New Amsterdam is shelving an upcoming episode about a flu pandemic out of respect for the current coronavirus crisis sweeping the globe.
“The world needs a lot less fiction right now, and a lot more facts,” series creator David Schulner writes in an essay for Deadline. “We showed what happens when our hospital has to erect tents in the parking lot because every bed is taken. Today, we woke up to images of the military erecting tents to serve as makeshift morgues outside Bellevue hospital as New York is bracing for potential surge in coronavirus victims. Sometimes, what the mirror reflects back is too horrifying to look at.” (Click here to read the rest of his essay.)
With the pandemic episode — originally scheduled to air on April 7 — shelved, New Amsterdam now has only one finished episode left to air. So following two weeks of reruns airing March 31 and April 7 (in a new 9/8c time slot), the Season 2 finale will land on Tuesday, April 14.
(Side note: If it helps take the sting out of a shortened season, just remember that New Amsterdam was recently renewed for three additional seasons. It’s not going anywhere.)
In a stroke of unfortunate irony, Daniel Dae Kim — who recently tested positive for coronavirus — guest stars in this episode as a doctor who joins the fight against the pandemic.
Your hopes for the rest of New Amsterdam‘s shortened season? Drop them in a comment below.
