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From ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ to ‘This Is Us,’ Covid infects TV plots
NEW YORK, Nov 20, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – 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 PPE, 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,”
told AFP 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 November 11.
“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.
– To touch or not to touch –
Outside of hospital settings, US network shows have also incorporated
elements of the pandemic’s impact.
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.
“For a family that is always struggling economically and lives mostly
without a safety net, the economic impact of this was something we felt we
had to write about,” said Dave Caplan, writer and executive producer of the
show spun off from “Roseanne.”
Initially trying to get her career as a writer off the ground, Darlene
Conner is forced to get a job at a local factory, working alongside her
sister Becky who is also struggling financially.
Their father is on the verge of being evicted.
“We don’t shy away from going to a very serious place for some of the
subjects, which allows us to also exploit that tension with humor,” explains
writer and co-producer Bruce Helford.
“We’ve always found that the biggest laughs come when the audience is a bit
uncomfortable and then they’re allowed to just laugh at it.”
“Finding the comedy and the humor is actually easier because these are
brand new circumstances that haven’t been dealt with before,” which is very
rare, according to Helford.
“The Conners” also made a conscious effort to portray the nation’s stark
political divisions over the pandemic and its handling.
Darlene’s son Mark is confronted at school by a boy whose family opposes
Covid restrictions.
“We touched on it because you can’t ignore it,” said Helford. “And we tried
to do it evenhandedly.”
– ‘More important’ –
In addition to existing shows, streaming platforms and cable channels have
tried putting together new series centered on coronavirus, like HBO’s
“Coastal Elites” or Netflix’s “Social Distance” — but with no real success.
At the other end of the scale, many shows have offered a dose of escapism
by completely leaving out Covid, sometimes because they were shot before the
pandemic hit — such as recent Netflix hit “Emily in Paris” or CBS’s “Mom.”
Last spring, writers on “The Neighborhood,” a CBS comedy which revolves
around a white family moving into a Black neighborhood, were pondering
whether to address the pandemic in season three, recalled actor Cedric the
Entertainer in an interview with TVLine.
“And then George Floyd happened, and it just felt like a more important
(conversation).”
BSS/AFP/GMR/0916 hrs