Network shows that suspended filming over coronavirus are unlikely to finish out their seasons

Vulture

Some shows like S.W.A.T. and Superstore have decided to skip their season finales because of the coronavirus. But there are many other shows that haven't made a decision on their seasons after halting production with one to four episodes left to film. "When networks, studios, and streaming platforms last week began announcing they were shutting down production to safeguard the health of casts and crews, they generally described the pauses as 'temporary,' suggesting they’d reassess the situation in a few weeks. But now, even if the rosiest scenarios for the course of the pandemic play out — if, say, the CDC suggests in two or three weeks that it might be safe to loosen social distancing measures — the industry insiders Vulture spoke with believe it won’t matter," says Vulture's Josef Adalian. "While it might be possible to resume filming in early April and still complete an episode or two in time for this broadcast season, it won’t be practical in most cases.... That’s because of the costs associated with shutting down and starting up productions, not to mention concerns about crew contracts and actor commitments. Assuming a production returns to anything near normal within a month, folks may have already booked other assignments or otherwise not be available to work all the way into May. In fact, at least four shows have already told cast and crew their seasons are over, sources told Vulture, confirming that fact on the condition that the names of the productions not be published since official decisions haven’t been announced yet." Adalian adds: "It is also possible, by the way, that a handful of network shows will find a way to finish up their season orders earlier if the showrunner has enough clout or it makes financial sense — think a big hit such as Grey’s Anatomy. Warner Bros. and the CW might also be facing a very tough call in coming weeks: The series finale of Supernatural has not yet been filmed. It’s hard to think the network and studio will want to just let the show end without a good-bye, but depending on when production can resume, it might be hard to get the cast and Vancouver-based crew back together again. All of this is just speculation, however: Officially, nothing has been decided about either Grey’s or Supernatural." Adalian emphasizes that this conundrum mainly applies to broadcast shows. "Most cable and streaming shows wrap production before their first episodes air, so it’s unlikely there’ll be suddenly shortened seasons for shows that have already started airing," he says. ALSO: TV networks are beginning to replace original episodes with reruns because of coronavirus.