Thanks to all wishing me get well - hard to do since I feel perfectly fine, but I appreciate it! Most upset about ending my streak going back to 1993 of never missing a Politically Incorrect or Real Time episode. Oh well, even Cal Ripken had to sit one out at some point.
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) May 14, 2021
Maher has tested positive for Covid, but he's symptomless — and vaccinated — so it may be a false positive. In any case, I know from listening to him on the Joe Rogan podcast that he takes great pride in doing an hour-long live show, done without commercial breaks, in which he's actively involved in every segment.
It really is an impressive achievement, and I wish he could just do his show — do it with distance. But I guess the show made a rule — everyone must be tested and test negative — and rules are rules. No exceptions.
The lawyer in me says just make a rule where you're not within the rule: Every guest must be tested and test negative. The host is not within the rule. But you'd have to justify exposing the guests to the positive-testing host.
Still: What if all the guests are vaccinated? And distance is maintained. And Maher wears a mask? It might be hard to sell. First, Maher looks like an example of the vaccinated person who still catches the disease. Second, Maher needs to be funny, and he could bomb trying to be funny from behind a mask. We wouldn't see his smirk!
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1 comment:
Edward writes:
The show is undoubtedly following the rules that the unions (SAG, IATSE,
etc.) worked out with the studios and production companies to allow
productions to resume. The full agreements are about 50-60 pages long.
They include testing for everyone on the production on a regular basis.
The cast and crew is divided into "pods", each pod has a different
testing level and they can't interact with each other except via
telecommunications. On camera people and the crew present when filming
get test swabs taken each evening and get a text in the AM if they are
clear to come in. The pod that works on preparing the set can't be there
when the on-camera pod is, and when they are done a cleaning crew comes
in and disinfects everything. The set pods get tested every few days.
There are compliance monitors that make sure that masking, pod
interaction, cleaning, and social distancing rules are followed. If you
test positive, you are prohibited contact with the production for a
specified time and then test negative. Some people that work from home
(accountants, etc.) have less stringent rules since they don't have
contact with anyone on the show once they are hired.
Since this is a union agreement, it has to be renegotiated. I don't know
if there has been any effort to do that since the CDC changed their
guidance on disinfecting a month or two ago, and certainly not since the
revised masking policy.
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