The Masked Singer’s Virtual Audience Is So Absurd and So Unnecessary

From Cosmopolitan

“Mom, come pick me up, The Masked Singer is scaring me again.” But seriously, just when you thought the series where pseudo-celebrities unmask themselves after singing on TV couldn’t get any more alarmingly absurd, The Masked Singer season 4’s virtual audience proves all of us wrong. I’m so happy the show came back despite the obvious COVID-19 challenges, and I understand why the network would feel the need to have audience reactions to bits, but the fake audience footage makes me feel gaslit and anxious. That’s pretty much the opposite of what I should feel while watching this show. Let me explain.

First of all, to clarify: The audience is not 100 percent real. The season was actually taped in a mostly empty studio with just the contestants, backup dancers, security escorts, socially distanced(ish) judges, and Nick Cannon. The party line on The Masked Singer audience—aka what they’ll tweet at you if you mention it to them on social media—is that the audience is “virtual” and the result of “movie magic.”

The premiere episode demonstrated how said magic made it so that the audience can appear and disappear in an instant. In case you haven’t watched this season yet, here’s what it looks like when the show pans to the “audience.”

Obviously, the people in these pictures aren’t practicing current social distancing or mask-wearing guidelines. It’s confusing, though, because the show isn’t entirely clear about that during each episode. What does the network mean by “virtual” in this context? Who are those people? Where are they? When was this filmed? What are they reacting to? Are they staring into my soul? Are we living inside a fun house mirror at the bottom of the uncanny valley?

“It feels that through virtual reality and composite and reaction shots, we managed to create the feeling that there were people in the room,” FOX’s Rob Wade told Deadline, being very vague about what is actually happening. “Through various quarantining and various camera tricks, we’ve managed to do it.” But…what does that mean?! I am not the only one confused by this tactic. Basically, all of Twitter is a mess about it.

One person even tweeted this at judge Ken Jeong:

The problem with this method is that, frankly, it freaks me out. Every time they cut to people laughing and gasping, a chill runs up my spine. I get so nervous for these unmasked, socially non-distant people breathing on each other in the middle of a pandemic. My brain knows it’s virtual, but my anxiety does not. And other viewers clearly don’t know that all these people aren’t actually in a room together, adding to the confusion. If I’m upset by this, imagine sitting in your home, having spent the past few months following all the guidelines set for you, and seeing what you think to be a live studio audience on a FOX show. I’d be pissed too! Congrats to The Masked Singer on topping its own levels of absurdity, but in my humble opinion, this is not worth the stress.

Here’s my question: At what point does showing a fake live audience end up being irresponsible? If some viewers don’t know it’s fake, will people watching this think it’s okay to have their own socially non-distant, mask-free gatherings because they see the people on FOX “doing” just that? Does it inadvertently encourage people to break the protocols half the country already doesn’t believe in following? Does it do more harm than good?

I applaud FOX for trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy while also keeping people safe. Seriously, I can’t imagine how hard it must be to film a show like Masked Singer right now. But by using audience footage at all, the network is missing the mark. Please, FOX, let me enjoy my masked animals without the added stress of the audience shots, which cause me to question my own sanity. I beg you.

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