An audience of 30 people is better than no audience at all. It kind of spoils the surprise element knowing that just about everyone in the room will be a contestant, but I don’t know what else they can do. I wonder if the three unlucky enough to not be called down will be family of another contestant or a special guest of sorts to avoid the awkwardness of anyone not getting their chance to play?
I also wonder about audio. With only 30 people, they could conceivably mic each of them prior to taping. That’s a heck of a lot of audio channels to work with, but I don’t see any other way to prevent cross-contamination. The contestants might even have to mic themselves to avoid close contact with show staff.
I kind of hope we only hear raw crowd noise with nothing added in post. That element of the show has become a bit too much in recent years, so hearing a somewhat quieter studio — while a bit jarring — would be a different change of pace and one I would welcome, though certainly not permanently!
Hopefully the finished product ends up looking something like what we’re used to. I even think trips might be offered — the contingency being that they will be scheduled for a date well out in 2021 in order for them to actually happen and the show not have to shell out extra cash. If we don’t have trips, I predict the first sub-$20,000 showcase this season in several years to help save the budget!
