South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Fall TV season in jeopardy amid coronavirus shutdown
LOS ANGELES — The first new TV season of the coronavirus era is facing an understandably shaky start that comes with a tacit disclaimer: The comedy and drama series being trumpeted for fall 2020 and beyond will air — if they get made.
Studios, guilds and trade groups are huddling to find ways to ease a near-complete production shutdown, among the nationwide efforts to curb the pandemic. While streaming services parcel out series year-round, broadcast TV still relies heavily on a September filled with fanfare and high-profile scripted shows.
How that will happen is a cliffhanger only a masochistic screenwriter would envision.
Gabrielle Union, who with Jessica Alba stars in and produces Spectrum cable’s “L.A.’s Finest,” is among those awaiting guidance on how actors and crews can safely return to work. The police drama combines shoot’em-up action with more intimate scenes, both a test of how social distancing and story demands will coexist.
“When we all are given the green light to go back, we just have to be flexible and open to this new normal, whatever that’s going to look like,” Union said.
Just four months before the Sept. 20 Emmy Awards kick off the season’s traditional start, the uncertainties swirling around COVID-19 are daunting. Even well-stocked Netflix or premium cable channels like HBO with fully produced new series in hand must keep a wary eye on prolonged disruption.
Neal Baer, a physician and a veteran TV writer and producer (“ER,” “Designated Survivor”), had a succinct reply when asked if he would start a production given the unanswered questions about the disease.
“No way,” Baer said.
“I’m not going to put people potentially in harm’s way” given the unknowns.
While the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers spearheads the broad industry effort to work with health and government officials on safety protocols, there are also what one executive called impromptu “think tanks” to find solutions.
“Some have attorneys and doctors involved. I do a weekly panel that a cinematographer put together, and we keep adding people who run production companies, soundstages,” said Matt Birch, co-head of physical production for the multinational talent agency APA.
Visual effects supervisors and producers are in high demand, Birch said, to create what can’t be filmed. Among the steps industry members say are being mulled: scenes with fewer actors and shorter production schedules, and more animated projects.
Meanwhile, networks are cobbling together schedules and, in true Hollywood fashion, hoping for a happy ending.
When Fox announced its fall schedule, it included a recycled season-one run of “L.A.’s Finest,” along with two series that the network originally intended to debut this spring, “Filthy Rich” starring Kim Cattrall, and tech thriller “neXt” with John Slattery.
The reason the trio of series earned a coveted spot on a network’s fall schedule: They were in the can and ready to air.
Movie and TV mogul Tyler Perry may be showing the way. His studio in Georgia — among the states relaxing virus-related restrictions — plans to reopen for production in July with two series for BET. Protective measures will include testing and isolation at the Atlanta studio lot for cast and crew.
There are also alternatives to traditional, highly produced series. CBS aired a socially distanced episode of its drama “All Rise” made using digital technology, and late-night hosts are drawing kudos for their homespun shows with family as supporting players.