COVID-19 has halted production of popular TV shows causing difficulties for the television industry.

“Grey’s Anatomy’s” 17th season was initially delayed due to the pandemic and the 16th season was cut short by four episodes.

American television screenwriter Krista Vernoff, who is also the lead writer for “Grey’s Anatomy,” responded to fans’ concerns through Twitter about missing out on the last few episodes of the show. Vernoff said she would ensure that fans would not miss out on any of the plot, and season 17 would be even better.

As Vernoff promised, the new season, which has aired six episodes, has shocked fans as cast from previous seasons are featured, which for some fans has made up for the delay.

Junior Teja Guduri said she was excited when she saw old characters come back on the show.

Guduri said some characters played a distinctive role in the show and weren’t given a proper ending. 

“I can see why it was delayed and I personally liked George coming back because he didn’t have a solid ending to his character since he shared a very unique bond with Meredith,” Guduri said. 

For some TV dramas, however, the pandemic has made it harder to bounce back.

The Netflix Original drama “The Society” was first released in 2019 and received attention from teens. 

Vietnamese screenwriter Qui Nguyen, who helped craft the script for “The Society,” tweeted that Netflix has cancelled the show due to COVID-19. Nguyen said he was dejected to hear the news because the episodes for the new season were already written and ready to be filmed.

This abrupt decision has upset fans who were left with a cliffhanger at the end of season one.

Junior Savannah Chirco said she had binged “The Society” and finished the first season within just a few days.

Chirco said she assumed season two was inevitable because the first season was left unfinished. She said it was upsetting to receive the news of its cancellation.

“It was a unique show that piqued the interest of a variety of audiences and I know a lot of people, including myself, who really liked it,” Chirco said.

Senior Jessica Zhang watched “The Society” when it first came out and it had become one of her favorite shows but she also was disappointed to find out it was cancelled.

“There were a lot of questions left unanswered at the end of season one and there’s nothing we can really do to find out how the show ends,” Zhang said.

Because the show was receiving large support from fans, Zhang said she was confused as to why it was being cancelled.

“I understand COVID-19 is responsible for the show being pushed back initially; however, I don’t really understand why other shows with lower ratings were renewed while ‘The Society’ was cancelled,” Zhang said.

As Zhang said, shows such as the sitcom “Disenchantment” have been renewed by Netflix even though it has lower ratings than “The Society.” 

Similar to “The Society,” another Netflix original “I’m Not Okay With This” released its first season early in 2020 and received support from fans, but has also been cancelled by Netflix.

Drama shows aren’t the only ones at risk.

Popular competition shows such as CBS’ “Survivor” have experienced trouble juggling COVID-19 precautions and keeping fans satisfied. CBS delayed the show in March of 2020 and has since pulled it from the fall schedule.

“Survivor” joins  groups from all over America to live in the wilderness and compete to win a million dollars; however, CBS is concerned about the health of the potential contestants as COVID-19 cases increase.

COVID-19 has severely hurt a variety of popular shows causing damage financially. The Ampere Analysis found that the TV industry can lose up to $160 billion over the next five years due to the pandemic.