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Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on television in the United States

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With the spread of the pandemic in the United States, almost all television entertainment production ceased, except those capable of being produced remotely and/or with reduced personnel.

By June, certain productions resumed after implementing social distancing guidelines, quarantine measures, and other public health protocols.

The pandemic resulted in the most impactful shutdown to the American television industry since the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike, which had disrupted nearly all television productions. The ensuing turbulent aftermath sees major reductions in the workforce and cancellations of shows right and left to save money on basic residuals and music licensing costs, which lead to the end of Peak TV and a worsening condition for writers and actors that eventually led to both the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike and 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike.

Scripted programming

Initial suspension of production

The pandemic disrupted the production of many scripted television series. On March 10, 2020, Fox announced that a production member of the upcoming show Next had tested positive for COVID-19, just one week after the show finished production. Furthermore, the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier suspended its international production in Prague, where filming was discontinued after a week. Filming continued in Atlanta until filming statewide was eventually suspended two weeks later.

On March 12, Universal Television delayed shooting for the shows Russian Doll, Rutherford Falls, and Little America. A few hours later, NBCUniversal announced that 35 additional shows would suspend production, including unscripted shows. Programs such as those from the Chicago franchise, as well as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, FBI, New Amsterdam, and Superstore had their productions suspended.

Furthermore, it was revealed that the production of the Amazon Prime Video show Carnival Row had been suspended. Carnival Row was filming in Prague at the time of the production shutdown. The same day, Netflix announced that production on the final season of Grace and Frankie would be suspended, as a number of the actors were at high risk for the virus due to their age.

Also on March 12, ViacomCBS announced that One Day at a Time would continue production without a studio audience; but on March 20, the executive producers stated that production had been suspended altogether. Apple suspended production of The Morning Show and Foundation as a precautionary measure. The following day, Apple suspended production on all upcoming shows.

On March 13, CBS Television Studios announced several programs would suspend production, including all series that are part of the NCIS franchise, Bull, Dynasty, Nancy Drew, Charmed, and The Good Fight. Most multi-camera sitcoms produced by CBS Television Studios had already completed production. The Neighborhood was set to film its season finale without a studio audience, but ultimately chose to suspend production the next day, scrapping the planned season finale episode.

The same day, AMC suspended production of Fear the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead. Also on March 13, Warner Bros. suspended production on multiple programs, including All Rise, Batwoman, Bob Hearts Abishola, Euphoria, The Flash, God Friended Me, Riverdale, Supergirl, Supernatural, and Young Sheldon. Concurrently, God Friended Me was also canceled by CBS, and its last-filmed episode was quickly retooled into a series finale, with some scenes utilizing stock footage from past episodes.

Lastly, Netflix announced that production on all its films and series in the United States and Canada would be suspended. Production in other countries would be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

20th Television and ABC Studios suspended production on multiple series, including Empire (which prematurely ended its final season), Pose, Queen of the South, American Housewife, Grey's Anatomy, American Horror Story and Genius. On March 14, Sony Pictures Television announced that it would suspend production on programs such as The Blacklist and The Goldbergs.

On March 15, MGM Television revealed that it had suspended production of The Handmaid's Tale, although already-filmed episodes were expected to air sometime in 2021. Another Hulu series, The Orville, also suspended production. Last Man Standing originally planned to film its season finale without a studio audience before ultimately suspending production. Both The Orville and Last Man Standing were among the last television series to suspend production. NBC pulled the April 7 episode of its medical drama New Amsterdam for sensitivity reasons, as it depicted a flu pandemic affecting New York City.

The big-three networks' soap operas also suspended production, as a result; CBS's The Bold and the Beautiful and The Young and the Restless, and ABC's General Hospital eventually ran out of first-run episodes by late April and late May, respectively. All three shows began to air themed reruns of classic episodes in the interim. To conserve first-run episodes, most soaps stopped airing first-run episodes on Fridays, while General Hospital added additional flashbacks from recent storylines to draw out its remaining inventory of episodes. By contrast, NBC's Days of Our Lives had enough of a backlog to last through October 2020. Viewership of soap operas saw gains as stay-at-home orders were imposed nationwide in late March. The Bold and the Beautiful and General Hospital saw their best ratings since March 2018, and Days of our Lives and The Young and the Restless saw their best ratings since 2019.

