TV shows and stars are learning to adapt in an awkward pandemic age

When the pandemic shut down TV production in March, there was a real fear that cooped-up viewers would have to spend the rest of the year watching repeats of "The Office" on a continuous loop.

But restless minds have found innovative ways to get back to work.

When "Good Trouble" co-creator Joanna Johnson had her Freeform series put on hold, she pivoted to "Love in the Time of Corona," a miniseries about couples re-evaluating their relationships in quarantine.

Casting was limited to actors already living together and willing to have all scenes shot in their homes. Johnson's crew was pared from 70 people to seven, operating remote-control cameras and walkie-talkies from a van parked on the street. Cast members, who include "Hamilton" star Leslie Odom Jr., snapped the clapboards and did their own makeup.

"It was the last thing I thought I'd be doing, but it was fun to have something exciting to do and just get out of the house," said Johnson. "It was stressful, but exciting. I'm so glad we did it."

Other shows are taking a more traditional approach.

Soap operas "The Bold and the Beautiful" and "The Young and the Restless" are shooting new episodes with strict COVID-19 safety protocols. Casts and crews for Hallmark Channel movies are deep into shooting after two weeks of quarantining with each other.

Actors for HBO Max's "The Flight Attendant" are being tested daily when intimate scenes are on the docket.

"There has been so much communication, not only on an emotional level, but also a logistical level," said Zosia Mamet, who co-stars with Kaley Cuoco and Rosie Perez on the upcoming series. "Like, 'Are you afraid? Are you allergic to latex?' They just want to make sure we are comfortable."

But HBO's "Coastal Elites," which premieres in September, is following "Love in the Time's" example of splendid isolation. The special pops in on five individuals as they each take turns venting about the current crisis from their homes.

The shoot was less than ideal. "My paranoia level was high already and all of a sudden there were seven crew members in my backyard," said Emmy-winner Sarah Paulson, who plays a YouTube personality. "That was more people than I had seen in my area in months, and they were at my house. So it was a little frightening."

Her co-stars also found it difficult not being able to share scenes with fellow actors.

"I missed that connection so much," said Kaitlyn Dever, who plays a nurse. "I thought I was actually going to be less nervous doing a monologue from the comfort of my own home, but I was way more nervous."

The new reality

Late-night hosts have groused about delivering jokes without an audience. That will continue, even as they start trickling back into their studios after months of broadcasting from their living rooms.

"It's a much more shared experience when you're communing with an audience," said Samantha Bee, host of TBS' "Full Frontal," which she's been shooting on an iPhone in her woodsy backyard. "In a way, I'm guiding them, but they're also guiding my performance. Whereas in the forest, I'm only performing for my husband, who doesn't really care what I say."

Bee doesn't have plans to return to the office anytime soon, citing safety concerns. She's fully embraced her show's more guerrilla approach, even if it means dealing with the sound of woodchippers in the background or a fallen tree crushing a prop.

"I love the gonzo elements that we've added to the show," Bee said. "I think we'll continue to shoot some stuff in the forest, even when we don't absolutely need to."

Reality shows used to shooting in the outdoors are probably having the easiest time adjusting to the coronavirus, although they face their own unique challenges.

"Queens," a National Geographic nature series set in Kenya, scrapped a planned segment about great apes.

"We actually worried about the risk of transmitting COVID to them," said executive producer Vanessa Berlowitz. "They might be curious and want to come close to us. You can't necessarily prepare for that. We've had to make complex decisions, not just about our own safety and the people we work with, but also the animals we're filming."

Simply shooting outside, where the coronavirus appears to have less of a chance of spreading, is a breeze compared with getting to remote locations.

"The biggest issue is that people don't know the rules of their own country because they're changing on a weekly basis," said Jon Kroll, showrunner for National Geographic's "Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted," which recently wrapped an episode in Iceland. "We didn't know there would be so much confusion at each airport we stopped at."

Happy to be here

Unscripted programs that take place indoors are also moving forward. The Zoom app has helped "America's Got Talent" judges weigh in remotely and Diego Luna host a virtual dinner party for his Amazon Prime talk show, "Pan y Circo."

"All the guests were really willing to try new things like having a conversation where I can't see your face when you're answering," said the acclaimed Mexican star. "It ended up being a different kind of conversation, much more respectful because you couldn't really interrupt each other. Afterward they all said, 'Thank you. It gave me a little bit of hope. It reminded me that we're capable of doing this even if the pandemic is keeping us at home.' "

Bette Midler said she was grateful just to be invited to be in the cast of "Coastal Elites."

"People used to say show business was depression-proof and now we discover that isn't true," she said. "When the work comes, we're happy to do it, but the conditions [now] are so bizarre. It really is like we're on some sort of a spaceship and we don't know where that spaceship is going."

Neal Justin • 612-673-7431

@nealjustin