TV shows cash in on Covid-19 pandemic

With Covid upending every aspect of viewers’ lives, some TV shows – from the obvious medical dramas to sitcoms – have woven the pandemic into their latest seasons’ storylines, but a handful have avoided it altogether.

In the opening scenes of the latest season of long-running hospital drama Grey’s Anatomy, Meredith Grey enjoys a quiet moment alone on a beach.

She suddenly emerges from the dream, exhausted, in full personal protective equipment in a frantic emergency room.

“I think we have a responsibility to really show what these health care workers have been going through,” series star Ellen Pompeo said in a recent Deadline interview.

At a time when many Americans are “irritated with wearing a mask” and “disconnected” from the challenges facing hospitals, the latest season of Grey’s offers “an opportunity to tell the story of how hard this is for our health care workers”, she said.

Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider, showrunners for NBC’s Chicago Med, said that “as a hospital show, we knew we’d have to deal with the pandemic”.

“So far it plays if not a direct then a tangential role in every one of the new episodes,” said Frolov and Schneider about the show’s sixth season, which premiered on 11 November.

“Even if we’re not doing Covid patient stories, the virus has profoundly changed protocols and procedures in the hospital.”

Other medical shows like ABC’s The Good Doctor have already tackled the virus, while New Amsterdam and The Resident are ready to follow suit in 2021.

NBC’s hit drama This is Us has members of the Pearson family sheltering at home, and matriarch Rebecca having to postpone an Alzheimer’s clinical trial, because of coronavirus.

ABC’s The Conners put its own spin on the issue, addressing the pandemic through the financial hardships it has created for the sitcom’s characters. –