Later resumption of production

In late April 2020, Tyler Perry told Deadline Hollywood that he planned to resume production of programming at his Atlanta-based Tyler Perry Studios by June, with plans to test cast and crew members on-site before they traveled, and to sequester them on the Fort McPherson site's housing and barracks, as well as other purpose-built structures for the duration of production to create a bubble. Perry estimated that it would typically take two and a half weeks for a full season. To avoid potential infection spread, people would be quarantined until the results of a second test were received; and they would be tested again at least every four days afterward. Perry stated that he wrote his scripts with a smaller number of personnel and cast members in mind.

On April 30, the industry group Film Florida released a comprehensive series of recommendations and safety protocols for film and television production, which ranged from regular health screenings to limits on the number of on-site staff, not sharing microphones and other equipment, using clear barriers between actors when marking and establishing shots, and considerations regarding the use of personal protective equipment by crew members. The group noted that studios should "anticipate inefficiencies due to new procedures", and that the guidelines should be used in conjunction with other industry guidelines once established. On May 22, Georgia (which, primarily via the Atlanta area, has become a major southern hub for television and film production) became the first state government to formally release such guidelines, and drew guidance from local officials and studios, as well as from the Film Florida guidelines.

On June 5, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that film and television production in California could resume beginning June 12, subject to approval by county public health officers following a review of local conditions. The California Department of Public Health stated that workers "should abide by safety protocols agreed by labor and management, which may be further enhanced by the county public health officers." Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer initially stated that she would not immediately allow film and television production, due to an increase in recent hospitalizations, but announced on June 10 that production would be covered under the next phase of local health orders to take effect June 12. That day, the Directors Guild of America, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and SAG-AFTRA published "The Safe Way Forward", which details health and safety protocols agreed upon for union film and television productions. This includes regular testing of cast and crew members, closed sets, access zones, shooting limited to ten hours, and all productions requiring an on-set health safety supervisor.

On June 18, Deadline reported that NBCUniversal had begun an incremented return to work at its facilities, which included implementations of new protocols. NBCUniversal also performed in-house production of materials such as face masks and hand sanitizer via its Facilities and Administration department for use at other sites outside of California.

On June 17, at Television City, The Bold and the Beautiful became one of the first U.S. scripted television series to resume on-set tapings, although the production subsequently went on a one-week hiatus in order to accommodate modifications to its protocols to handle the larger number of tests needed. Scenes were filmed in such a way as to allow physical distancing on-set, and immediate family members of cast members were used as stand-ins during scenes that required intimacy. On June 23, it was reported that the resumption had been delayed by one day, as the studio needed to switch testing providers because tests provided by Television City had produced too many false positives. The Bold and the Beautiful began airing first-run episodes on July 20. General Hospital resumed production on July 22, and broadcast of first-run episodes resumed on August 3. Fellow CBS soap The Young and the Restless began airing new episodes on August 10, and Days of our Lives planned to resume production by September.

On July 25, Tyler Perry's BET series Sistas became one of the first U.S. scripted primetime series to complete a full season of filming under COVID-19-related safety protocols. Perry reported that there were four positive cases among extras and crew and that the start of production had faced a delay due to slower turnarounds for testing amidst a nationwide spike. While Perry hoped a vaccine would soon be available, he explained that "we are set up for the long haul, we could be here for a year and a half, two years, five years if we needed to." The second season of Tyler Perry's fellow production The Oval was completed on August 14.

Resumption of The Good Doctor in Vancouver was briefly disrupted by conflicts with local labor unions over the large amount of testing required by Sony Pictures Television. Those opposed to new restrictions cited Canadian requirements that already mandated 14 days of self-isolation upon entering the country and the relatively lower rate of transmission in the province of British Columbia at the time. Privacy issues with plans to contract private labs for testing were also cited as a factor. The impasse was resolved in mid-August.

