When live “comedy” television shows are produced, especially in front of a live television audience, those in attendance don’t always get the joke or the punchlines unfortunately fall flat. But not to worry. B-roll shots of the audience cracking up and audio laugh tracks can be easily edited-in to make the host and, in the case of a show like HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher”, selected panelists look like all are in full uproarious agreement. Conversely, audio groans and boos can also be added in post production to make those chosen look real bad.

The Coronavirus has taken that audience support dynamic totally out of the mix so someone like Bill Maher now has to enter his own forum without the benefit of post-production cosmetics. When he interviewed Texas Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw, a former United States Navy SEAL officer, Maher showed the nation just how flatfooted he really was when only armed with liberal talking points and no like-minded panelists and studio audience to laugh on cue.

After this episodic, you know Bill Maher is secretly hoping for the #LockDown to end so things can go back to normal, and in the case of “Real Time”, loaded in his favor.