The COVID-19 shutdown may have a dramatic effect on love, lust and life.
Now TV is jumping in with shows from the producers of “Good Trouble” (shown here) and “Orange is the New Black.” Both will be taped in the actors’ homes, using remote technology – a method that’s been tried for drama (“All Rise”), comedy (“Parks and Recreation Reunion,” “Saturday Night Live”) and music. They are:
– “Social Distance,” announced recently. It’s a Netflix comedy anthology from Jenji Kohan, the “Orange” writer-producer. It hopes to start production this month.
– “Love in the Time of Corona,” announced today (May 7). A four-part drama series from the producers of Freeform’s “Good Trouble,” it hopes to air in August.
Both are rooted in a basic notion: Fiction thrives in confined quarters – from “Twelve Angry Men” and “Lifeboat” to Stephen King or Agatha Christie stories and “Orange is the New Black.” And the current crisis may have forced hasty decisions about whom to be isolated with.
That fits the turf of Freeform (formerly ABC Family), which aims for young adults. It also fits the producers of “Good Trouble,” a series about two foster sisters starting their post-college life.
Right now, Freeform programmer Lauren Corrao said in the announcement, that generation “is learning to love and be loved in a time when the entire world is telling them to stay six feet apart.”
One character, for instance, regrets deciding to isolate with an ex. Others wonder if a hook-up with a roommate can ever be casual.