Racing to figure out how to film before we run out of new shows.
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And of course there are a zillion hours of streamable shows tocatch up on or rewatch.
And they havent gone back into production yet.
So what will happen?
The broadcast networks have announced their new fall schedules, but bothnewandfallare being defined very loosely.
Daytime soaps are serving as the beta test.
withGeneral HospitalandThe Young and the Restlessscheduled to walk gingerly out onto the ice in the next few weeks.
After that, it gets murkier.
Virtual writers rooms have already convened, but the process of starting up actual filming is laden with asterisks.
A set is safe only until someone tests positive, a daily possibility due to the viruss long incubation.
Right now, TV people are mildly optimistic about getting up and running again.
Theyre not that far behind yet.
Showrunners already know they may be held hostage to abrupt, and possibly extended, pauses in production.
TV overall will become smaller, with few multi-episode story lines or sprawling location shoots.
Heres what the TV-makers I spoke with think will most likely happen.
The 22-episode season is history.
Thats almost certainly over.
Longer production schedules for each episode will mean that money needs to be saved somewhere.
Reducing the episode count is an easy, probably necessary, solution.
one actress told me.
And then another plane flight back to New York?
TV itll be just like a play!
Now theyll be used as a solution to a different set of problems.
More talking, less fighting.
One way to simplify production is for shows to have fewer and lengthier scenes.
Do two characters need to have it out over the dinner table?
Is an interrogation in progress?
The end of the extra.
So expect more wigs.
A number of actresses have already gone in this direction to save both time and their scalps.
Youll be able to walk down the street unimpeded by pushy PAs.
Location shoots are exponentially harder and less controllable than working on studio sets.
Showrunners arent saying Never, but theyre definitely saying Not now.
Writers will become more important and then less important.
Hour-long dramas are always, to a degree, done on the fly.
Showrunners say therell be less of that; scripts will need to be finalized and approved early.
You cant wait quite so long for everything to make sense.
If that happens, its best not to go out on a cliffhanger.
In 2020, real life is providing more than enough of those.
