#Grey’s Anatomy, The Rookie Among ABC Shows Pausing Production Due to Omicron

Production on a string of Los Angeles-produced ABC shows has been delayed due to the Omnicron-fueled COVID-19 surge.

TV Line is reporting that Grey’s Anatomy, Station 19, and The Rookie are pushing back their production restart dates by a week.

All three shows are now slated to return to production next week.

There’s no telling if the delays will be extended, but it’s possible.

Many shows were shut down in 2022 for weeks, which caused a knock-on effect for the TV industry.

Many networks went with very different fall schedules in 2020 in an attempt to have content on the air.

As of now, these delays are not expected to impact the airdates for the shows, but it will all come down to how long the delays turn out to be.

If the delays do get extended, some of the shows could run shorter seasons.

All three shows had fewer episodes last season in response to the pandemic-fueled delays.

Daytime soap General Hospital is also pressing pause for an additional week, but the show has enough episodes banked to continue with a normal on-air schedule for now.

Other networks have yet to make decisions about their shows, but we should get more clarity in the coming weeks.

The tricky part of any delays is that it could take any of these shows off the air for an extended period of time.

The Rookie returned from its midseason hiatus last week, while Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19 are set to return next month with a two-hour crossover event.

This could prove to be detrimental to Grey’s Anatomy, which has faced rumors it will be ending this season.

Talks are underway between Ellen Pompeo and ABC to keep the show alive, but these negotiations could fall through.

Ideally, a renewal or cancellation decision will need to be made in the coming weeks because the creative forces will need to craft a series finale.

The show has been on the air since 2005, and there’s no way ABC would let it go without some sort of send-off.

What are your thoughts on these delays?

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Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.