I know social distancing is important but stop stressing about it on the show. They know what they’re doing
I agree, and lol at the ones who won’t watch because they’re not social distancing…wtf
Amanda’s quote to TV Tonight just shows they don’t. What they’re doing would only be justifiable if the hosts were living together during production and having no contact with anyone else, which seems unlikely. As others have said, look at Victoria – this is what happens when physical distancing is abandoned. And COVID-19 has mutated, it’s become more infectious, making physical distancing even more important, not less.
Can we watch a TV show without worrying about COV19 …. sorry don’t care how they shot it or not. Can we stop the questioning and just watch a TV ….
No. COVID-19 is here to stay for the foreseeable future. We’re living in a pandemic. You’ll care how they shot it if their behaviour contributes to an outbreak in NSW like the one we’re seeing in Victoria.
Maybe they didn’t need to social distance, as there is virtually no community transmission of the coronavirus happening in NSW?
That’s not the advice of the Government or health experts. The virus is out there and Victoria shows how quickly it can go from zero to 100 in no time. If you’re that convinced it has been eradicated then I challenge you to never social distance again.
> The virus is out there and Victoria shows how quickly it can go from zero to 100 in no time <
The virus needs a host. It is not "out there". And Victoria was never at zero.
Government rules are to social distance – it’s law. Time after time, med experts say complacency is not an option. The above comment demonstrates complacency. It’s not over. CV-19 has not gone away – and it’s not curable as yet. Recent reports suggest that CV-19 has mutated in the EU and USA into a more virulent strain that affects 3 to 9 times more people than before, though the effects don’t seem to be worse. Most new infections in the south of the USA are now young people. Why? Complacency and disregard.
TLR has effectively raised the middle finger to the health of the country. TLR is a national program, not just a NSW program. And NSW does have a big blemish on its CV-19 slate, that being the Ruby Princess, as big a failure in CV-19 administration as is now occurring in VIC. In both cases, the incompetence is extraordinary.
Exactly this. 100%, condex.
Maybe it’s worth reporting the situation to authorities
Only watched the first 10 mins. I missed the energy of the live audience. It felt a cheaper production with the hosts doing the renovations and not the experts.
I too,prefer TLR of old,didn’t enjoy the new format.
Apart from social distancing can someone tell me why they did a makeover of the garden of a landscape gardener? Curiously there of very little mention that we were in a pandemic at all? Was all of this filmed before lockdown perhaps?
They elbow bumped upon arrival.
It’s quite common for tradespeople to not get around to working on their own properties, plus the fact the family were still grieving the death of their 5 month old baby girl.
No. Filmed during lockdown
Was great to have it back but when they have segments like the what was the gadget one last night they should all be on a couch facing us not around a table they seem disconnected from us.
I didn’t think 10 axed the show last year, I thought the Production company and Producers did. It wasn’t made by 10 previously and now it is. I agree that the hosts should be social distancing.
Production company did not want to discontinue, it was a 10 decision.
Glad it’s back! Who cares how spread out they are, protests have discounted this Argument.
No, they have not. The protests have been lucky – so far. Some people may not even have had any symptoms and been infectious and may not even have been tested. That’s the difficulty with this disease – some people don’t even know they have it. Hence, the need for continued physical distancing.
I was a die hard fan of the original and watched last night. My thoughts:
* Rather awkward attempts at comedy
* Miguel and Chris very awkward helping on tools and gardening
* They didn’t even social distance from tradies or the family. Very touchy-feely.
* Bad idea to keep the old name on a completely new show.
Most points will improve given time; TLR was finding its feet in season 1. However the social undistancing is a deal breaker and pretty much illegal in NSW “and for that reason I’m out”
I was disappointed last night, might tune in next week but if it’s the same as last night then probably won’t watch. Was happy to see the foursome on air but seriously dr Chris is a vet and Miguel is a chef they shouldn’t really be on the tools.
I liked the old format much better.
Now it’s just a Reno show and nothing can beat the block on that front,
I think DWTS gave the same excuse/reason
I assume given the NSW government quote, it’s filmed in Sydney. Unlike Victoria, we have the virus under control. Majority of the active cases are now in hotel quarantine so there is negligible risk of community transmission as evidenced by the source of new cases each day for the past week or so. Well done Gladys and team.
For now. The virus is under control in NSW for now. But if you get one infected person who doesn’t practise social distancing coming into contact with others, that situation rapidly changes, especially given a lot of people are asymptomatic.
The pandemic is not over. Just because things are good for now, doesn’t mean people can completely disregard the instructions of NSW Health or the Federal Government, or NSW will end up like Victoria, or Italy.
Not impressed by this. The promos show them clearly violating physical distancing requirements. Amanda’s comments just shows her disregard for the situation we’re in.
As someone else has already commented, the audience is going to wonder “If they can do it, why can’t we?” And if we get another outbreak in NSW, the NSW Health might want to consider looking at The Living Room as a possible source. If they’re doing that on camera, I can’t imagine they’re not doing it behind-the-camera as well.
I loved the new format, and it’s great to have the team back together again. Personally I don’t care whether they socially distance or not, and it doesn’t effect my social distance routine.
You’ll care if one of them gets infected and contributes to an outbreak that overruns the hospitals and Australia’s ability to treat COVID-19 patients.
It setting a bad example to not socially distance on current programming.
If the 4 presenters are quarantined together Big Brother-style, then Amanda’s reasoning for no social distancing is plausible. But if they all go home after filming, mingle with their family and friends, go shopping etc, then Amanda’s explanation for no social distancing is, to me, a disingenuous contrivance and probably a cover for, “the show wouldn’t work if we followed Govt regulations like social distancing”. If the latter, surely they are setting a very poor and irresponsible example for the community. For the audience, it could be yet another case of, “If they don’t care about the rules and get away with it, why should we follow the rules?”
As for the show itself, I thought that the TV commercials in the ad breaks were very good.
Is social distancing still a thing????
Yes and will be a thing until there is a vaccine.
I was a first time watcher of The Living Room last night as Gardening Australia was not on. Was disappointed and probably won’t watch again. Seems to be a rehash of the Domestic Blitz / Backyard Blitz type of show that was fashionable 10 to 20 years ago. And yes they do need subtitles for Miguel. Very hard to understand.
When all panelists are in the same city (which is not always the case) The Project should do away with the plasma screen and plonk a chair or two next to the panel like the Sunday Footy Show.
I think that they have a host in another studio on “The Project”, even when they are in the same state, for consistency. So every episode looks the same. It wouldn’t look the same if one episode has 4 people around the desk and then the next episode 3 around the desk and one on the plasma. They want to be consistant. Even “Have you been paying attention?” has some contestants that are in the same state in another studio, so the sound is the best it can be as much as possible.