On December 28, 2020, FilmLA published excerpts of a letter recently sent by Los Angeles County health officials, which recommended a temporary suspension of "higher risk" production activity due to the "catastrophic surge" of COVID-19 infections in the area. The surge resulted in a lack of ICU capacity, Governor Newsom referring to LA as the "epicenter" of COVID-19 in the country at that time, and the introduction of a mandatory 10-day self-isolation period for those returning from outside of Los Angeles County. On December 29, SAG-AFTRA's president and national executive director issued a statement indicating that the union was "closely monitoring the recent surge". As a result, most major LA-based television productions extended their pre-scheduled breaks for the holiday season through at least January 11, 2021, if not later. Some productions were reported to have resumed production around January 13, 2021.

In May 2022, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) reached agreements to allow the loosening of COVID-19 protocols for transport and masking, for productions taking place in regions in the United States and Canada deemed to have a lower risk (including low hospital admissions).

Topical programming

The children's program Sesame Street produced two half-hour specials. The first – Sesame Street: Elmo's Playdate – dealt with the pandemic and socializing with others remotely. It premiered on April 14, 2020, and aired in simulcast across multiple WarnerMedia networks (including HBO, which has served as the current first-run broadcaster of the series since 2016) and the PBS Kids channel. The special was underwritten by WarnerMedia's parent company AT&T and aired commercial-free. Apple TV+ launched a spin-off of Fraggle Rock, Fraggle Rock: Rock On!, filmed entirely using iPhone smartphones from the performers' homes.

YouTube commissioned a mystery series from Sinking Ship Entertainment, Locked Down, for its YouTube Originals brand.

On April 30, NBC aired a one-off, remotely produced reunion episode of its sitcom Parks and Recreation, "A Parks and Recreation Special", in support of Feeding America.

In May, the CBS legal drama All Rise aired a topical episode, "Dancing at Los Angeles", as a replacement season finale. It was filmed from its actors' homes using videoconferencing, and depicted the in-universe version of the Los Angeles Superior Court conducting its first virtual bench trial due to the pandemic. Sister network Nickelodeon similarly produced a topical episode of its series Danger Force.

On May 22, Apple TV+'s Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet released a special episode filmed using iPhone smartphones, showing the in-universe impact of the pandemic on its characters.

On July 16, NBC broadcast a one-off reunion episode of its sitcom 30 Rock; the episode was co-produced by NBCUniversal's creative services department and was intended to serve as its upfronts presentation instead of a physical event. It incorporated product placement and promotions for upcoming series across NBCUniversal properties (including, in particular, its new Peacock streaming service) and was remotely screened to advertising partners and the media earlier in the day. Due to its promotional nature, many NBC affiliates declined to broadcast the special in primetime.

On August 17, the PBS children's series Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood premiered "Won't You Sing Along With Me?", an episode dealing with the pandemic. It also produced related episodes revolving around themes such as doctors, separation anxiety, changes at school, and safety.

The Comedy Central animated series South Park broadcast a standalone, one-hour special, "The Pandemic Special", on September 30, satirizing the pandemic and the racial unrest that had emerged in the country over the summer. In March 2021, Comedy Central premiered a follow-up, "South ParQ Vaccination Special", which satirized the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, and the QAnon conspiracy theory. Later in the year, the series premiered two "movie" specials exclusively for Paramount+, South Park: Post Covid and South Park: Post Covid: The Return of Covid, which feature the main cast as adults, still dealing with the pandemic 40 years later.

Several networks ordered scripted series set during the pandemic, including Joanna Johnson's Love in the Time of Corona for Freeform, Jenji Kohan's anthology Social Distance for Netflix, Martin Gero and Brendan Gall's Connecting for NBC (which was ordered straight-to-series), and a remote workplace comedy being developed by Ben Silverman and Paul Lieberstein of The Office.

Several returning programs addressed the pandemic as a plot point in their episodes, including Black-ish and The Conners, the fourth season premiere of The Good Doctor, Superstore (which satirized safety protocols being taken by retail stores and the branding of their employees as "essential workers"), NCIS: New Orleans (whose seventh season is set during the initial onset of the pandemic in Louisiana), and Bull.

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