"America's Got Talent" will look a lot different when the show returns to the air next week.
The talent competition series will debut a new drive-in theater theme and a socially distanced set for its "Judge Cuts" episode next Tuesday, the first episode filmed during the coronavirus pandemic.
Judges Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel and Sofia Vergara all return — this time driving up in souped-up vintage cars to the show's new set, which looks just like a drive-in theater from yesteryear.
Klum's return is especially notable considering she abruptly left the competition's audition rounds after falling ill on set. Though the supermodel feared she'd contracted the coronavirus, she later tested negative for it.
Host Terry Crews will be situated more than six feet away from the judges, who all wear protective face masks when they aren't speaking on camera.
Sam Donnelly, one of the show's executive producers, told People magazine the drive-in format was created, and many other safety measures put in place, so the show could continue filming without jeopardizing anyone's health and safety.
"The drive-in idea is one that came organically because, at the time, you're just reading about drive-ins," Donnelly said. "We liked the idea of being outside on a movie set location. Having the judges outside, socially distanced, but in a way that didn't feel really weird. It felt like a good solution."
The look and feel of the show isn't the only thing that's changing.
The "Judge Cut" performances will now be presented in a single episode, rather than in multiple episodes airing over several weeks. 44 acts will then perform over four weeks of live quarter-final shows, beginning August 11.
"America's Got Talent" airs Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
