How to Feature TV’s Newest Star: COVID-19

Credit: ABC, “Grey’s Anatomy”

After nine months of the coronavirus ruining my plans, all I wanted to do was curl up on my couch to watch the newest episode of Grey’s Anatomy this past fall. Unfortunately, I worried that by including the pandemic in the show, I wouldn’t be able to utilize it as an escape from my own struggles. Happily, I was wrong.

Shows like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “This Is Us” expertly integrate COVID-19 into their storylines and strike the perfect balance between realism and escapism. After recent viewings, I have identified the three key ingredients that made them successful (and the reasons why other shows -- cough, cough, “Law and Order SVU” -- did not pass the test).

1. Consistency

To me, consistency has been the make-it-or-break-it moment for current shows. It is not enough for characters to mention their quarantine hobbies and wear masks for one scene. This was a major issue for “Law and Order SVU” that struck the audience member, public relations professional, AND law-abiding citizen in me very poorly. If characters are living in a pandemic, they need to be living in a pandemic all the time. Yes, we understand that acting doesn’t translate well through a mask, but it’s not an excuse to have masks be an afterthought. 

“This Is Us” also struggled with consistent mask-wearing, but given that they teased some pre-taped scenes last season, I let it slide. I can barely watch old footage without flinching at large crowds, so watching characters go maskless makes me automatically judge them. This also reflects poorly on the creators who seem to feel obligated to include COVID because of audience’s/critic’s reviews instead of doing it because of their values. If you don’t want to have your characters social distance, then don’t cast COVID as a featured character, it’s that easy.

Credit: cinemablend.com, “Law and Order SVU”

2. Sensitivity

Shows which appear to be capitalizing on tragedies or are mentioning them out of obligation look bad to audiences. As a reminder, over 500,000 people have died in America from COVID-19, so it is vital to portray sensitivity.

Unsurprisingly, “Grey’s Anatomy” handled sensitivity beautifully. They too felt the responsibility to chronicle current events, and the show’s surgical advisor Naser Alazari stated, “our show has such an incredible accessibility to people and relatability to people that we need to be there with them.” (Karimi) Unlike other shows, they expressed compassion instead of exploitation. And yes, I am not ashamed to confess that watching Meridith battle the illness and all the locals cheer on the medical personnel and first responders made me sob. The key thing to note here, however, is that I cried not because of my fear, but because my favorite characters and I were going through this together.

3. Realism

Realism in this context is twofold: realism in terms of the show’s fictional universe and realism in the real world. It makes sense that “Grey’s Anatomy”, “Law and Order SVU”, and “This Is Us” integrate the pandemic because they often highlight current events due to the character’s professions, but if on the next season of “Riverdale” I see Archie on a ventilator, I’ll be upset. 

These shows continuously failed to keep their scripts accurate to our everyday lives. While Grey’s did feature couples separately quarantining and specified that no guests were allowed in the ER, my one critique of its handling of COVID-19 was its portrayal of doctors in hallways maskless, a nonstarter to any medical professional. “Law and Order” struggled even more by consistently having officers go maskless in their offices, at crime scenes, and even when interviewing victims which is against NYPD protocol. There is no abridged or tolerable version of COVID-19, it is real and raw and not something that can be skirted around without questioning the characters’ and the creators’ seriousness. We all know what it looks like so if it's going to be on TV, I want it accurate.

To be clear, shows do NOT need to highlight the pandemic; watching “Good Trouble” yesterday gave me the escape I was craving and I loved it. But when they do, shows become more intriguing to audiences and help them create positive attitudes towards the show, but only when they do it right.

Credit: NBC, “This Is Us”

Sources

Clarendon, Dan. “Which TV Shows Are Incorporating COVID-19 Storylines & Which Aren't?” TV Insider, 13 May 2020, www.tvinsider.com/gallery/tv-shows-covid-19-storylines-shameless-911-lone-star-you/.

Feldman, Kate. “Please, I Am Begging You, Stop Writing COVID into Your TV Shows.” Nydailynews.com, New York Daily News, 3 Feb. 2021, www.nydailynews.com/snyde/ny-covid-tv-shows-20210203-brex5dfqjjftxbh62ntfeoaeze-story.html.

Glasner, Eli. “Guest Starring COVID - How TV Shows Are Addressing the Pandemic | CBC News.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 10 Oct. 2020, www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/covid-19-tv-good-doctor-greys-anatomy-1.5756964.

Karimi, Faith. “Some TV Shows Are Telling Stories about the Pandemic. Some Viewers Wish They Wouldn't.” CNN Business, Cable News Network, 23 Feb. 2021, www.cnn.com/2021/02/23/media/television-shows-coronavirus-trnd/index.html.

Stiernberg, Bonnie. “Dear TV: Please Stop Shoehorning the Pandemic Into Scripts.” InsideHook, 4 Dec. 2020, www.insidehook.com/article/television/dear-tv-please-stop-shoehorning-the-pandemic-into-scripts.

Watercutter, Angela. “Is It Too Soon for Covid-19 TV Shows?” Wired, Conde Nast, 24 July 2020, www.wired.com/story/greys-anatomy-covid-19-tv/.