Production on CBS’ new hit comedy “Ghosts” has halted after an individual on the set of the series tested positive for COVID-19. The show, which shoots in Montreal, had been in the middle of producing its season finale when the COVID case forced the premature shutdown, according to sources.
Insiders confirm the shutdown, and tell Variety that production will now resume in January, after the holidays, in order to wrap the finale. CBS declined comment on whether an actor on the show had contracted COVID, citing confidentiality. The shutdown comes as the spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant has started to impact the entertainment industry: In New York, Broadway has been hit with a wave of cancellations as COVID-19 cases surge, with positive tests forcing cancellation of shows including “Mrs. Doubtfire: The Musical,” “MJ The Musical,” “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical,” “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” “Ain’t Too Proud,” “Freestyle Love Supreme” and “Hamilton.”
In Denmark, cinemas have shut down to cope with a surge in COVID-19 cases and curb the spread of the new variant.
“Ghosts” has been an early strong performer for CBS, as the most-watched new comedy of the fall in primetime. The show’s premiere averaged 7.8 million viewers in Live+7 ratings, earning the largest lift of all new and returning comedy premieres this season. “Ghosts” is averaging 7.89 million viewers season to date, and is the No. 2 comedy this season overall (behind “Young Sheldon”). It has also improved its time period by 9% in viewers compared to last season.
Adapted from a UK series, “Ghosts” stars Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar as a young couple, Samantha and Jay, who inherit a rundown country house, and later discover that it’s inhabited by many of the deceased previous residents.
The show’s “Ghosts” include a Prohibition-era lounge singer (Danielle Pinnock); a 1700s Militiaman (Brandon Scott Jones); a ‘60s hippie (Sheila Carrasco); an upbeat ‘80s scout troop leader (Richie Moriarty); a Viking explorer from 1009 (Devon Chandler Long); a ‘90s finance bro (Asher Grodman); a sarcastic and witty Native from the 1500s (Román Zaragoza); and a society woman and wife of an 1800’s robber baron who is Samantha’s ancestor (Rebecca Wisocky).
“Ghosts” comes from CBS Studios in association with Lionsgate Television and BBC Studios’ Los Angeles production arm. Exec producers include Joe Port & Joe Wiseman, Mathew Baynton, Jim Howick, Simon Farnaby, Laurence Rickard, Ben Willbond and Martha Howe-Douglas; Alison Carpenter, Debra Hayward, and Alison Owen (Monumental Television); Angie Stephenson (BBC Studios).