Sophia Michaels
As March comes to a close, you wouldn’t be wrong in assuming that nearly every single TV and film production has been shut down because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. There are new delays announced practically every day. Some shows had a very slight chance of slipping through the current nightmare unscathed, however, which was reportedly the case for the hit HBO series Succession and Barry.
The premium cable network was hoping to protect both shows’ third seasons, which were only in pre-production, but the cards were stacked against them. According to Deadline, HBO has been forced to suspend pre-production and push back the start date for both projects due to the escalating spread of COVID-19.
“We are looking forward to resuming preproduction when it is safe and healthy for everyone working on our shows to do so,” HBO said in a statement “Where possible, our writers are continuing to write remotely.”
Earlier in the month, the network stopped production on new seasons of Euphoria and The Righteous Gemstones, so this latest move puts a large chunk of the channel’s biggest hitters on ice. But it’s merely following suit with other networks, all of which will face scheduling issues of their own. AMC recently had to scuttle the air date for the season finale of The Walking Dead, and a previous report from Deadline contains a laundry list of series who were forced to abandon their season finales after a barrage of shutdowns caught them with episodes still left to film.
The long list of the series that stopped short of filming the last episode (s) of the season includes NBC’s Superstore, whose finale was supposed to be farewell episode of star America Ferrera. It also includes CBS’ NCIS franchise, Bull, FBI, SEAL Team, S.W.A.T., Young Sheldon, Bob Hearts Abishola and The Neighborhood, NBC’s Chicago franchise, Law & Order: SVU and New Amsterdam, the CW’s The Flash, Supergirl, Batwoman, Riverdale, Dynasty and Nancy Drew, ABC’s The Goldbergs, Schooled and American Housewife and Fox’s Last Man Standing.
That’s a whole lot of TV that can’t even finish its current seasons, and we’re already starting to see the effects on the 2021 schedule, which isn’t looking good. Hope everyone likes reruns.
(via Deadline)
Written by: Uproxx
