by Thinus Ferreira
National Geographic (DStv 181 / StarSat 220) has had to abruptly shut down production on over 77 shows since the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic started and spread globally earlier this year, with some shows that returned to filming with reduced crews, and some like Genius: Aretha that are still indefinitely delayed.
National Geographic executives and producers in a virtual media presentation earlier this month revealed how shows like the new seasons of Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted, Running Wild with Bear Grylls, Queens and Genius: Aretha were all forced to shut down suddenly because of Covid-19 with productions from Iceland and Atlanta to Kenya that were forced to turn their cameras off.
Some have since restarted but with dramatic changes behind-the-scenes because of strict new Covid-19 filming protocols and widely varying requirements from country to country and between territories.
Production on the latest season of the anthology series Genius, entitled Genius: Aretha with Cynthia Ervio playing Aretha in the unfinished 8-episode season has not yet resumed and National Geographic has been forced to push the original broadcasting starting date out.
About when filming on Genius: Aretha might resume, Anthony Hemingway, the executive producer and director, said "We have not set an actual date yet. We are having a lot of conversations now with the studio and the network just trying to figure it out".
"It’s all about safety and working within the new parameters of protocols that so many of us are going to have to learn about the way we approach our work."
National Geographic announced a slate of further seasons for some of its existing series and some new series for the National Geographic and Nat Geo WILD channels.