Programming

Neither Supernatural, nor The Flash, nor Legacies will be able to finish their current seasons in the timeframe that was originally planned. All three CW series were among hundreds that were forced to shutdown production due to coronavirus, meaning that they were unable complete shooting and their season endings have now been pushed to an undetermined time later in 2020, according to a source close to the network.

As buyers and media companies enact new strategies in the wake of COVID-19’s impact on the country and world, several are beginning to doubt whether upfront negotiations can be conducted in their usual late spring/summer timeframe.

IndyCar and IMS announced Thursday that the 2020 Indianapolis 500 will be postponed from its scheduled May 24 start date to Aug. 23, the first time the race has been completed later than May.

Josh Wallwork, a member of the costume and wardrobe department on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, has died from coronavirus complications. He was 45. The news was shared by SVU showrunner Warren Leight on Thursday. Wallwork had been employed on SVU since 2018, and he had also worked on Madam Secretary, The Get Down and Bull.

This time it’s really ending. NBC has set 9 p.m. Thursday, April 23, for the series finale of Will & Grace and will precede it with a half-hour retrospective special. Hosted by Eric McCormack, the look back also will include reactions from Will & Grace fans and celebrities who will share stories about what the show — which originally aired from 1998-2006 and whose revival launched in 2017 — has meant to them.

An old sports telecast used to have the same appeal as a stale pot of coffee. But with live sports telecasts knocked out by the global coronavirus pandemic, the nation’s biggest media companies are subsisting instead on broadcasts of older games. To get them, however, the networks need to gain approval from the various sports organizations.

ESPN’s newsmagazine E: 60 led all nominations (with 10) for the 41st Annual Sports Emmy Awards, as announced on Thursday by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The Sports Emmys, originally scheduled for April 28 at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall, has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, with no replacement date yet announced. Nonetheless, NATAS has moved ahead with revealing this year’s nominees.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which puts on the annual award show, said films that are first released on television or a streaming service will be eligible for January’s Globes. Usually, the Globes mandate that a film play for a week in a Los Angeles theater or on pay-per-view, as well as have an official screening for its voting members.

The annual ceremony, previously scheduled for June 18 in Los Angeles, today was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

NBC’s Chicago Med and Chicago Fire each delivered their biggest overall audiences in more than four years on Wednesday. Survivor also grew, passing The Masked Singer in total viewers on another heavy night of broadcast viewing amid widespread stay-home mandates during the coronavirus pandemic.

Shell revealed the diagnosis in a memo to staff on Thursday. He is the first studio chief to contract the COVID-19 disease.

Geddie — who, alongside Barbara Walters, helped build the The View into the behemoth it is today — had been the executive producer of Hall’s show since it premiered in September. An insider said: “He hasn’t been there since the holiday break and they stopped speaking around the fall.” Added another, “He has not been involved in the day-to-day runnings since October.”

The new multi-year agreement covers all seven CBS affiliates owned by Meredith, which reach 7% of the U.S. audience serving more than 7.6 million television households.

Kantar has just released findings of what it says is the largest-ever survey of consumers about the fast-moving pandemic, checking in with 25,000 consumers in 30 markets around the globe. Among the findings: People are doing 70% more web browsing, 63% more TV watching, and spending 61% more time on social media. WhatsApp has become increasingly more important, with an overall 40% increase in use.

Some latenight hosts have, in recent days, taken their shows to a front porch, back patio or basement. Samantha Bee lit out for the woods behind her home. The host says she is doing what she can to “keep it moving and trying to maintain some continuity” in a surreal moment. Now, with jury-rigged productions that hinge on writers and producers working from home, and a little skill with smartphone cameras and uploading and downloading video, the latenight hosts hope to keep viewers sheltering at home entertained.

The first major benefit concert to provide relief and support for Americans impacted by COVID-19 is happening. Elton John will host an all-star benefit concert airing Sunday night titled Fox Presents the iHeart Living Room Concert for America. The event will feature performances by Alicia Keys, Backstreet Boys, Billie Eilish, Billie Joe Armstrong, Mariah Carey, Tim McGraw and others yet to be announced. The commercial-free event will take the place of the previously announced iHeartRadio Music Awards at 9 p.m. ET Sunday.

This year’s Tony Awards will be postponed, the Broadway League announced Wednesday. The ceremony had been scheduled to take place at Radio City Music Hall on June 7 on CBS celebrating the best of a Broadway season that has been irreparably disrupted by the shutdown of all New York City theaters due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The season finale of This Is Us delivered its best same-day ratings in months on Tuesday. CBS’s entire lineup hit or tied season highs in both total viewers and adults 18-49 as widespread stay-at-home mandates during the coronavirus pandemic continue to drive viewing.