Question: I have to say that the COVID story line with Meredith on Grey’s is getting boring. Do you think Hollywood overestimated the length of the pandemic and didn’t see the optimism that is now growing in our country? —Steve
Matt Roush: When the pandemic is truly behind us, it will be interesting to look back at how shows did and didn’t address the pandemic. For those who decided to go all in, like Grey’s, the thing to remember is that we’re not watching their world in real time, and production and scheduling hiatuses further impeded the show’s ability to accelerate the storytelling. That said, I’m weary as well of Meredith in her Banana Republic “safe space” in Malibu limbo and hope she comes out of it soon. I get that many of us are experiencing an extreme case of COVID exhaustion, but of all genres, a medical drama should be allowed to explore the impact of COVID on its staff thoroughly. However we choose to react to that is up to the viewer, but I can’t criticize them for the effort. It seems to me that the producers of these shows had to be aware of the development and imminent distribution of the vaccine while these episodes were being produced. But as we know, it’s not the end of the story quite yet, and I imagine we’ll see the vaccine play into some of these narratives at some point.
To submit questions to TV Critic Matt Roush, go to: tvinsider.com